2018 Hornet Invitational Results
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In its first outdoor meet of the season with the full team in action, Academy of Art University Track & Field walked away from Sacramento State's Hornet Invitational with numerous impressive performances. Notable efforts at Hornet Stadium on Saturday included
Mobolade Ajomale moving to No. 1 in NCAA Division II in the 100m, second in the 200m, and
Hannah Hensley rising to the second-highest score in the Heptathlon thus far.
Coming off a
successful title defense of his Indoor National Championships in the 60m and 200m, Ajomale wasted no time taking over the country's top spot in the 100m. Up against 71 other competitors in the event, he delivered an Outdoor Nationals provisional-qualifying 10.32 which not only rose him to No. 1 in DII, but also put him in a tie with South Alabama's Rafael Scott for No. 3 in all NCAA divisions thus far.
Roughly two hours later, Ajomale would return for another impressive outing in the 200m. The
2016 Olympian would best two sprinters from Stanford as well as 72 others by over 0.40 with his 21.20 mark which was another provisional qualifier and tied for the second-fastest time in Division II this year behind Lee (Tenn.) product Josiah Brooks' 21.02.
After Friday's first four events of the Heptathlon, Hensley was in first place of 18 total competitors having won the high jump while also placing among the top five in the 100m hurdles and 200m. She highlighted the day by clearing a 5-8 (1.72m) high jump bar for her season-best and a mark now third in all of NCAA Division II.
With 2920 points, Hensley carried nearly a 100-point margin into the final three events on day two. The Pinehurst, N.C. native joined a three-way tie for second-place in the long jump, posting a 17-8 (5.38m) then later provided an exciting performance in the 800m to complete the Heptathlon. She would win the 800m with a new personal-best 2:18.67, giving her a total of 4910 points and making her not only a NCAA Nationals provisional qualifier, but owner of the second-highest mark in the country as well.
A series of ART U performances came up just shy of provisional qualification including both 4x100m relay teams. The team of
Marlon Britton,
Kaze Poitier,
Arrun Palacio, and Ajomale went 41.59 for second of 15 in the event, but 0.49 off the provisional standard. On the women's side,
Jameela Muhammad,
Jasmine Grace,
Marion Presigny, and
Rian Young-Werner produced a 47.07 which, despite having them fifth of 15 on Saturday, missed out on a provisional mark by 0.22.
Individually, Presigny competed in both the 100m and 400m hurdles and finished with some of the best times of the day. She placed 10th of 46 in the 100mH with a time of 14.55 and then came up less than a second off provisional qualification in the 400mH with a 1:02.76 for third of 34.
Palacio literally leapt dramatically forward in the triple jump, offering a 47-8 (14.53m) in his third attempt to finish seventh of 31 while also elevating himself to fourth all-time in Academy of Art program history.
Two personal bests came in the men's 5000m where
Victor Moreau (14:51.34) and
Joshua Thorson (14:52.20) finished eighth and ninth respectively out of 69 total runners.
Personal records also came for
Beatriz Martinez Mercado (4:37.32),
Ashley Brown (4:47.05), and
Alyssa Winter (4:49.28) in the 1500m. Martinez Mercado moved up one spot into second on the ART U all-time list with the effort.
Other lifetime bests came from
Marvin Thomas (1:57.83) in the 800m and
Madeline Dignadice (18:08.29) in the 5000m. Dignadice would take 12th overall out of 51 in her event.
The men's 1500m had
Gatien Airiau just shy of his personal best with a 3:53.74 good for ninth of 88. Both
Freddie Hessian (3:55.38) and Thomas (3:55.90) were neck-and-neck down the stretch, finishing 15th and 16th respectively.
Competing individually in both the 100m and 200m, Grace finished in the upper tier of both events, taking 13th of 69 in the 100m (12.34) and 16 of 87 in the 200m (25.45).
In the 400m,
Nicolas Morales Williams took 20th out of 70 sprinters with a time of 50.29.
Improving upon his debut time in the 110mH, Britton posted a 14.81 for seventh of 33.
Academy of Art will continue its outdoor season two weeks from now in a weekend loaded with the Pepsi Florida Relays (Mar. 29-31), Stanford Invitational (Mar. 30-31), and SF State Distance Carnival (Mar. 30-31).
