2024 Spokane Indoor Challenge Results

SPOKANE, Wash. – An eventful second day of the Spokane Indoor Challenge featured plenty of Academy of Art track & field Urban Knights elevating into the country's top 10 with NCAA Division II Indoor Nationals provisional qualifications coming throughout Saturday's meet inside The Podium.

Adding two more 60m dash sub-7.56 times to her collection of now six this season, Juvonna Cornette qualified through the prelims in the second spot (7.54q) out of 23 sprinters then, not only did she win the final, but did so with a scorching 7.41 that slots fifth among Indoor Nationals provisional qualifiers this season. The time was 0.01 seconds from the ART U record shared by multi-time Hall of Famer Vashti Thomas and Selena Arjona-Alcazar while Toni-Ann Lindsay, who was fifth in the prelims (7.60q), took a significant step forward from her December debut in the event, going 7.50 (tied for fourth in program history) in the final for third on the day and 13th in the country.

Each of the three events that Shareez Hamm competed in were highlighted by Indoor Nationals qualifications. He began with a 47.47 in the 400m that bested his season-best mark from the Spokane Sports Showcase while putting him seven spots higher at fourth in the nation and fifth in Academy of Art history. Just his second 200m race in the last two years was a memorable one as he delivered a new lifetime best of 21.47 to match Ajani Ince's time from the prior day as not only ninth in NCAA DII, but also fourth in program history.

On the men's side of the 60m dash, Robin Black took first of 23 in the prelims at 6.82 then followed that up with a second-place finish to Whitworth's Solo Hines after going 6.84 in the final. Black remains 12th in the country following his 6.77 at the GVSU Holiday Open.

The men's 4x400m relay began with a pair of sub-48.00 legs from Hamm and Black before Ince and Josh Marlin closed out a strong 3:12.33 mark with NCAA DI opponents like San Jose State and Montana in tow. The quartet placed first of 13 overall and gave Academy of Art its second Indoor Nationals provisional qualification among the top five in the country. 

Triple jumpers Marie-Jeanne Ourega and Yacouba Gnacko both emerged with dominant first place finishes on Saturday. Each leading from start to finish while turning in their best marks on their respective fifth and sixth attempts, Ourega's 41-5.75 (12.64m) put her third in the nation while Gnacko's 49-5.5 (15.07m) took him up to eighth in NCAA DII, both as Indoor Nationals provisional qualifiers.

After reaching the final of the 60m hurdles with a lifetime-best 8.87 that had her third of 20 overall, Yanique White proceeded to improve upon that mark by going 8.84 in the final. The fastest time of her career put her sixth on the day and matched the Indoor Nationals provisional standard to settle her at 21st in the country.

Of the 50 total sprinters in the women's 200m, the first to finish was Lauryn James at 24.65, bettering a field that included professional athlete Kyla Richardson by 0.18 seconds. James can be found sixth in the country in the event with her 24.27 debut mark from December.

"It was great to get back to competition after the winter break," said Director of Track & Field Kevin LaSure. "Shareez had a really impressive weekend with personal bests in both the 200m and 400m as well as top 10 national performances in both events. As our leader, Shareez really set the tone for the men's team this weekend. Juvonna and Lauryn had good wins in the 60m and 200m respectively, against some really tough early season competition. The women's DMR ran well on Friday night in our first time running it this season. Overall, it was a step in the right direction for the program and we look to build on what we learned this weekend."

With its stay in Washington complete, ART U will now prepare for Pitt State's Rumble in the Jungle Invitational on Jan. 19 in Kansas which will take place at the eventual site of Indoor Nationals.