2021 Central California Invitational Results
FRESNO, Calif. – Many Urban Knights carried their strong indoor performances to the first outdoor meet of the year on Saturday at the Central California Invitational hosted by Fresno Pacific.
Natalia Novak was one of several Academy of Art track & field student-athletes who found themselves among the nation's event leaders two weeks into the outdoor season.
Novak's outdoor 800m debut saw her go 2:13.98 to lead the mix of 12 NCAA Division I and II runners while teammates
Alexandria Okon (2:19.89) and
Lina Hanich (2:20.80) all made it into the event's top four on the day. Novak's mark put her currently first in DII and fourth all-time in ART U history.
Also adding his name to the program record books was
Elijah Roberts whose 6-4 (1.93m) high jump not only has him among the top five in DII, but also slots him into third overall at Academy of Art.
In her first outdoor triple jump since 2018 Outdoor Nationals,
Rian Young-Werner started in a tie for sixth in the country at 37-11.25 (11.56m).
A national sixth-place ranking also went to
Audrey Rosencrans who finished her 5000m at 18:16.49, taking second of 21 runners in the event on Saturday.
In individual sprint action,
Darria Matthias began her outdoor campaign with the second-fastest 100m among DII competitors thus far at 11.98. Only behind DI San Jose State's in the 200m, Matthias went 25.02 to open among the nation's top six. On the men's side,
Makarios Page posted a 49.62 in his first 400m with ART U to move into the top seven.
Page also joined
Grant Swinton,
Shareez Hamm, and
Daquan Berry for a 3:21.44 good for top six in the country in the 4x400m relay. Two of those same sprinters, Swinton and Berry, were part of the 4x100m relay with
Kaze Poitier and
Ajani Ince who started seventh in DII after delivering a time of 42.15.
The women's 4x400m relay of
Alice Coisne,
Hava Turner, Okon, and
Audrey Courand broke into the nation's top four at 3:57.18 in their debut as a quartet.
While qualified Urban Knights will next compete in NCAA Division II Indoor Nationals on Mar. 11-13, the outdoor season will resume on Mar. 20 with Fresno Pacific's State Center Invitational.
