2020 Grand Valley State Big Meet Results (Saturday)
ALLENDALE, Mich. – Academy of Art track & field closed out Saturday's GVSU Big Meet with several of the best marks the program has ever seen inside the Kelly Family Sports Center on Saturday.
Ombretta Picciolie Minkue Meye (400m),
Natalia Novak (800m), and the men's Distance Medley Relay all rose to second in ART U history in their respective events.
"This weekend we had a chance to compete against some of the best competition in the country and see where we stood at this point in the season," said director of track & field/cross country
Kevin LaSure. "We came out of the weekend with some really impressive performances and improved in many areas while also having the chance to see what we need to continue to work on."
The quartet of
James Young,
Kaze Poitier,
Rabah Houali, and
Charlie Messai combined for a 9:55.91 in the DMR, putting the team second all-time behind that of Houali,
Grant Swinton,
Joshua Browne, and Young from
two weeks ago in the UW Invitational. Earning Nationals provisional qualification, the mark gives the Urban Knights' their second top 12 time in the nation.
A stellar performance by Minkue Meye put her first of 98 competitors in the 400m with a personal record of 54.74. The Nationals provisional elevated her to fourth in the country and second in program history, back of only
Keanna Moody's 54.48 mark from 2016.
Among the top three of 91 who contested the 200m on Saturday,
Darria Matthias found herself with Minkue Meye both under the 25-second barrier. Matthias turned in a 24.52 and Minkue Meye went 24.73 on the day. Matthias also dropped a 7.59 in the finals of the 60m, slightly higher than her season-best 7.58.
In the women's 800m, Novak ended less than a second from the Indoor Nationals provisional standard with a 2:14.74. The second-fastest time in Academy of Art history put her seventh of 105 total runners in the event.
The men's 400m had a pair of ART U sprinters atop the day's results with Swinton (48.41) and
Roshard Williams (season-best 49.02) the leaders out of 86 competitors.
The Urban Knights enter the indoor season's home stretch with a trip back to New York for the Fastrack Last Chance Invitational on Feb. 28 followed by the Boston Last Chance Meet on Mar. 1.
