NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships
Thursday, Friday, & Saturday, May 25-27, 2023
Pueblo, Colo. – CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl
Schedule | Start Lists - Men | Women
Live Results | Live Video (May 25) | Live Video (May 26) | Live Video (May 27)
USTFCCCA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Homepage

THE GRAND FINALE
Returning to the site where Academy of Art women's track & field captured its second National Championship, Urban Knights from both the men's and women's teams descend on CSU Pueblo's Thunderbowl in Colorado for the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships. ART U will contest a total of 13 events as 10 competitors from the men's team (ranked No. 8 nationally) will join five qualifiers from the women's team (ranked No. 13 nationally) in challenging the country's elite this week. Student-athletes will have an opportunity to earn All-American status and potentially an individual championship in all event finals taking place over the three days of action.

TOEING THE LINE
The championships will be held May 25-27 in Pueblo, Colorado at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl. CSU Pueblo will serve as the host of the championships. The following events will feature Urban Knights:
 

Thursday, May 25 (local times MT)	Friday, May 26 (local times MT)	Saturday, May 27 (local times MT, all event finals)
2:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. PT) - Women's Long Jump 4:50 p.m. (3:50 p.m. PT) - Women's 4x100m prelims 5:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. PT) - Men's 4x100m prelims 5:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. PT) - Men's Long Jump 5:55 p.m. (4:55 p.m. PT) - Men's 400m prelims 6:10 p.m. (5:10 p.m. PT) - Women's 100m prelims 6:25 p.m. (5:25 p.m. PT) - Men's 100m prelims 7:55 p.m. (6:55 p.m. PT) - Men's 400mH prelims	5:05 p.m. (4:05 p.m. PT) - Men's Triple Jump 5:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. PT) - Women's 200m prelims 6:35 p.m. (5:35 p.m.) - Women's 100mH prelims  8:10 p.m. (7:10 p.m. PT) - Men's 4x400m prelims	5:10 p.m. (4:10 p.m. PT) - Women's 4x100m 5:20 p.m. (4:20 p.m. PT) - Men's 4x100m 5:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. PT) - Women's Triple Jump 5:55 p.m. (4:55 p.m. PT) - Women's 100mH 6:25 p.m. (5:25 p.m. PT) - Men' s 400m 6:35 p.m. (5:35 p.m. PT) - Women's 100m 6:45 p.m. (5:45 p.m. PT) - Men's 100m 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. PT) - Men's 400mH 7:45 p.m. (6:45 p.m. PT) - Women's 200m 9:05 p.m. (8:05 p.m. PT) - Men's 4x400m

Live coverage will be available at the links above. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.
 
MJ MODE (100mH, LJ, TJ)
Marie-Jeanne Ourega comes into Outdoor Nationals as a 16-time All-American and three-time National Champion in just two plus competitive seasons. The Communications & Media Technologies major's first day of action will focus solely on the long jump event which she has won each of the last two seasons. A 21-0 (6.40m) distance earned Ourega the title in 2021 then she went 20-10.75 (6.37m) for the victory in 2022, but her lifetime best in the event came on the eve of Outdoor Nationals last season when she dropped a 21-7.25 (6.58m) with legal wind at the APU Last Chance. This year, the native of L'Haÿ-les-Roses, France has remained among the NCAA DII leaders with a season-best 20-9 (6.32m), which again came just before Outdoor Nationals at the APU Franson Last Chance on May 12, having her third in the country.

Later in the APU Franson Last Chance on May 13, Ourega achieved her fastest 100m hurdles time to date, going 13.49 to move up to fifth in Academy of Art history and sixth in the nation in the event. Potentially juggling the 100m hurdles final with the triple jump at the same time this Saturday, the one-time USTFCCCA DII National Outdoor Athlete of the Week and two-time PacWest Field Athlete of the Week (Mar. 22, Apr. 5) will look to capture her first National Championship outside of the long jump after posting a 42-0.5 (12.81m) triple jump at the Stanford Invitational on Apr. 1. Ourega's lifetime-best 42-4 (12.90m) earned her a runner-up finish at Outdoor Nationals last year and she remains back of only multi-time Hall of Famer Vashti Thomas in both the long jump (22-10.5 / 6.97m) and triple jump (43-1 / 13.13m) historically among ART U jumpers.

BLACK ON THE ATTACK (100m, 400mH)
Ready to cap a debut year loaded with achievements, PacWest Track Athlete of the Year Robin Black will go after his first All-American honors since joining Academy of Art at Outdoor Nationals this week. A 10-time All-Region honoree across his first indoor and outdoor seasons, the native of Clarendon, Jamaica achieved many of the marks that led him to qualify to this postseason at the PacWest Championships where he was the conference's Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet with over 28 points scored. There, Black went 10.17 in the 100m dash prelims on Apr. 28, elevating him to eighth in the nation and second only to ART U Hall of Famer Mobolade Ajomale (10.15) in program history. The Music Production & Sound Design for Visual Media major then captured the PacWest 400m hurdles title on Apr. 29, breaking the meet record with a 50.72 that has him fourth in the country this year as well as second only to teammate Shareez Hamm (50.52) in ART U history. Once the USTFCCCA DII National Outdoor Athlete of the Week, Black is also slated to run on both the Urban Knights' 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

ARJONA-ALCAZAR ACCELERATION (100m, 200m)
Just 0.42 seconds separated Selena Arjona-Alcazar from being the National Champion in the 200m dash at 2022 Outdoor Nationals and now the nine-time All-American prepares for a chance to stand atop the podium in 2023. After going 23.51 at the APU Franson Last Chance on May 13, the Communications & Media Technologies major pushed past defending champ Leah Belfield of West Texas A&M into eighth among the national rankings. Arjona-Alcazar's lifetime-best 23.40 at Outdoor Nationals last season remains second only to multi-time Hall of Famer Vashti Thomas (22.75) in program history. The Panama City, Panama native, however, leads all ART U competitors in the 100m dash with her 11.50 at last year's Outdoor Nationals not far ahead of the 11.54 on Apr. 29 that made the two-time PacWest Track Athlete of the Week (Apr. 5, Apr. 26) into a PacWest Champion this season. That mark put her 21st in the country coming into this postseason, but she turned the 13th position into a fifth-place finish in the event one year ago. Arjona-Alcazar is also slated to run on the Urban Knights' 4x100m relay.

JUMPMAN GNACKO (LJ, TJ)
The 2023 indoor and outdoor seasons have seen Yacouba Gnacko repeatedly achieve new personal records. Following his third All-American selection as runner-up to the National Champion in the triple jump, the native of Paris, France became just the second Urban Knight to appear on each of the program's top-five all-time lists in the quartet of indoor and outdoor horizontal jumps. The PacWest Field Athlete of the Year placed first in three of five jump events (and never lower than third) coming into the PacWest meet and there he started with a 24-8.25 (7.52m) to take second in the long jump on Apr. 28, putting himself in what would be 18th place nationally by the end of the regular season as well as fourth in Academy of Art history. One spot higher all-time among Urban Knights in the triple jump, the Industrial Design major once again stood atop the PacWest podium on Apr. 29 after a 52-3.25 (15.93m) which broke his own meet record. Elevating to second in NCAA DII, Gnacko wrapped up mid-May as a qualifier to Outdoor Nationals in both horizontal jumps.

TSHANI THE TRIPLE JUMP TITLEHOLDER (TJ)
The defending NCAA DII Outdoor Triple Jump Champion, Mathieu Tshani wrapped up his 2022 debut campaign as not just a two-time All-American, but also as the ART U record-holder with a 53-1.5 (16.19m) to capture the national title. Now in 2023, the Landscape Architecture major added another All-American honor during the indoor season before assuming the fourth spot in the country with a 51-10 (15.80m) mark at the Stanford Invitational on Apr. 1 to highlight his outdoor swan song thus far.

HI-REEZ (400mH)
Shareez Hamm is back at Outdoor Nationals to contest the 400m hurdles after taking fourth versus the best NCAA DII had to offer in 2022. The Photography major twice broke the program record in last year's finale, going 50.52 in the final to secure his third All-American honor before adding his fifth this past indoor season. Sitting 11th in the nation this year, Hamm's best mark of 2023 was a 51.23 on Apr. 29 that made him the runner-up to Black's PacWest title. Hamm is also slated to run on the Urban Knights' 4x400m relay.

THE AGYE-MAN-G FOR THE JOB (400m)
Entering Outdoor Nationals as a five-time All-American since joining Academy of Art last year, Duncan Agyemang will look to return to the podium in the 400m this week. Runner-up to the 2022 National Champion in the event, Agyemang broke an eight-year program record with his 45.80 to close last season and has since become the 400m PacWest Champion in 2023 with a season-best 46.90 on Apr. 29. The Communications & Media Technologies major ranked 16th in the country at the end of the regular season and is also slated to run on the Urban Knights' 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

FINAL FOURS (Women's 4x100m, Men's 4x100m & 4x400m)
The outdoor season began with the best women's 4x100m relay from the combined efforts from Britney Clark, Darria Matthias, Alicia Thomas, and Selena Arjona-Alcazar. Going 44.82 at the Stanford Invitational on Apr. 1, the Urban Knights immediately put themselves fourth in ART U history and among the nation's leaders before ending the regular season ranked third overall. When those same four passed the baton one month later on Apr. 29, it would be to become PacWest Champions in the event.

On the men's side of the 4x100m relay, the quartet of Ajani Ince, Robin Black, Emmanuel Ajiroba, and Duncan Agyemang twice broke the program record this season. After a 40.24 at the Mt. SAC Relays on Apr. 14, the Knights lowered their best to 39.97 en route to capturing the PacWest title in the event on Apr. 29. Academy of Art, one of just seven programs to deliver sub-40.00 marks in 2023, finished the regular season at seventh in the country.

ART U made history in the 4x400m relay just over one month ago when Makarios Page, Robin Black, Shareez Hamm, and Duncan Agyemang clocked a 3:05.20 across the line on Apr. 15 to close out the Mt. SAC Relays. The mark, which displaced a program record that had stood for nearly a decade, registered as the sixth-fastest time in NCAA DII history and has kept the quartet in the nation's top spot by more than three seconds for the season's duration. Crockett Schooler and Omodiaogbe Oboh will serve as alternates for the men's relays.