SAN FRANCISCO – Featuring impressive performances throughout full indoor and outdoor schedules, the 2022 Academy of Art University track & field season was highlighted by two individual NCAA National Champions, 32 All-American trophies, and Pacific West Conference titles in nine different events. Led by Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Kevin LaSure and his coaching staff, the Urban Knights marked their respective indoor and outdoor campaigns with a total of 17 new school records (six indoor, 11 outdoor) along the way.

"The season overall was a success and a step in the right direction for both programs," LaSure said. "I think both teams learned a lot about themselves both individually and as a team. I believe the student-athletes are beginning to see what they can accomplish collectively as a team on the national level, and we are beginning to see that in their daily actions. We had many record-breaking performances this season and had several student-athletes perform well against some of the best competition in the country."

Competing in three meets across two days on the East Coast, ART U debuted on Jan. 15 with strong initial performances in jump events at the St. Thomas Aquinas Spartan Invitational plus a new 4x200m relay record from Ombretta Picciolie Minkue Meye, Darria Matthias, Selena Arjona-Alcazar, and Hava Turner at the MLK Collegiate Relays. Another Academy of Art record came at the TCNJ Lions Indoor Invitational on Jan. 15 where Natalia Novak's 3000m effort led four total Indoor Nationals provisional marks.

Seven new provisional efforts, including Duncan Agyemang's strong first 400m in an ART U uniform as well as Marie-Jeanne Ourega and Mathieu Tshani's best triple jumps of the regular season, followed at the Division 2 Rumble In The Jungle on Jan. 21. The Hillsdale Wide-Track Classic then closed out the month as Arjona-Alcazar took a big step forward with her 60m personal record on the first day (Jan. 28) before the quartet of Delanie Dykes, Minkue Meye, Lina Hanich, and Novak offered a positive sign of things to come in the distance medley relay on Jan. 29.

As the Urban Knights progressed with more improvements at the GVSU Snowdown Showdown on Feb. 4, a pivotal week followed with action split across the Indoor Gorilla and Tyson Invitational. A 5000m program record for Audrey Rosencrans plus performances that helped Arjona-Alcazar (200m), Ourega (long jump), and the DMR team of Dykes, Alice Coisne, Hanich, and Novak all reach Indoor Nationals all came on Feb. 11. That was incredibly followed up on Feb. 12 by Arjona-Alcazar matching multi-time Hall of Famer Vashti Thomas' program record in the 60m.

In the final tune-up before the indoor finale, Academy of Art returned to the country's northeast for the Fastrack Last Chance Invitational and BU Last Chance Meet. Starting in Staten Island, N.Y. on Feb. 25, Novak delivered a new program record in the mile, Minkue Meye turned in the second-fastest 400m time in program history, Arjona-Alcazar solidifying her future contention for the 200m title, and the tandem of Agyemang and Shareez Hamm offered two times within ART U's top five historically. Those tremendous marks gave way to an avalanche on the regular season's last day where Novak broke her own 3000m record, Hanich ran ART U's best 800m to date, Yacouba Gnacko broke through in the triple jump, and both the men's and women's 4x400m relays elevated into the nation's top two.

It would be busy back-to-back days of Indoor Nationals back in Pittsburg, Kansas as Academy of Art first had Ourega, who would go on to be named West Region Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, post a personal record towards her runner-up finish to the long jump national champion on Mar. 11. Precisely 0.02 seconds then separated Arjona-Alcazar from an individual title in the 200m on Mar. 12, but she ended two of the day's 11 All-American trophies which included Ourega, Tshani, and Gnacko in their respective triple jump competitions as well as Agyemang in the 400m plus with Makarios Page, Ajani Ince, and Hamm in the 4x400m.

"We opened up the Indoor season pretty well in New York and carried some of that momentum throughout the Indoor season," LaSure said. "But I don't believe the team truly saw what we could accomplish as a group until the end of the indoor season as they began to see all of the scoring opportunities we had entering Indoor Nationals. With Marie-Jeanne and Selena both scoring double-digit points at the Indoor Championships, the team saw what we could accomplish if everyone else just did their part. The men got a test of what the competition was like at the national level as every individual qualifier was competing at Indoor Nationals for their first time. The indoor season was a much-needed experience in the growth of both teams."

Shifting its focus to the subsequent outdoor season, the Urban Knights battled rainy conditions, but opened among the nation's leaders in several events at the Cardinal Classic on Mar. 19. Then time was divided across the Mike Fanelli Track Classic in San Francisco and the Stanford Invitational during the change of months where each day featured breakout performances including Saba Khvichava in the 3000m steeplechase on Mar. 31, Ourega rising to the top DII spot in both the 100m hurdles and long jump on Apr. 1, then Tshani emphatically breaking the program record in the triple jump on Apr. 2. All three would earn PacWest Athlete of the Week awards for their performances.

Cal's Brutus Hamilton Invitational on Apr. 9 was the site of Ourega and Gnacko's elevation into the country's top seven in their respective triple jumps which resulted in both being named PacWest Field Athletes of the Week then three successive days in Southern California for the Bryan Clay Invitational and Mt. SAC Relays brought a bit of déjà vu as memorable efforts stood out each time the Knights stepped onto the track. Rosencrans began by breaking the program's 10,000m record on Apr. 14, Tshani followed with more triple jump history on Apr. 15, then both women's and men's 4x100m relay teams made nationally-significant moves upward on Apr. 16 (Hamm would earn PacWest Track Athlete of the Week for his strong hurdles times in addition to his relay leg).

Closing in on the postseason, Academy of Art spent two days of the PacWest Championships winning nine different event titles starting with Ourega defending her long jump crown on Apr. 29. Ourega added another championship in the triple jump on Apr. 30 while Tshani won the men's version of the event, Daniel Cortes Gonzalez paced first in the high jump, Novak defender her title in the 1500m, the women's 4x400m team of Coisne, Minkue Meye, Arjona-Alcazar, and Erine Collard topped the podium, and Hamm swept the 100mH and 400mH events plus contributed to the Knights' 4x100m crown with Agyemang, Kaze Poitier, and Daquan Berry.

"What stood out most to me during the outdoor season was how the team started to come together and compete for one another, trust each other, and believe in themselves and their ability to successful at the highest level," LaSure said. "The results this outdoor season were a direct result of the work each of them put into their daily routine. The beauty of this sport is that for the most part, you get out of it what you put into it. So nine out of 10 times the performances you see at the end of the season are a reflection of everything the student-athletes have done throughout the year, starting in the summer."

The month of May brought two more weekends for Knights to qualify for Outdoor Nationals with the Oxy Invitational on May 7 followed by the APU Last Chance Meet spanning May 13 and May 14. Rosencrans continued her run improving on program records with more in the 3000m steeplechase and 10,000m while Novak and Abdelouakil Mustapha each walked away with the program's fastest 800m races while solidifying trips to Nationals all before an exciting final day of the regular season. The best long jump of Ourega's career, a top-three national mark for the women's 4x100m, top-10 times for Novak (1500m) and Khvichava (3000m steeplechase), and a big step forward for Alisha Wilson were just some of the many highlights wrapping things up in Azusa.

Following two weeks of preparation, Academy of Art then made the trip to Michigan for Outdoor Nationals where more history was delivered. Ourega once more opened by repeating as National Champion in the long jump on May 26 before taking center stage with triple jump personal record en route to a runner-up finish to the champ on May 27 all while Knights steadily qualified through their event prelims. The grand finale on May 28 featured another National Champion in Tshani, the eventual West Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year, who dramatically captured the triple jump crown on his final attempt. On the track, Ourega, who was later the West Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year, became the High Point Athlete of the Meet for her 25.5 points via All-American results in the 100m hurdles along with Matthias, Minkue Meye, and Arjona-Alcazar in the 4x100m.

Individually, Arjona-Alcazar was again a fraction of a second from the 200m National Championship while adding a top-five result in the 100m. Eight-year 400m program records fell thanks to stellar All-American performances by Agyemang (prior to garnering West Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year honors) and Wilson while Hamm broke an ART U top time that had stood for five years in the 400mH. For the first time in program history, both ART U programs placed in the top 10 overall with the women's fourth-place finish marking their best since winning the team title in their first year eligible to do so in 2013.
 
"Each season we set out with a goal of both teams making the podium," LaSure said. "So to have both teams finish in the top 10 with every scorer returning next season shows us that we are moving in the right direction."

On the heels of completing the program's 14th year, Academy of Art will look to continue its tradition of success in 2022-23.

"The future of the program is extremely bright and, as a coaching staff and program overall, we are excited to see what this group can accomplish when it's all said and done," LaSure said. "But it starts with the work you put in. We are far from satisfied and we know there is a lot of work ahead of us to become the program we strive to be."