TCNJ Lions Indoor Invitational Results

NEW YORK – A busy Saturday back inside The Armory saw Academy of Art track & field turn in numerous nationally-significant results and one program record at the TCNJ Lions Indoor Invitational. Among the highlights were Natalia Novak's top ART U mark in the 3000m along with NCAA Division II Nationals provisionals continuing to come from Marie-Jeanne Ourega, Yacouba Gnacko, and Mathieu Tshani in various jump events.

Starting out second overall in a field of 18 runners in the 3000m, Novak remained strong in her position throughout en route to the fastest time run by an Urban Knight at 9:40.06. The Nationals provisional vaulted her into the nation's top 10 at eight overall and bested the previous 2018 record by more than four full seconds.

In her second long jump event in as many days, Ourega soared to first of 20 jumpers with a 19-9 (6.02m) distance on her second attempt. The mark elevated the L'Haÿ-les-Roses, France native at third in NCAA DII with another Nationals provisional qualification. Impressive second days of action came from the men's jump squad on Saturday with Gnacko going 50-1.75 (15.28m) triple jump on his third attempt. Already both Nationals provisional qualifiers, he and Tshani were the top two performers in the event as the latter offered a 48-11.75 (14.93m) mark. Gnacko added a top placement in the long jump with a 22-5.75 (6.85m) distance to better his mark from Friday.

Joining the program's top efforts in the 500m, Abdelouakil Mustapha finished third out of 25 competitors with a time of 1:05.63. He took over the second spot in ART U history. On the women's side, Delanie Dykes' 1:25.02 checked in a fourth among Academy of Art runners historically.

The 60m dash saw Darria Matthias turn in back-to-back times of 7.69 as she placed fifth of 34 in the prelims then second of seven in the final, ending just 0.02 shy of the provisional cutoff. She was joined in that final by Selena Arjona-Alcazar who claimed eighth in the prelims (7.79) then dropped to 7.72 for third in the final. Matthias would also deliver a 25.18 mark in her first 200m of the year. Placing at the top of 14 sprinters in the unseeded 60m was Ajani Ince whose 7.25 mark led the way. 

A mere 0.03 off of his personal record in the final, Shareez Hamm placed first of 17 in the 60m hurdles prelims (8.46) then remained atop the list of the day's performers with an 8.42 effort. Ourega was also in action in the event, going 8.95 for third of 23 in the prelims.

The women's 400m dash saw Ombretta Picciolie Minkue Meye place second out of 20 runners with a time of 57.78 that was less than a second from Nationals provisional qualification. She was followed by Alice Coisne (59.50) and Erine Collard (1:00.64) both among the top five. Kaze Poitier found himself one of the top six out of 28 in the men's 400m at 51.14.

The opening weekend finished with a pair of top-three finishes among the men's and women's 4x400m relays. Duncan Agyemang, Hamm, Ince, and Poitier combined for the best mark out of 15 teams at 3:21.85 while Minkue Meye, Hava Turner, Arjona-Alcazar, and Coisne produced a 3:57.22 time good for third out of 18 squads.

ART U will next make its first of two regular season trips to the site of this year's NCAA Nationals, traveling to Pitt State in Kansas for the Division 2 Rumble In The Jungle on Jan. 21.