2023 GVSU Holiday Open Results
ALLENDALE, Mich. – An impressive collective debut from Academy of Art track & field was delivered inside the Kelly Family Sports Center as numerous Urban Knights became NCAA Division II Indoor Nationals provisional qualifiers at the GVSU Holiday Open on Friday.
In her first action since becoming a four-time National Champion and 18-time All-American earlier this year,
Marie-Jeanne Ourega began her 2023-24 run to defending her national title in the indoor long jump with a distance of 20-2.5 (6.16m). The mark she secured on her fifth attempt quickly ascended her to the top of NCAA DII by nearly a full inch.
Ourega continued to dominate in the triple jump where she went over 40 feet in four of her six attempts, winning the competition with an Indoor Nationals qualifying 41-0 (12.50m) on her third try. Thus far in the early season, just one other NCAA DII jumper has gone further, putting Ourega second in the country.
The trio of
Juvonna Cornette,
Toni-Ann Lindsay, and
Lauryn James each made their respective ART U debuts with Indoor Nationals provisional marks, securing three of the top four spots in the prelims of the 60m dash before Cornette dropped a 7.44 to not only lead the final, but rise to third in both the nation and Academy of Art program history. In the final, James matched Cornette's 7.55 from the prelims, putting her among the top 10 in NCAA DII as well while Lindsay's 7.58 from the prelims is just outside and
Darria Matthias' 7.64 from the final is top 25.
On the men's side of the 60m dash,
Robin Black impressed in his first race of the season, taking second at 6.84 in the prelims before delivering a mark of 6.77 to win the final. He opens his second indoor campaign with Academy of Art among the country's top 10 and just 0.06 seconds from his personal record set this past January.
Out of nearly 70 competitors in the women's 200m dash, James secured first overall, going 24.27 to nearly debut among the top five fastest Urban Knights to date. The Animation & Visual Effects major starts fourth overall in the nation with a top 10 Indoor Nationals provisional also coming from Cornette at 24.62. Both James and Cornette would also later join Lindsay and
Erine Collard in producing an Indoor Nationals provisional of 3:49.38 in the 4x400m relay, good for third in the nation.
Black continued his strong season-opening meet in the 200m dash where he placed second of 77 competitors with an Indoor Nationals provisional time of 21.31. Fifth in the country, the Music Production & Sound Design for Visual Media major was just 0.05 seconds from his best 2022-23 mark. Black would close out the day anchoring the 4x400m relay alongside
Shareez Hamm,
Omodiaogbe Oboh, and
Josh Marlin; a quartet who rose to first in NCAA DII with a 3:10.90 mark that won the day's event by nearly five seconds.
A pair of Indoor Nationals provisionals emerged from the women's 800m as top finisher
Lina Hanich went 2:10.42 to assume the top position in NCAA DII. Just 0.35 seconds from the program record she set last February, Hanich was followed by the event's second-fastest collegiate performer in
Michaela Andrews whose 2:12.92 mark is also second in the nation to start the season.
Coming off an
All-West Region Team finish to her first cross country campaign in an ART U uniform,
Grace Southern opened the indoor season with the second-fastest 3000m in program history. The Textile Design major slotted in at third in the country by bettering the Indoor Nationals provisional standard with a 9:35.94 effort.
It will be more than a month before Academy of Art resumes its indoor season, doing so with the two-day Spokane Indoor Challenge on Jan. 12-13.
