2017 Hornet Invitational

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Academy of Art University track & field brought its full team to Sacramento State's Hornet Invitational on Saturday and success followed. NCAA Division II Indoor Men's Track Athlete of the Year Mobolade Ajomale picked up right where he left off, delivering a Nationals auto-qualifying mark in the 100m as well as a provisional in the 200m while Folke Woch (Heptathlon), Beatriz Martinez Mercado (800m), Michane Ricketts (Long Jump), Craig Mattox (Long Jump), Rian Young-Werner (Triple Jump), Pierre Fontanarosa (1500m), Quinlan Wright (400mH), and the women's 4x400m each added provisionals as well.

"I thought it was a great first meet with the majority of the team competing," said head coach Kevin LaSure. "It was great to see them feeding off of each other's energy and just getting out there and competing. Bolade, Craig, Michane, Marion, and Rian all had really good outdoor season openers. Beatriz, Pierre, and Chandler were extremely impressive today and they have improved each meet so far this outdoor season."

Ajomale's outdoor debut was one to watch as exactly one week ago he had collected national titles in the indoor 60m and 200m. He did not disappoint in the 100m, topping the 65-sprinter field with a 10.29 which was the first NCAA Division II automatic qualifying time in any sprint event this season. Not long after, he returned to post a provisional 20.87 in the 200m, both which came after his contribution to the 4x100m relay team's 41.53 to start the day's sprints.

Competing in seven events over the course of two days, Woch put up a strong 4,878 points in the heptathlon for a Nationals provisional. She finished fourth of 21 and highlighted the event with a 130-6 (39.79m) in the javelin to further the ART U program record.

In just her second 800m race of the outdoor season, Martinez Mercado became the Academy of Art record holder with a time of 2:12.36. She would place 11th of 66 in the event and delivered a Nationals provisional mark to join just a handful of others atop the country's qualifiers.

Both genders' jump squads turned in provisional marks with Indoor All-Americans Ricketts and Mattox going 24-9.75 (7.56m) and 24-2.25 (7.37m) for first and third of 53 competitors respectively. Their outdoor debut has them both top six in the country to start. In the women's triple jump, Young-Werner flew to a 39-2.5 (11.95m) for what is the fifth farthest distance in the country thus far. She finished fourth of 19 jumpers in the event.

"Bolade and Craig's performances will allow us to get back to focusing on training and the relays in preparation for the NCAA Championships at the end of May," said LaSure. "While there are still plenty of things for us to work on as a team, overall we were really pleased with the performance of the team as a whole."

The 1500m saw Fontanarosa come through with a big personal record, cutting off nearly seven full seconds off his debut from two weeks prior. He posted a 3:50.78 mark that put him fourth of 83 on the day and earned him a Nationals provisional time. Fellow Frenchman Gatien Airiau completed his first 1500m as an Urban Knight and, in addition to finishing ninth in the event, moved him into fourth on the program's all-time list with a 3:53.53.

"The number of athletes focused on competing to the best of their ability was a big step in the right direction," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson. "The next steps in preparing for PacWest and NCAAs are becoming clearer."

Coming off his PacWest Conference Track Athlete of the Week honor, Wright took second of 25 in the 400m hurdles with a Nationals provisional time of 53.41. He dropped 0.17 off his debut in the event from early March.

Along with his long jump results, Ricketts threw a new program record in the javelin, registering 166-4 (50.70m) and taking 10th of 36 throwers on Saturday.

In the men's high jump, Brady Johnson matched his own and the program's record with a completion at 6-0.75 (1.85m).

The 5000m was particularly memorable for Chandler Johnson who debuted at second on ART U's all-time list with a 17:32.69 mark good for second of 37 runners on Saturday. Not far behind her in ninth was Giulia McIsaac who also offered a personal record 17:50.47. She is third all-time in program history.

Among the day's top sprinters was Jasmine Grace who rose to fifth all-time for Academy of Art with her 12.19 in the 100m. She took sixth of 65 in that event and finished even higher (third of 77) in the 200m where she put up a 24.80.

Indoor Pentathlon All-American Marion Presigny was strong in both hurdle events on Saturday, putting up a time of 14.39 in the 100mH for fourth of 36 and just 0.09 shy of the Nationals provisional before going 1:04.06 (ninth of 35) to debut at fourth all-time in the 400mH.

Completing the day, Schae Graham and Mistic Scott joined Grace and Martinez Mercado for a Nationals provisional in the women's 4x400m. Combining for a 3:46.74, the quartet finished third of 15 teams in the event.

Academy of Art will be in the Bay Area two weekends from now, competing in the SF State Distance Carnival locally and the Stanford Invitational down the Peninsula both on Mar. 31-Apr. 1.