2019 Payton Jordan Invitational Results
STANFORD, Calif. – Competing against many of its own teammates and, in some cases, elite NCAA Division I talent, Academy of Art track & field laced up its spikes Thursday evening at Cobb Track & Angell Field for Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational.
One of the days first few events, the women's 400m featured a breakout performance from
Ombretta Picciolie Minkue Meye as she went 55.56 in her first time contesting the distance with ART U. She became a NCAA Division II Nationals provisional qualifier and elevated into the country's top 30 while tying for fifth program history. Also in her first outdoor 400m,
Hava Turner ran a lifetime-best 57.834 to edge
Mia Avila (57.839) for fifth.
On the men's side of the 400m,
Roshard Williams was just slightly less than half a second off his lifetime-best set at the PacWest Championships. He delivered a 47.91 mark to claim second of eight with his teammates
Christian Carter (48.55) and
Grant Swinton (48.58) placing in the next two spots.
Competing under the lights in the 8 p.m. hour,
Victor Moreau stepped into a 1500m heat that featured numerous Division I distance specialists including BYU's Talem Franco (3:46.09) who would emerge the race's victor. Moreau pushed hard down the final straightaway and came through with a time of 3:47.81 that was just over a second from his lifetime-best.
Up against five NCAA DI runners as well as one other DII competitor in Jason Gomez from Notre Dame de Namur,
Joshua Browne slightly bettered the time that earned him PacWest bronze going 1:54.14 across the finish line.
Three members of the ART U track & field team,
Hasna Kaarour,
Charlie Messai, and
Freddie Hessian, are set to travel north for Lewis & Clark's Portland Twilight tomorrow, May 3.
