2021 Pacific West Conference Championships Results

FRESNO, Calif. – Academy of Art track & field sent Urban Knights to the top of the podium throughout Saturday as a total of 12 event titles were gained on the final day of the Pacific West Conference Championships hosted by Fresno Pacific. Among the highlights were Male and Female Most Outstanding Track Athlete honors bestowed upon Daquan Berry and Natalia Novak who combined to capture five championships with some of the best races of their respective careers.

"It was a gutsy performance by both squads," said Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Kevin LaSure. "We were really short-handed after a few injuries in the preliminary rounds to some of our top student-athletes, but everyone stepped up to the challenge and picked up the slack. I am extremely proud of the way our teams competed this weekend and I know the future is very bright for this group."

One of the day's opening events, the triple jump saw a top three complete with ART U student-athletes as Rian Young-Werner became PacWest triple jump champion for the third time in her career following a personal record of 41-1.5 (12.53m) in her final attempt. An Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifying mark, the distance rose Young-Werner to fifth in the country and fourth in program history. Joining her on the podium, teammates Marie-Jeanne Ourega and Camille Jouanno delivered their own provisionals of 39-11.25 (12.17m) and 39-8.5 (12.10m) respectively.

It was an extremely busy day for Berry who competed in four different sprint events and won them all. He delivered a personal record 10.62 (giving him sole possession of fourth in program history) to take the 100m title, running alongside Ajani Ince whose 10.79 earned him third place. Those two led in the 200m final as well where Berry moved up to third in ART U history with an Outdoor Nationals provisional 21.24 and the trio of Ince (21.47), Omodiaogbe Oboh (21.93), and Makarios Page (21.95) all ran sub-22.00.

Berry also played a part in both relays, joining Ince, Shareez Hamm, and Lennard Marshall, for a first-place 41.57 mark in the 4x100m. At the day's conclusion, Berry combined with Page, Oboh, and Hamm to go 3:14.04, besting four other teams for the top spot in the 4x400m.

Truly dominant in her two races on Saturday, Novak opened with a 4:39.69 in the 1500m final, finishing more than three seconds ahead of the next competitor with Hasna Kaarour taking third place. Later in the 800m final, Novak dropped more than four seconds off her previous personal record with a 2:09.57 good for first place and an Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier. In addition to slotting into the nation's top 10 in the event, Novak's time became the new Academy of Art record by nearly a full second.

In roughly a three-hour span, James Young emerged from the 1500m and 5000m as PacWest champion. He began by turning in a 4:04.99 for the top spot out of 12 competitors in the 1500m, a race that saw Elliot Slade take third overall. Young then returned to go 15:01.30 in the 5000m, pacing the 14-man field.

Hamm nearly took home titles in both hurdle events, winning the 400m hurdles and finishing 0.06 back of the leader in the 110m hurdles. Hamm dropped a new personal record of 14.57 battling Fresno Pacific's Cullin Bates across the finish line at the shorter distance, but then was well in front of the pack at 53.95 in the 400m rendition.

Both Slade and Abdelouakil Mustapha stepped in to contest the final of the 800m and it was Slade who captured the title. His time of 1:54.96 placed first of the nine competitors while Mustapha checked in at fourth overall.

Up against 13 other runners in the 5000m, Kaarour's second race of the day saw her go 18:41.62 for the championship. Leading from the outset, she would not be caught down the stretch and won by close to eight full seconds.

Separate from their respective relays, the trio of Page, Oboh, and Marshall were all in action in the 400m final. Oboh crossed first for ART U at 48.46 followed closely by Page's 48.97 for 14 points toward their team's total between the pair.

Slightly off the team's season-best, an Outdoor Nationals provisional still emerged from the women's 4x100m where Hava Turner, Darria Matthias, Ombretta Picciolie Minkue Meye, and Ourega went 45.84 for a runner-up finish to Azusa Pacific.

From that contingent, Matthias led four Urban Knights in the 200m final with a 24.50 that had her second overall then she again paced her teammates with a 12.02 in the 100m final where she took third. Minkue Meye had her own third-place result in the 400m final, going 55.79 across the finish line with an Outdoor Nationals provisional.

Also in solo action, Ourega was well under the Outdoor Nationals provisional standard with a 13.91 good for second place in the 100m hurdles. The women's 400m hurdles final saw both Alice Coisne and Audrey Courand score points for their team, finishing third and seventh respectively.

The women's 4x400m combined the efforts of Coisne, Turner, Minkue Meye, and Matthias for third overall. Their time of 3:51.16 earned Academy of Art six points in the end.

As a team, the women finished second with 162 total points behind first-place Azusa Pacific (235.5). On the men's side, the Urban Knights' 142 points slotted them third behind APU (233) and Fresno Pacific (198).

Traveling to Azusa for one final meet before NCAA DII Outdoor Nationals, Academy of Art will compete in the Cougars' Last Chance Twilight meet on May 14-15.