PacWest Athletes of the Week (Mar. 19) – Women | Men

IRVINE, Calif. – Emerging from the Hornet Invitational with some of the country's best marks, Academy of Art track & field's Lauryn James, Yacouba Gnacko, and Shareez Hamm were named PacWest Track & Field Athletes of the Week on Tuesday. The awards are for meets from March 11-17.

Fresh of becoming a six-time All-American with his fifth-place finish in the triple jump at Indoor Nationals, Gnacko not only placed first in the triple jump on Mar. 15, but elevated himself to first in the country as the first of three Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifiers as well. Soaring to a 51-0 (15.54m) on his third attempt, the newly-named West Region Indoor Field Athlete of the Year was well in front of one competitor from NCAA Division I Stanford as well as a pair from Cal in the 20-jumper field. 

Carrying the momentum from an All-American indoor season that saw him named West Region Track Athlete of the Year, Hamm started Mar. 16 by posting the fastest 400m hurdles time by a NCAA Division II student-athlete this season, going 51.65 to take first among collegiate competitors in the field at the meet. That effort was later followed by the Photography major leading off an impressive 4x400m relay with Omodiaogbe Oboh, Ajani Ince, and Josh Marlin posting the second-fastest time in ART U history at 3:09.76. The mark firmly placed the Urban Knights in the top spot in the nation, more than four seconds under the Outdoor Nationals provisional standard, and second only to the program record of 3:05.20 set last April.

An All-American and West Region Track Athlete of the Year to finish her first indoor season with the program, James began her outdoor campaign by running the third-fastest 200m in ART U history at 23.85 on Mar. 15, putting her second in the country as an Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier. She followed that up on Mar. 16 with an 11.74 in the 100m dash, which came in a heat containing four NCAA Division I opponents, to hold the fourth position in the country among Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifiers.

A busy afternoon also had James combine with Juvonna Cornette, Darria Matthias, and Toni-Ann Lindsay for the fastest time by a NCAA DII 4x100m relay this season at 45.47, making them Outdoor National provisional qualifiers before the combination of James with Cornette, Hanich, and Lindsay went 3:45.75 in the 4x400m relay, ending the day second in the nation as provisional qualifiers for the season finale once more.

This is the second PacWest weekly honor in the careers of Gnacko and Hamm (first of the season) while it is the first for James.