2016 Great Dane Classic
2016 Towson Tiger Invitational
ART U track & field completed its opening weekend in New York with a pair of meets, University of Albany's Great Dane Classic and the Towson Tiger Invitational. More NCAA provisional marks were achieved as
Craig Mattox impressed by winning the long jump at both meets and
Gatien Airiau posted the third fastest time in Academy of Art history in the 3000m, and
Marlon Britton added his first NCAA provisional mark in the 60m hurdles.
"The majority of the team competed better on day two than day one, which is exactly what we wanted to see," said director of track & field/cross country
Torrey Olson. "The weekend was about progress and having the chance to assess where we are and it served its purpose."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The day began back at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex with the Urban Knights' first-ever appearance in the Great Dane Classic.
Riding the momentum from his first place result and NCAA provisional at the Spartan Invitational, Mattox wasted no time in posting his farthest jump of the season on Saturday. He started off with a 23-11.75 (7.31m) and that would seal the win as no competitor came closer than 11 inches of his mark.
In his first 3000m as an Urban Knight, Airiau dropped the third-fastest time in program history with an 8:23.02. It would put him fourth of 45 in the meet and earn him his first NCAA provisional qualifier as well. Fellow Frenchman
Pierre Fontanarosa was not far behind, finishing ninth with a time of 8:30.41.
Kristian Martinez improved upon his time in the 800m, going 1:56.51 for sixth of 31 runners. He would move up to third all-time in ART U history.
Britton would qualify through the prelims in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.27 in the prelims (fourth overall).
The first men's 500m in program history, a rare event for the indoor season, was run by
Quinlan Wright who posted a 1:07.02.
On the women's side,
Rian Young-Werner matched her distance from the day prior in the long jump with a 17-5.5 (5.32m) and later finished literally side-by-side with
Jasmine Grace in the 60m dash. Both went 8.09 and ended up in the middle of a 40+ collection of sprinters.
In mid-distance action,
Beatriz Martinez Mercado offered ART U's third-fastest time in the mile with a 5:17.69 for 20th of 51.
Latavia Hawkins broke out for a 2:19.98 in the 800m, good for 10th of 36 and fifth on the Knights' all-time list.
NEW YORK – In the nightcap, Academy of Art set several competitors to the Towson Tiger Invitational held at the prestigious 100-year-old facility known as The Armory.
Mattox finished the opening weekend 3-for-3 in taking first place in the long jump. He offered his second-farthest distance in this finale, going 23-9.5 (7.25m) for the top placement once more. Like the day prior, Ricketts was one spot behind him with a season-best 23-8.25 (7.22m) to lead the 22 total jumpers. Each member of that tandem is now ranked among the top 10 in the country.
Britton dramatically improved on his first two prelims/finals of the 60m hurdles in the Knights' evening session, coming away with an 8.17 to lead all 25 sprinters in the first round then dropping to an NCAA provisional mark of 8.14 for a second-place finish in the finals. Wright also qualified for the finals with a career-best 8.31 in the prelims.
The women's 60m hurdles saw
Marion Presigny go 8.88 in the prelims which was good for second of 38 hurdlers, but still 0.04 shy of the NCAA provisional standard.
Later she joined Grace,
Mistic Scott, and
Schae Graham in the 4x400m relay for a third place finish out of 22 teams (3:55.70).
The Knights make the first of two trips to Seattle in two weeks (Jan. 27-28) for the University of Washington Invitational at the Dempsey Indoor.
