It was truly a grand finale for Academy of Art track & field's Marie-Jeanne Ourega at the 2022 NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships. Along with defending her national title in the long jump, she added four All-American honors and was the High Point Athlete of the Meet with 24 points individually in addition to her contribution on the 4x100m relay.
Opening the meet on
May 26, Ourega posted what would be her best mark of the day at 20-10.75 (6.37m) on her second long jump. Holding up the rest of the way, the closest any other jumper came to that mark would be Fayetteville State's M'Smyra Seward (20-5/6.22m) as Ourega's national championship performance made it now two Urban Knights among the top seven in the history of NCAA DII Outdoor Nationals as her seventh-place effort joins multi-time Hall of Famer Vashti Thomas whose 21-2.75 (6.47m) is fourth overall.
In the triple jump on
May 27, the Communications & Media Technologies major began with her first legal jump of 41-4.25 (12.60m), a new personal record, on her second attempt that immediately rocketed her to third overall. Ourega's third try was not only her best of the day but also in her career as she flew to 42-4 (12.90m), rising her to second behind University of Mary's D'Andra Morris. Though Morris' final attempt would put her further ahead than the 0.25 inches which had separated jumpers to that point, Ourega still ended as the runner-up and now an 11-time All-American in her career.
"Starting the meet with the long jump first always puts a little bit of pressure on me," Ourega said. "I knew that winning the long jump would put me in a good state of mind for the other events. It was important for me to defend my title in the long jump. I am also happy that, even though I don't practice triple jump as much as the long jump, I still managed to jump a personal record and came second. I am so proud of the women's team and our fourth-place finish."
After qualifying through the prelims of both the 100m hurdles and 4x100m relay on the days prior, the native of L'Haÿ-les-Roses, France finished third in both events on
May 28. She had run the fastest wind-legal time in her ART U career with a 13.74 to win her heat in the prelims then took the third spot with a 13.79 in the final. Ourega opened both 4x100m relays with strong efforts, helping lead the team to a 45.02 in the final to better Pitt State's quartet (45.14) as well as that of Pacific West Conference event champion Fresno Pacific (46.08) down the final stretch.
"Marie-Jeanne had one of the most impressive National Championship meets I've had the pleasure to witness," said Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Kevin LaSure. "Her scoring 24 individual points and running a great leadoff leg on our third-place 4x100m relay, was huge for the team's success this weekend, and she has been the model of consistency all year. She is a joy to work with because she shows up to work every day, what her and Coach Nkosinza Balumbu have done thus far in the horizontal jumps (winning two National Championships in the long jump) has been exceptional."
