AZUSA, Calif.— Antone Higgs and Aiden Brownell both turned in improved NCAA Division II provisional qualifying efforts while a trio of Maverick women's distance runners also set career-bests in the 1,500 meters to improve their spots on the Colorado Mesa University top 10 lists to highlight the day at the Franson Last Chance track and field meet throughout  Saturday here at Azusa Pacific University's Cougar Stadium.
 
Higgs became just the fifth Maverick to ever go further than 15.00 meters in the triple jump turning in a career-best effort of 15.02 meters (49 feet, 3 ½ inches) to place sixth on the day.  He also moved up to 27^th on the national performance list in that event, likely a bit short of qualification for the May 22-24 NCAA Division II Championships.
 
However, Higgs also ranks ninth nationally in the long jump and will certainly be amongst the top 22 declared athletes in that discipline, when those official selections are announced on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Meanwhile, Brownell turned in a season-best time of 52.35 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles and now ranks 30^th nationally.   The Maverick freshman finished seventh in Saturday's event.
 
In the women's 1,500 meters, contested late Saturday night, Megan Hodges posted a time of 4:31.10 to move up a spot to fourth in program history.  Her effort shaved 6.67 off seconds off her former career-best, which she turned in here just 3 ½ weeks ago during the Bryan Clay Invitational.
 
Brooke Miller ran in the same heat to a career-best time of 4:35.35, a slight improvement over her best of 4:35.93 but dropped a spot behind Hodges on the Mavs' all-time top 10 charts.  Autumn McQuitty also raced in an earlier section and shaved 2.31 seconds off her former career-best to move up to seventh in CMU history.
 
Elsewhere, Marik Cummings took fourth in the men's 100-meter final with a time of 10.68 seconds while Gaby Horton ran to a sixth place time of 11.70 in the women's final.
 
Serenity Burnett-Perry also capped her outdoor career with a personal-best time of 24.62 seconds in the 200 meters while Horton was right behind in 24.71.  Freshman Hannah Schissler also turned in a solid effort of 25.05 seconds.
 
Meanwhile, Sophie Lindauer finished the 400 meters in 58.08 seconds and ran the 200 in 25.98 in her final races as a Maverick.
 
In the 400 hurdles, freshman Kammi Merritt finished in 1:04.00.  She also teamed with Burnett-Perry, Sylvia Johansen and Horton for a time of 45.99 seconds in the 4x100-meter relay, the ninth fastest in program history.
 
Multi-event specialist Katie Thomson also cracked the Mavs' all-time top 10 in the triple jump, turning in an effort of 11.03 meters (36-2.25) in her first attempts of the season in that discipline.
 
In the high jump, Hope Matteson cleared 1.58 meters (5-2.25) while Atahlia Mills go over 1.53 meters (5-0.25).
 
In the throws, Christina Palmer and turned in a pair of top 5 finishes.  She took fourth in the discus with a throw of 44.87 meters (147-2) and was fifth in the shot put at 12.87 meters (42-2.75).  Thomson also competed in the shot put, finishing eighth at 11.16 meters (36-7.5). 
 
Augustine Hancock, who won the hammer throw on Friday, also finished fifth in the discus with a season-best mark of 44.20 meters (145-0).
 
In men's field events, Salem Brunk joined Higgs in the top 10 of the triple jump with an effort of 13.88 meters (45-6.5) while Garrett Searls cleared 4.65 meters (15-3) in his final collegiate meet.
 
On the track, Amaris Mora turned in a solid wind-aided time of 21.60 seconds in the 200 while Quentin Hartel finished in 21.89.  Both were also a part of the 4x100-meter relay team that placed third in 41.02 seconds.  Cummings and Teo Casados were also a part of that effort.
 
Justin Blaton ran the 400 meters in 50.30 seconds while Logan Hafey finished the 400 hurdles in 56.69.