2016 Pacific West Conference Championships Results (Final)

AZUSA, Calif. – Academy of Art University track & field ended the two-day Pacific West Conference Championship meet with a total of 26 All-PacWest honorees including individual champions in the men's long jump, 100m, 200m, 400m, 400mH, 1500m, 5000m, 4x100m relay and the women's triple jump, 400m, and 4x400m relay. Mobolade Ajomale was named Male Track Athlete of the Meet after scoring 32.5 points (including titles in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x100m) en route to the men's second place team finish. The women took fourth overall led by Rian Young-Werner's triple jump title, Keanna Moody's top mark in the 400m, and a first place result for the 4x400 relay. 

"Everyone competed hard this weekend," said head coach Kevin LaSure. "I think we took a step in the right direction as a program during these championships and it will definitely set the tone for expectations going forward. Bolade Ajomale had an amazing meet and was well deserving of the Track Athlete of the Meet award, winning four gold medals at the championships."

Like day one, Briaunna Caver got started early with a trio of events to finish the heptathlon. She posted a collegiate-best of 13-11.5 (4.25m) in the long jump then followed with a personal record in the javelin, hurling a 101-6 (30.93m). Needing more than 507 points to set a heptathlon PR, Caver took second in the 800m and ended up breaking her previous record with 3,577 points in total. Later in the non-heptathlon shot put, she delivered another personal best of 36-11.75 (11.27m) to take third in the program history.

As action returned from a brief break, Young-Werner took the runway in the triple jump. In her final attempt, she rose from a tie for fourth all the way to a gold medal with a 41-0.25 (12.50m) which was not only a collegiate-best, but now fourth in the country in NCAA Division II.

"APU hosted a great conference championship and a lot of athletes were able to rise to the occasion," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson. "It would be too many to name, but to have that many athletes scoring in two, three, and even four events, and competing hard through all of them, was incredible. We were definitely proud of individual breakthroughs like Rian, Briaunna, and others."

The 4x100m relays then opened the running events where the quartet of Mistic Scott, Jasmine Grace, Amanda Odesjo, and Young-Werner finished second to Concordia by just 0.26, crossing the line at 47.40. On the men's side, Marlon Britton, Ajomale, Alexander McNally, and Roman Skovronski teamed up for a gold medal, going 41.13 to top Azusa Pacific by nearly a full second.

Next up in the men's 1500m, Valentin Pepiot made PacWest Championship history with his 3:51.75 which earned him a gold medal. Over a full second separated him and the second-place runner from Azusa Pacific.

A bronze medal was then awarded to Academy of Art's Quinlan Wright for his efforts in the 110m hurdles. He would finish third behind a pair from Azusa Pacific, posting a time of 15.16.

Both sides of the 400m dash saw ART U medalists with Keanna Moody placing first overall at 55.71 and Schae Graham adding a 57.64 for bronze. The men's champion was Ajomale who crossed the finish line at 48.07 followed by Shaquille Howard in second and Skovronski in third for the first of what would be two all-Urban Knight podiums.

Ajomale once again earned gold in the men's 100m dash, blazing to a 10.62 for first in the finals. The bronze medal went to McNally who posted a new personal record of 10.82, dropping his previous best by 0.10.

In the men's 400m hurdles, Skovronski repeated his result from the prelim, finishing first with a time of 52.68. Despite an intense finish, he would beat out Azusa Pacific's Michael Ayetiwa by six-tenths of a second.

A total of five Urban Knights were bestowed medals in the 200m as Grace and Moody picked up silver and bronze respectively. Grace cut nearly a full second off her previous best, finishing at 24.68 on Friday. The men's result was another podium dominated by Academy of Art with Ajomale claiming his fourth gold medal of the day with a 21.24 mark, followed closely by silver medalist McNally (who ran another PR of 21.73) and bronze medalist Howard (21.87).

Pepiot collected more hardware in the 800m and 5000m, adding to his title in the 1500m. He would take silver in the 800m, dropping below the previous meet record for a time of 1:52.04. In the 5000m, he surpassed ART U alum Nicolas Rifflard for the PacWest record, producing a 14:52.08 for gold.

The 4x400m relays provided the conclusion to an exciting championship meet and medals once again came for both genders. The women's team of Graham, Scott, Grace, and Ashley Brown established a significant lead by the first handoff and rode that wave to gold (3:51.65). For the men, Skovronski, Howard, Thomas Benson, and McNally were in a battle with Azusa Pacific down the stretch and ended up with silver (3:19.63).

At the end of the day, the Academy of Art men's team finished second with 153 points behind first-place Azusa Pacific (293). The women took fourth (92) as APU swept both titles after scoring 201 points. Ajomale claimed the program's second consecutive Male Track Athlete of the Meet following Jordan Edwards' honor in 2014.

An ART U contingent will return to Southern California next weekend for the Oxy Invitational hosted by Occidental College on May 7.