2020 Albany Great Dane Classic Results
2020 TCNJ Lions Indoor Invitational Results

Academy of Art track & field concluded its New York trip Saturday, starting with the Great Dane Classic and wrapping up with the TCNJ Lions Indoor Invitational.

"We learned a lot about our teams this weekend and what we are capable of accomplishing by the end of the season if we commit to improving every day," said director of track & field/cross country Kevin LaSure.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Inside the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex for the second consecutive day, ART U saw more impressive efforts from Ombretta Picciolie Minkue Meye and Darria Matthias in the 60m of the Albany Great Dane Classic.

In a field that featured 31 sprinters, Minkue Meye and Matthias had their best performances of the year thus far in the 60m preliminaries. Minkue Meye nearly broke her own personal record with a Nationals provisional 7.57 that put her into a tie for ninth-fastest in NCAA Division II. Matthias also dropped a Nationals provisional with a 7.67 that elevated her into a tie for 23rd in the country. In the finals, Matthias finished sixth at 7.68 while Minkue Meye took eighth at 7.78.

A quartet of men competed in the mile for the first time this season with James Young (4:24.04) and Rabah Houali (4:27.60) both crossing the line in the top half of 41 total runners. On the women's side, Natalia Novak had the top finish for Academy of Art, taking 16th of 54 with a time of 5:14.77.

Improving upon her first mark in the long jump this past December, Camille Jouanno finished in the upper tier of a 32-competitor field with a mark of 17-6.75 (5.35m).

NEW YORK – Later in the afternoon, Minkue Meye continued her dominance at the TCNJ Lions Indoor Invitational inside The Armory.

In the women's 200m, Minkue Meye added another NCAA Nationals provisional with her 24.68 mark good for first of 43 on Saturday and seventh. The time was 0.03 from her personal record. Not far behind her teammate in the same heat, Matthias finished the fourth overall at 25.17.

Another first-place finish came for ART U in the men's 3000m where Charlie Messai posted an 8:39.47 to claim the first of 17 competitors. His fellow distance specialists were also at the front of the line in the 4x800m relay as Joshua Browne, Young, Hudson Lockette, and Houali combined for first-place of 13 at 7:49.24.

On the women's side of the 4x800m, the quartet of Hasna Kaarour, Alyssa Winter, Novak, and Jasmine Becker posted a 9:28.26 good for second among the eight teams in action.

Running his fastest indoor 200m time as an Urban Knight, Grant went 21.89 for second of 39 sprinters then capped the day's action with his teammates in the 4x400m. Shareez Hamm, Swinton, Daquan Berry, and Roshard Williams finished first overall out of 14 with a 3:20.62 across the line.

"We had some great and gutsy performances on all the relays today," said LaSure. "Ombretta, Darria, Grant, and Charlie, just to name a few, had really good opening individual performances coming off of winter break, showing a glimpse of what they can do by the end of the season if they continue to work hard. All around, it was a good performance as I believe we had a chance to work on some areas we knew we needed to improve in coming into the weekend."

Academy of Art will next be in action on Jan. 26 when they get an early look at the venue that will house NCAA Division II Nationals. In Birmingham, Alabama, ART U will compete at the KMS Invitational.