2022 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships Results (Day 1)

PITTSBURG, Kan. – Academy of Art track & field started the first day of NCAA Division II Indoor Nationals with an impressive statement as Marie-Jeanne Ourega finished runner-up to the national champion in the long jump. The Urban Knights would go on to qualify through four other event prelims including Ourega in the 60m hurdles, Duncan Agyemang in the 400m, and Selena Arjona-Alcazar in both the 60m and 200m all inside the Robert W. Plaster Center on Friday.

Contesting the opening event of Indoor Nationals, Ourega showed progressively better marks in each of her first four long jump attempts. Her final jump of the opening round saw her go 20-2.5 (6.16m) to put her third as the top nine moved on to the last round. With a distance of 20-3.75 (6.19m) in her fourth attempt, Ourega surpassed the nation's leader coming into Nationals, UC-Colorado Springs' Hannah Meek, but the 20-4.25 (6.20m) from Minnesota State's Makayla Jackson in the first round held up for the national title. Hoisting a trophy on the podium, it was Ourega's seventh All-American honor.

Ourega would not step up for her final long jump attempt as she was in action in the prelims of the 60m hurdles where she earned a spot in Saturday's final by way of a new personal record. The Communications & Media Technologies major posted a, 8.52 to become one of the eight to advance and took over the fifth spot in program history as well.

Shortly after the conclusion of the 60mH, Arjona-Alcazar locked in for the first of two event prelims she would appear in on Friday. Up against Jackson and others in the 60m, Arjona-Alcazar won her heat and finished third overall with a time of 7.44, a mere 0.04 off her personal record set earlier this season that tied two-time Hall of Famer Vashti Thomas.

Arjona-Alcazar also competed in the day's final sprint event, the 200m prelims, where she nearly bettered her personal record, finishing just 0.01 back of that with a 24.13 across the line. It also put her third out of the prelim, confidently solidifying her spot in the final.

It took a new personal record for Agyemang to reach the final in the 400m and he did so by over 0.3 seconds. At 47.29, Agyemang not only elevated himself to third in program history now only behind legends Jordan Edwards and Mobolade Ajomale, but he also took the fourth spot out of the prelims. In that same event, Shareez Hamm finished 48.01 to take 13th overall.

Just fractions of a second kept Natalia Novak from reaching the final of the mile as she ran sub-4:50.00 for the second time this season at 4:49.83, but UC-Colorado Springs' Kate Hedlund edged her out with the final spot by way of a 4:49.06 mark.

Needing to run faster than 55.60 to be one of the eight to make the 400m final, Ombretta Picciolie Minkue Meye finished at 56.15 to take 17th individually through five preliminary heats.

Throughout much of her 800m prelim, Lina Hanich remained third and turned in a time of 2:17.27 across the line in 20th. Later in the distance medley relay, Hanich and Novak joined Delanie Dykes and Erine Collard for a new program record of 11:39.07, breaking the previous one that had stood since 2018. In the end, the Urban Knights ended up a little over five seconds from making it onto the podium.

Championship Saturday's action will begin locally at 3:05 p.m. CT (1:05 p.m. PT) with Ourega in the triple jump and progress through until the final event of the day, the women's 4x400m relay, at 8 p.m. CT (6 p.m. PT).