By Mason Nesbitt, TMU Sports Information Director

Seanna Nalbandyan (pictured above) found herself in a familiar place with a familiar foe on Thursday, the opening day of the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Nalbandyan walked to the starting line in a 400-meter hurdles prelim alongside Westmont’s Emily Parks. The two athletes have faced off in each of the last two Golden State Athletic Conference finals in the event.

“I definitely get more competitive when I know we are together,” Nalbandyan said. “But she is such a good competitor that I enjoy racing with her. She has a lot of heart for the event so I have a lot of respect for her and that definitely pushes me to compete harder.”

Nalbandyan needed the push in a tight field Thursday, finishing in 1 minute, 1.95 seconds and advancing to Saturday’s final as the sixth seed.

Kimona Smikle of Southern University at New Orleans posted the day’s fastest time (1:01.02), and all seven of the event’s other finalists were within a second of each other.

Nalbandyan won her heat, with Parks coming in second (1:02.23). The result mirrored the last two finals at the GSAC Championships, with Nalbandyan winning back-to-back titles. But Parks got the last laugh last season. She finished third at nationals, to Nalbandyan’s seventh.

They will meet again Saturday at 2:10 p.m. in the final, where Nalbandyan will look to become only the second Lady Mustang to earn All-American honors in more than one season. Karis Frankian did it four straight years from 2013-2016.

Nalbandyan finished fourth in last year’s prelims (1:01.69) before finishing seventh in the final (1:02.74).

For now, she’ll rest.

“I’m planning on just spending some quality time chilling with my teammates in the condos and just mentally envisioning my race for Saturday,” Nalbandyan said.

Relay does not advance
TMU’s men’s 4×800 relay made an impressive late-season push to qualify for nationals. In fact, the Mustangs hit the NAIA cut in their final opportunity, at GSAC Championships in Santa Barbara last month.

Thursday, however, the foursome of Keylan Meneses, Isaac Ventura, Kevin Pacheco and Davis Boggess finished fifth in its heat (7:54.32) and did not advance to the final.

Columbia (Missouri) posted the prelims’ fastest mark at 7:40.67.