2023 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships Results

PUEBLO, Colo. – Academy of Art track & field appeared in the top two spots of the podium for the second consecutive day as Friday's NCAA Division II Outdoor Nationals action featured Yacouba Gnacko in the runner-up position to the National Champion in the triple jump out at CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.

Following a weather delay that pushed events back between 30 minutes to an hour, Gnacko was ready to challenge the 18-competitor field in the triple jump. The Industrial Design major took just two jumps to rocket to the second spot on the leaderboard, completing 51-8.25 (15.75m) on his second attempt before bettering that mark with a 52-2 (15.90m) to ensure his place as one of the nine finalists.

Gnacko would remain 50-11.5 (15.53m) or better in his next two trips down the runway, but could not catch Adams State's Papay Glaywulu who earned the title after never bettering a 53-0 (16.15m) on his first try. Including his finish in the long jump on Thursday, Gnacko ends his sophomore campaign as a five-time All-American.

The prelims of the women's 200m dash saw some impressive times with strong wind, but a small fraction of a second would keep Selena Arjona-Alcazar from making the final. Her time of 23.53 along with West Texas A&M's Corrssia Perry's 23.47 from the same heat were held off by identical 23.46 marks from Leah Graybill of Shippensburg and Kya Epps of Walsh. In 11th of 22 sprinters overall and just 0.02 seconds from her season-best, Arjona-Alcazar was still able to become an Second Team All-American, getting her to double digits with 10 in her career.

In the men's 4x400m relay prelims to close out the day's events, it was ART U's Makarios Page, Omodiaogbe Oboh, Crockett Schooler, and Shareez Hamm who combined against strong opposition. The quartet was looking to reach the final based on time, but their 3:12.09 had them 11th overall and thus a little over a second back of Limestone's 3:10.53 in ninth.

Outdoor Nationals' Championship Saturday will start with Academy of Art in the women's and men's 4x100m relay finals (4:10 p.m. PT, 4:20 p.m. PT) then continues with Marie-Jeanne Ourega in the triple jump (4:30 p.m. PT), Duncan Agyemang in the 400m (5:25 p.m. PT), Robin Black in the 100m (5:45 p.m. PT), and Black and Hamm in the 400m hurdles (6:30 p.m. PT).