SAN FRANCISCO – Breaking out with one of its strongest collective campaigns to date, the 2018 Academy of Art University track & field season featured the largest number of qualifiers for NCAA Indoor Nationals, 10 Pacific West Conference champions, five individual national titles, and 21 All-America selections. Once again led by director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson and head coach Kevin LaSure, the Urban Knights highlighted their respective indoor and outdoor campaigns with a total of 20 new school records (12 indoor, eight outdoor) along the way.

"This season was a year of us finding an identity as a team," said LaSure. "There were many adverse situations throughout the year that allowed us to grow as a program and helped define who we are as a team. I believe we finally have a true identity and the future of the program is really bright. We accomplished many program firsts and were able to win a few individual NCAA and PacWest Conference Championships along the way, as well as achieve many more All-American and All-Conference accolades."

Beginning with two Nationals qualifiers (Mobolade Ajomale in the 60m and Michane Ricketts in the long jump) at the Mines Alumni Classic & Multi in December, ART U quickly established its focus to hoist gold in the two NCAA postseasons to come. When the season resumed in New York and Seattle in January, Academy of Art continued to compete with confidence as Rabah Houali set the first of what would be two successive new 800m program records at the University of Washington Indoor Preview.

At the UW Invitational two weeks later, Ajomale demonstrated seemingly superhuman speed with his kick late in the 4x400m relay while Gatien Airiau and Swann Phelippeau started their progress toward marks in the 5000m and 1 Mile that would eventually get them to Indoor Nationals. Hillsdale's Wide Track Classic started February and saw dual Nationals provisional qualifiers in both genders' Distance Medley Relays, another from Beatriz Martinez Mercado in the 800m, and Phelippeau's first in the mile.

As the Indoor season began to enter its home stretch, the Urban Knights returned to Seattle for the third and final time to contest the Husky Classic and UW Indoor Open. A total of 11 season-bests that weekend (including a 13-second drop in the program's DMR record on the women's side) underscored ART U's preparedness for the regular season finale which came at the Boston University Last Chance Meet on Feb. 25. There, Ajomale proceeded to break his own NCAA Division II 200m record with a 20.67 while the women's DMR, Martinez Mercado (800m), and Houali (800m) all ran the best times Academy of Art has seen to date.

"Indoors was a march forward in terms of making progress," said Olson. "I felt the momentum begin to build at Hillsdale and continue through our last meet at BU where a number of additional student-athletes qualified."

A grand total of 16 Urban Knights composed the largest contingent ever representing ART U at Indoor Nationals and the result was 12 All-American honors. The women's DMR team of Martinez Mercado, Schae Graham (400m as well), Ashley Brown, and Phelippeau joined Ricketts (long jump), Marion Presigny (long jump, 60m hurdles), and Victor Moreau (1 Mile) in emerging from the first day as All-Americans before Ajomale stole the show on day two. After Rian Young-Werner collected an All-American award in the triple jump, Ajomale defended both his 60m and 200m national titles in a span of less than two hours, going 6.60 and 20.91 respectively.

"Qualifying 16 student-athletes to the Indoor NCAA Championships meant a lot for the program," said LaSure. "It's always great to have a large group at the NCAA's to support each other and bring a little familiarity to an otherwise unfamiliar environment. I believe that UW Husky Classic/Indoor Open and the BU Last Chance meet really set the tone for us during the Indoor season. Those meets showed us how good we really were as a team, giving us confidence going into Indoor NCAA's and the Outdoor season."

Early March brought the start of the Knights' Outdoor campaign and, much like Indoor, it featured nationally-significant marks early on. Ajomale's 10.32 in the 100m at the Hornet Invitational on Mar. 16 and 20.82 in the 200m at the Pepsi Florida Relays would keep him among the country's top 10 in both events while Airiau's 8:49.73 in the 3000m Steeplechase at the Stanford Invitational was the first automatic qualifier for ART U.

Out at Cal State East Bay, Apr. 14 was a superhuman day for Young-Werner who delivered six first-place marks across six events while Hannah Hensley got herself to Nationals with a season-best in the high jump. Late April brought arguably one of the biggest meets of the Outdoor season in the PacWest Conference Championships where 10 Urban Knights stood in the top position on the podium over two days. Airiau (3000m Steeplechase, 5000m) and Thorson (10,000m) opened with titles on the first day followed by Ajomale (100m, 200m, 400m, 4x100m) and Hensley (Heptathlon, long jump), each respective PacWest Outstanding Athlete honorees, plus Marlon Britton (100mH) in the finale.

"We went into the PacWest Championships really shorthanded, but the student-athletes who competed really showed their toughness and proved how talented we are across the board," said LaSure. "To be able to win 10 individual conference championships with some of our most talented student-athletes not competing and the team not being at full strength is a true testament to the depth of our program and what have to look forward to going forward."

Still with work to do before Outdoor Nationals, the two weekends that followed featured another 3000m Steeplechase record for Airiau and a lifetime-best from Presigny in the 100mH at the Payton Jordan Invitational on May 3. Additionally, the men's 4x100m relay team punched their ticket to the postseason at the Azusa Twilight & Multi on May 11.

"Many of our student-athletes were rewarded for all their hard work throughout the season," said LaSure. "As a coach, there is always a sense of pride when you see your student-athletes achieving the goals they set for themselves at the start of the season, keeping their eyes on the prize through a long year, and seeing their goals all the way through no matter what obstacles they had to overcome."

In Charlotte, N.C. for Outdoor Nationals, the Urban Knights put themselves in a position to succeed and, by the second day, three major honors were achieved. Airiau finished an inspired 3000m Steeplechase race as national champion, Hensley worked her way to runner-up in the heptathlon, and Young-Werner ended up an All-American in the triple jump once more. The third and final day saw yet another incredible performance from Ajomale who helped ART U's 4x100m relay team finish as All-Americans before securing both the 100m and 200m national titles to give him eight individual championships plus 14 All-American honors over his three-year career.

"It always takes composure to compete on the national stage, especially for those who have not flourished there yet," said Olson. "To trust what they know how to do and be in control of that without getting distracted or overreaching is important. We had a lot of improvement in that respect this year and I think it showed in some of our top results with such strong marks coming in those championship settings."

In addition to its All-American hardware, Academy of Art was awarded a host of post-season honors. Ajomale was bestowed PacWest Male Athlete of the Year and Division II National Track Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Beyond the track, Airiau and Presigny were recognized for their success in the classroom, becoming the second and third student-athletes to be selected as PacWest Scholar-Athletes of the Year and Google Cloud Academic All-Americans.
 
"These honors are fantastic and I think they bring added and deserved awareness to the contribution these student-athletes make to our program and the successes they've worked hard for," said Olson. "Highlighting those successes only serves to raise the bar for future Urban Knights."

Following the completion of a historic 2017-18 run, Academy of Art will ride the momentum of a decade of triumphs into its 11th campaign next year.

"I believe the success we've had this season and all of the seasons prior continues to build confidence throughout the entire program," said LaSure. "With all the incoming student-athletes knowing that they train with and compete against some of the best athletes in the country on a daily basis, it shows that they belong and they too can achieve similar accomplishments both on and off the track."