2017 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships Results

BRADENTON, Fla. – Emerging from their prelims as qualifiers for Saturday's event finals, Academy of Art University's Mobolade Ajomale and Quinlan Wright offered strong performances in the 100m and 400m hurdles respectively to open the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships on Thursday at the IMG Academy.

"I thought everyone's effort was good today, some things went exactly as planned and, in some areas, we caught a few bad breaks, but that's the nature of the sport," said head coach Kevin LaSure. "Quinlan showed a lot of poise and patience in qualifying for his first ever final in the 400m hurdles at NCAAs and I am really excited to see what he can do in the finals on Saturday. Bolade ran a really good 100m prelim, remaining under control and executing his race."

Ranked third in the event coming into the 100m prelims, Ajomale did not disappoint. He blazed across the finish line with the fastest time run by any DII athlete, a wind-legal 10.20, placing first of 18 overall by 0.06. The mark was a collegiate personal best and dropped the ART U record as well.

The final event featuring an Urban Knight on Thursday was the 400mH prelims where Wright would push to a third place finish in his heat, going 52.11. It did not assure him a place in the finals as only the top two placements were automatic qualifiers, but he would make it in as one of the next two fastest when all heats had concluded. He took eighth out of 20 overall, beating out Grand Valley State's TJ Burnett (52.28).

Day one of the heptathlon saw Hannah Hensley put together a four-event score of 3,092 for sixth of 15. Her biggest highlight was winning the high jump after clearing a 5-10 (1.78m) bar to match her personal best as well as the program record. Only she and Alaska Anchorage's Karolin Anders topped the bar at 5-8.75 (1.75m) and Hensley would confidently clear the next height for what would be the best mark of the day.

She opened the first portion of the heptathlon with a 14.64 in the 100m hurdles, taking 11th before her high jump talents took her up to second. A personal best in the in shot put, 28-8.25 (8.74m), made her seventh before the day ended with her 25.95 in the 200m which made her sixth.


An unfortunate finale came for Craig Mattox in the men's long jump as he missed out on the finals by 0.02m. Right in the mix with a 23-6.75 (7.18m) opening attempt of the second flight, the senior kept himself in the top eight with a 23-11.5 (7.30m) in his second chance. A foul on his third offering opened the door for Texas A&M-Kingsville's James Passley to take ninth.

The women's side of the 400m hurdles saw Marion Presigny claim 13th of 22. She would post a time of 1:01.02 for fifth in her heat, but was 1.13 shy of qualifying for the finals as she competed in a faster heat.

Fellow France native, Gatien Airiau was in action in the prelims of the 3000m Steeplechase as the sun began to set in Bradenton. Though the top two runners finished atop the overall list, the second heat proved to be somewhat slower in the third through ninth spots and Airiau's seventh place result in that group ended up putting him 16th of 20 after finishing with a mark of 9:13.63.

A women's 400m prelim loaded with talent had its eighth qualifier, SF State's Timarya Baynard, run a 54.28 meaning that it would have taken another personal best from Mistic Scott to make the final. Unfortunately that did not happen on Thursday as Scott took sixth in her heat with a 55.69, finishing 16th of 22 in the end.

In the men's 4x100m prelims, Michane Ricketts, Ajomale, Christian Carter, and Kaze Poitier combined to take 12th overall with a time of 41.16 and would miss out on Saturday's final.

ART U will return to IMG Academy for day two of three tomorrow as the NCAA DII National Championships continue with various prelims in addition to the finale of the heptathlon along with the finals of the women's high jump (both featuring Hensley).