2017 University of Washington Open
SEATTLE – Academy of Art University track & field turned in a host of personal records on both the men's and women's sides to finish up its weekend inside the Dempsey Indoor on Sunday and
Mobolade Ajomale was once again one of the highlights. The University of Washington Open saw the sophomore explode for a NCAA Division II Nationals auto-qualifying time in the 400m while others such as
Rian Young-Werner (TJ),
Quinlan Wright (60mH), and
Pierre Fontanarosa (3000m) impressed as well.
In just his first 400m of the year, Ajomale was unreal, hustling to cross the finish line at 47.25 which bettered the automatic qualifying standard by 0.05. He became just the fourth NCAA DII athlete to deliver an auto and moves up to second all-time with nearly a full second off his previous career-best. Ajomale's 6.77 also won the 60m dash with a time, bettering 81 others in the process.
In the women's triple jump, Young-Werner went all out in her final of six attempts, soaring to a 40-1.5 (12.23m). The mark was a NCAA provisional, a new personal record, placed her first of 44 jumpers, and moved her into second on ART U's all-time list. That same event saw
Hadiyah Muhammad also post a career-best as she went 36-7 (11.15m) to move into fourth in program history.
"Today we made a huge step in the right direction," said head coach
Kevin LaSure. "We still have some things to improve on before the championships, but we definitely got better in a number of areas. Rian had a great day in the triple jump and Bolade put together a really good meet, with a lifetime best in the 400m, winning the 60m in the meet, and improving on his execution of some of the technical aspects of his race."
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Both Wright and Fontanarosa continued to drop their respective times in the 60m hurdles and 3000m over the course of the weekend. Wright took second of 40 in the hurdles, finishing at 8.22 for the new personal best while Fontanarosa claimed seventh of 62 in the 3000m with a time of 8:19.44 good for third in ART U history.
Kristian Martinez also offered a new career-best for Academy of Art with his 1:55.65 in the 800m.
Craig Mattox added the UW Open to his list of first-place finishes in the long jump as his 23-5.25 (7.14m) led 52 others.
The women's 800m saw
Beatriz Martinez Mercado run her best time (2:15.91) in an Urban Knight uniform, a NCAA provisional mark, as she continues to improve upon the program record. In the women's mile,
Chandler Johnson and
Kaelyn Harbison each delivered personal bests, going 5:08.07 and 5:15.00 respectively, moving them up as second and third all-time for ART U.
Breaking a record set in 2012, the trio of
Hannah Hensley,
Mistic Scott, and
Schae Graham became the program's new top three in the 600m. Hensley's 1:36.68 led the way in eighth of 19 while Scott went 1:37.07 and Graham finished 1:38.97.
"Quinlan continues to improve each week in the hurdle event," said LaSure. "We had three women run under 1:39.00 in the 600m which is extremely impressive. Beatriz and Hadiyah both had a really good meet with season bests and they continues improve as well."
There will be one final trip to the East Coast for Academy of Art before NCAA Division II Nationals take place the second week of March. On Feb. 26, the Urban Knights will be in Massachusetts for the Boston University Last Chance Meet.
