2023 Pacific West Conference Championships Results (Day 1)

AZUSA, Calif. – Emerging from a busy first day of the Pacific West Conference Championships for Academy of Art track & field were one 10-point scorer in Katharina Goetschl, who dominated the 3000m steeplechase, and Robin Black, who broke the conference record in the 100m dash prelims and the program record in the 110m hurdles prelims, as well as a host of other strong performances including runner-up finishes for Yacouba Gnacko and Marie-Jeanne Ourega in their respective long jump events on Friday inside Azusa Pacific's Cougar Stadium.

Through the first 600m of the steeplechase, Goetschl battled teammate Audrey Rosencrans for the lead, but moved in front permanently with one third of the race completed. Goetschl would cross the finish line at 10:46.90, nearly 20 full seconds faster than the next closest competitor, to claim the crown while Rosencrans added a point as well with her eighth-place result. Goetschl also joined three of her teammates, Grace Southern, Lina Hanich, and Michaela Andrews, in qualifying through the 1500m prelims.

In less than two hours, Black had broken two records. He began by taking over the top spot in the 110m hurdles with a 14.11 effort that put him 17th in the country as an Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier and first in program history by nearly 0.30 seconds. He was followed by Crockett Schooler's 14.18 mark that put him 21st in the nation and second in program history along with Shareez Hamm all inside the top six.

Black then led the ART U charge in the 100m dash, going an eye-popping 10.17 to not only elevate to sixth in the nation, but also break the meet record (10.23) set by Grand Canyon's Fred Taylor in 2013. Now second in Academy of Art history behind only Hall of Famer Mobolade Ajomale, Black will find three of his teammates in Saturday's final as Ajani Ince (10.42, top 30 in NCAA DII, fifth among Urban Knights historically), Duncan Agyemang (10.50), and Emmanuel Ajiroba (10.51) all placed in the top seven with Outdoor Nationals provisional marks. 

The best long jump of Gnacko's career came on his second attempt as he challenged Concordia's Dylan Fox at the top of the event. Going 24-8.25 (7.52m) for a top 12 Outdoor Nationals provisional mark (still third in ART U history), the Industrial Design major led until Fox's final jump which earned him the title after a new meet record of 24-9.25 (7.55m).

On the women's side of the long jump, Ourega was also contending for the top distance though Azusa Pacific's Nicole Warwick had the lead initially with a 20-10.75 (6.37m) effort. Ourega topped out at a 20-6.25 (6.23m) on her third try and ended up taking second overall. Meanwhile, in the 100m hurdles prelims, the Communications & Media Technologies major positioned herself third with a new personal record of 13.71, pushing her into the country's top 10 as an Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier for the fourth straight time this season.

The same trio of Urban Knights secured spots in the women's 100m and 200m dash finals as Selena Arjona-Alcazar (11.62), Britney Clark (11.66), and Darria Matthias started by taking three of the top four spots at 100m with Arjona-Alcazar first overall on the day and Clark's season best taking her into the nation's top 25 as an Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier. Thereafter in the 200m, they qualified in the same order with Arjona-Alcazar (23.89) in second, Clark (24.00) in fifth, and Matthias in eighth.

A new season best of 46.90 was turned in by Agyemang in the 400m prelims as half the qualifying spots were claimed by Academy of Art competitors. Agyemang's time upped him to top 10 in the country while Makarios Page was just off his top mark this year at 47.45 in fourth and Omodiaogbe Oboh plus Hamm were fifth and eighth respectively.

Four Outdoor Nationals provisional marks were delivered by five Knights in the quick men's 200m dash prelims which saw Ince ahead of the rest at 20.99, good for third in ART U history and top 20 in NCAA DII. Now fourth in program history and top 35 in the country, Agyemang followed at 21.18 while Ajiroba (21.18), Black (21.23), and Page were in the fourth, fifth, and seventh spots heading into Saturday's finale.

It was another three marks better than the Outdoor Nationals provisional standard in the men's 400m hurdles prelims as Schooler (52.98) and Black (53.02) were the top two along with Hamm (53.18) in fourth, adding to what will a busy day of competition coming tomorrow.

Lisa Redlinger made it three 10,000m races under the Outdoor Nationals provisional standard in three tries this season as she took third overall in the day's penultimate event. She would go 36:10.71 to add six points to her team's total.

Both Hudson Lockette and Conrad Heinemann scored points for Academy of Art while also qualifying through another event prelim on Friday. The 3000m steeplechase saw Lockette take sixth and Heinemann in seventh (moving to fifth in ART U history in the process) after the tandem collected the eighth and 10th spots in the 1500m prelims to reach the final.

Also qualifying in individual events, Southern was fourth and Hanich seventh in the 800m prelims while Vaughn Lacour put himself through in third out of the men's 800m prelims. Erine Collard's best 400m to date had her make the final at sixth in the prelims, a spot shared by Anna Belles Gallen in the prelims of the 400m hurdles.

The PacWest Conference Championships conclude tomorrow with a day of event finals beginning with field events at 10 a.m. and track events at noon.