PacWest Weekly Awards (Apr. 12)

IRVINE, Calif. – Following their top seven national triple jump performances at Cal's Brutus Hamilton Invitational, Academy of Art track & field's Yacouba Gnacko and Marie-Jeanne Ourega earned Pacific West Conference Men's and Women's Field Athlete of the Week awards on Tuesday.

Inside Edwards Stadium on Apr. 9, Gnacko kept himself in NCAA Division II's upper tier by bettering his previous best in the triple jump by more than a full foot. The Paris, France native took flight for a 49-7 (15.11m) mark in his third attempt, putting him sixth in the country and ever closer to the program's top four distances. 

Up against a primarily NCAA DI field like Gnacko, Ourega placed second out of the 15 triple jumpers there after going 40-5 (12.32m) on her fourth attempt. It was not only a season-best for the native of L'Haÿ-les-Roses, France, but also elevated her into a tie for seventh in the nation.

This is the second PacWest Field Athlete of the Week honor of the season for Ourega (first was Apr. 5) and the fourth in her career while Gnacko collects his first career PacWest track & field weekly honor.