2022 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships Results

ALLENDALE, Mich. – Academy of Art track & field closed out the final day of the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships in triumphant fashion Saturday with Mathieu Tshani being crowned the National Champion in the triple jump as one of nine Urban Knights who visited the podium at Grand Valley State's Lacrosse & Track Stadium. Numerous records including multiple that had stood for eight years were broken en route to the women's team finishing fourth and the men taking 10th, both bettering their national rankings coming into the finale.

"This National Championship performance was nothing short of amazing for our young men and women," said Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Kevin LaSure. "What we witnessed was some really hard-working student-athletes getting exactly what they deserved and earned all season."

Jumping at the end of a second flight that would dominate the triple jump final standings, Yacouba Gnacko and Tshani began in first and third respectively following their opening attempts. Gnacko's initial distance of 51-0 (15.54m) came with a +2.5 m/s wind and remained his best on the day while he went 50-0 (15.24m) or better in four of his final five attempts thereafter en route to fifth place overall.

Meanwhile, Tshani remained two spots back of Gnacko in fifth at the start of the final three attempts, but saved some of his best jumps for last. On his fifth try, he elevated to second place with a 51-1 (15.57m) mark though found himself third with one jump left. Tshani's final trip down the runway would end up dominating the competition as he rebroke his own ART U record with an eye-popping 53-1.5 (16.19m) distance that carried a +3.3 m/s wind. He out-performed Pitt State's Henry Kiner, who went 52-0 (15.85m) on his last attempt, placing first overall for Tshani's first career national title.

"I would say that this meet summarizes my year here perfectly," Tshani said. "I didn't start the way I expected and I faced obstacles through the rounds. But by remaining calm, and believing in the hard work Coach Nkosinza Balumbu and I put in throughout the year, I managed to find the best version of myself in this last jump. I am happy that I could contribute to the team by scoring and I hope that we will come back even stronger next year."

"Mathieu winning the triple jump on his final attempt (breaking the school record), may have surprised people sitting in the stands, but when you watch him on a daily basis and see how hard he works, nothing he does surprises me," LaSure said. "Coach Balumbu has done a great job with the jumpers and Mathieu got exactly what he earned and deserved this weekend. National Championships don't win themselves; they are won through what the student-athlete does on a daily basis, and Mathieu is definitely a guy who shows up to work day in and day out."

The first women's event on the track combined strong efforts of Marie-Jeanne Ourega, Darria Matthias, Ombretta Picciolie Minkue Meye, and Selena Arjona-Alcazar for a third-place finish in the 4x100m relay final. Their combined time of 45.02 topped Pitt State's quartet (45.14) as well as that of Pacific West Conference event champion Fresno Pacific (46.08) down the final stretch, contributing six points toward the team total.

"Our women's 4x100m has been very consistent this season and those four young ladies; Marie-Jeanne, Darria Matthias, Ombretta Minkue Meye, and Selena were rewarded with a third-place national finish. With three of those four ladies returning next season, we are definitely looking to continue to progress in that event. Ombretta will certainly be missed next season, as she has been our do everything and the glue that holds us together at times. Her and Darria ran extremely well on the relay all season, making them huge contributors to our success in the event. As a staff, we are excited to see what these young women are able to accomplish over the next few years with the additions to the team next season."

It was a busy Championship Saturday for Arjona-Alcazar who ended up hoisting two more All-American trophies before the sun set. First in the 100m dash final, she outkicked defending National Champion Mechaela Haycinth of Azusa Pacific with a time of 11.87 across the finish line. The Panama City, Panama native ended fifth overall.

Slightly over an hour later, Arjona-Alcazar was back on the track to contest the final of the 200m where she nearly captured the national title. A move by West Texas A&M's Leah Belfield (23.30) earned her the championship, but Arjona-Alcazar was only 0.12 seconds off her the top time at 23.42. The fastest wind-legal mark for the Communications & Media Technologies major in her career earned Arjona-Alcazar a runner-up finish and, with three on the day, made her a career seven-time All-American.

Following her performance in the 4x100m relay, Ourega stepped into the blocks for the 100m hurdles final which was split over two heats due to 10 advancements from the prelims. The native of L'Haÿ-les-Roses, France deftly cruised over the 10 hurdles in a time of 13.79, earning third in both her heat and overall while scoring another six points for her team. Adding to her National Championship in the long jump and runner-up finish in the triple jump, she concludes just her second year competing for Academy of Art as already a 13-time All-American.

"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."

"Marie-Jeanne and Selena went out and did what they've consistently done throughout this season, carry their team, and this time around our women were rewarded with a fourth-place team finish and a trophy for their hard work as a team," LaSure said. "Marie-Jeanne had one of the most impressive National Championship meets I've had the pleasure to witness. 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 Balumbu have done thus far in the horizontal jumps (winning two National Championships in the long jump) has been exceptional. Selena grew a lot this season, qualifying for her first National Championship this season and being able to manage the nerves and the pressure on the big stage to finish second in the 200m and fifth in the 100m is remarkable. The future is extremely bright with those two young women leading us going forward."

Duncan Agyemang was second out of the 400m prelims and held that spot with a historic time in the event finals on Saturday. Heading into the final straightaway, the Communications & Media Technologies major only slightly trailed Pitt State's Braylen Brewer and closed strong with a 45.80 mark that not only bettered 12-time All-American Jordan Edwards' previous ART U record of 45.99 that earned him the 2014 national title, but Agyemang's runner-up result slotted him in at 18th in NCAA DII Championship history and top 20 all-time in the division's history.

"Duncan came up big for us in the 400m with a huge personal record and school record," LaSure said. "He came into the season with a goal of running sub-46 seconds and winning a National Championship. He came up 0.03 seconds short of winning a national title, but ran a great race and achieve his goal of running under 46 seconds with a 45.80 effort in the 400m final for eight big points for the team."

The women's side of the 400m final also featured program history as Alisha Wilson became the first Urban Knight ever to run sub-54.00. At seventh overall in the final, she impressed with a 53.97 mark that improved upon her lifetime-best from two days prior by nearly half a second and was 0.17 seconds faster than the previous record 12-time All-American Keanna Moody set at Outdoor Nationals in 2014.

"I was extremely proud of what Alisha Wilson was able to do in such a short time with the program," LaSure said. "The improvements she's made in the past eight weeks, after completing a full basketball season that concluded in the NCAA Tournament in March, was phenomenal. She went from running 56.7 eight weeks ago to breaking the school record (53.97), making her an All-American and finishing seventh in the 400m earning two valuable points for the team."

Two days after he broke the program record in the 400m hurdles prelims, Shareez Hamm bettered that mark by going 50.52 for fourth overall in the event final on Saturday. Firmly in front of the next closest competitor, he took 0.22 seconds off his previous best, collected his third All-American honor as an Urban Knight (first as an individual), and added five points to close out his team's score in the meet.

"Shareez has worked his tail off all year and I kept saying, if he could get into this meet he could shock a lot of people," LaSure said. "After barely qualifying for the NCAA Championships as one of the bottom three to get into the meet running 52.62, Shareez ran a lifetime best and almost two-second personal record in the prelims with a 50.74 second 400m hurdles. He would go on to run even faster in the finals, breaking the school record for the second day in a row with a 50.52-second fourth-place finish, 15 places higher than his qualifying position. I always tell my athletes that God rewards work and he will meet you right where you are. I often use Shareez as an example of that as he receives grace that sometimes you can't explain other than he is reaping the benefits of his work. Our staff is very ecstatic about what Shareez along with Mathieu, Duncan, Yacouba, Saba Khvichava and the rest of our men's team can accomplish going forward."

Despite starting the 1500m final in first and still sixth with 400m to go, Natalia Novak ended less than a second shy of reaching the podium, finishing 10th overall with a 4:25.26 mark, her second-fastest time of the season.

As a team, the ART U women's squad scored its second-highest Outdoor Nationals point total in program history with 44 points leading the Urban Knights to a fourth-place finish, their best since memorably winning the 2013 National Championship in the program's first season eligible to do so. ART U, who came in ranked No. 7 nationally, was atop the West Region and PacWest Champion Azusa Pacific (38 points) in sixth as well as Lincoln (Mo.) (41 points) in fifth.
 
With their highest Outdoor Nationals point total since 2018 (third-highest overall), the Academy of Art men's squad led the West Region with 27 points to tie for 10th overall with Central Missouri ahead of Carson-Newman (26 points) and UC Colorado Springs (23 points). The Knights were ranked No. 16 nationally entering Outdoor Nationals.
 
"Overall I am extremely proud of our staff and our team and what they have been able to achieve this season," LaSure said.

With the ART U track & field season now having reached its conclusion, make sure to check www.ARTUAthletics.com for all the latest news and information.