2016 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships Results - Men | Women

BRADENTON, Fla. – NCAA Division II Championship Saturday did not disappoint as Academy of Art University track & field departed IMG Academy with eight All-American trophies in addition to the highest team finish the men's program has ever seen. Gutty performances earned Valentin Pepiot (1500m, 5000m) and Mobolade Ajomale (100m, 200m) each nothing less than third place finishes to help ART U tie for fourth place overall. The Urban Knights who made up the women's 4x400m also came away All-Americans, taking third overall with a new program record.

"We had some incredible performances this weekend and, although everything didn't go as planned, each one of these men and women competed hard and gave everything they had for their teammates," said head coach Kevin LaSure. "We opened the championships with a strong performance from Craig Mattox in the long jump which set the tone for the rest of the meet."

Pepiot started the day in the finals of the 1500m where a front pack did not make their move until the second half of the race. After sitting in eighth overall through 700m, the senior rose to first at the 1100m mark and though Oliver Aitchison (Adams State) and Kyle Medina (Chico State) pulled ahead in the final straightaway, all three runners were separated by less than half a second with Pepiot at 3:48.89. The All-American honor he would hoist moments later would be the Frenchman's first his Academy of Art track & field career.

Less than three hours later, Pepiot returned to the track for a grueling 5000m race. The Besançon, France native would contest the event against many runners who had either been in Thursday's 10,000m or the 1500m mere hours earlier, but the competition was extremely dangerous throughout. Although he was 11th at the 1800m mark, Pepiot passed five individuals over the course of the next 400m. In the final 1200m, he gave it everything he had, moving up 2-3 spots each successive 400m until he rose to second just steps behind Adams State's Sydney Gidabuday in the home stretch. Pepiot would finish second overall with a time of 14:13.73 for his second All-American honor of the day.

"Valentin really came up huge for us this weekend scoring crucial points for us in both the 1500m and the 5000m," said LaSure. "He really put together some amazing races this weekend."

Preparing to put his body on the line for a 100m and 200m separated by just less than an hour and a half, Ajomale persevered through multiple stoppages and a false start warning to an opponent in his first event. On paper, the 100m would have seem to have been a faceoff between Ajomale and Burkheart Ellis Jr. (St. Augustine's), but it was Adams State's Jurgen Themen who broke through for the title with a 10.13. Ajomale was not far behind in third and set a new program record, going 10.25 en route to his first collegiate outdoor All-American trophy.

In the 200m, Ajomale found himself once again running side-by-side with Ellis Jr. of St. Augustine's. The matchup of freshman and senior went to the upperclassman on this occasion as Ellis Jr. finished 20.46 for the championship followed closely by Ajomale who once again set an Academy of Art record with his wind-legal 20.59 mark. After collecting three All-American trophies at Indoor Nationals, the Canadian would complete a historic freshman season with five honors to his name.

"Bolade had great performances in both the 100m and 200m," said LaSure. "Although they weren't the results we were hoping for place-wise, he competed with a lot of heart and left it all on the track."

Waiting the entire day for their moment, the women's 4x400m relay team of Schae Graham, Mistic Scott, Jasmine Grace, and Keanna Moody stepped onto the track for the final event of the night. A hotly contested first leg saw Graham second in her heat before Scott pushed ART U into first as she handed off to Grace. In the second half of the race, both the Knights and the TexAnns of Tarleton State were neck-and-neck before Moody's strong final leg gave Academy of Art the heat victory with a new program record 3:40.07. Though first overall at that point, ART U would await the results of the second heat and wound up All-Americans in third overall behind Johnson C. Smith and Shorter.

"We had the luxury of five amazing 400m runners run on our women's 4x400m relay this weekend between the trials on Friday and the finals on Saturday," said LaSure. "All five women: (Schae Graham, Mistic Scott, Dierra Haven, Keanna Moody, and Jasmine Grace) did an amazing job and played key roles in our relay finishing third overall and breaking the school record. I am extremely proud of what they were able to accomplish and how they fought for one another."

"Kevin did a great job getting our women ready for the 4x4 and the women did an unreal job competing," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson. "For all four women to split lifetime bests in the final of NCAAs is something special. They took the school record away from a very talented team and they did it when it mattered most."

When all was said and done, combining the fourth-place result from Craig Mattox in the long jump, the ART U men's team ended up in a three-way tie with Adams State and Grand Valley State for fourth overall. Each squad ended with 33.00 points apiece, finishing behind definitive champion St. Augustine's (85.00 points) and a second-place tie between Texas A&M-Kingsville and Tiffin (36.00 points each).

Following up their highest finish in program history with third at Indoor Nationals, the ART U men's team once again broke new ground with a chance to hold the trophy on Saturday. The men end 2016 with 15 All-American trophies across indoor and outdoor.