2024 Pacific West Conference Championships Results

MONTECITO, Calif. – Making it a grand total of 12 events won at the Pacific West Conference Championships, Academy of Art track & field concluded Saturday's action with plenty of trips to the podium out at Westmont Track & Thorrington Field. Leading the way for the third-place women's team, Lauryn James and Marie-Jeanne Ourega were named PacWest Most Outstanding Track & Field Athletes of the Meet.

James, who was responsible for 22.5 total points for the Urban Knights, claimed individual gold in the 200m dash where she delivered a 23.51 time followed by Juvonna Cornette's third-place 23.87 and Toni-Ann Lindsay's fifth-place 24.29. James was also one of three Knights inside the top four in the 100m dash with Cornette taking that title at a wind-legal 11.50 followed by James' 11.55 in second and Lindsay's 11.66 in fourth.

That trio of Knights served as integral parts of both Academy of Art relays on Saturday as the collection of Lindsay, Cornette, Lina Hanich, and James emerged from the 4x400m as champions, going 3:40.65 to break the facility record, push the second-fastest time in ART U history, and rise to eighth in the country as Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifiers. Lindsay, James, and Cornette also combined with Darria Matthias for a second-place finish in the 4x100m, ending at 44.96 to enter the nation's top five.

Successfully defending her triple jump title for the second consecutive season, Ourega was well in front of the nine-jumper field after just her second attempt. The Communications & Media Technologies major went 40-1.25 (12.22m) on that try and was able to best the competition by a full foot, elevating to 17th in the country as an Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier. Ourega matched her pair of wins in the horizontal jumps from 2022, earning her 20 total points toward ART U's team score and securing her second career PacWest Most Outstanding Field Athlete of the Meet honor.

The last two years had seen only one name atop the field in the men's triple jump and, on Saturday, Yacouba Gnacko made it three straight. He saved his best mark of the day for his third attempt, reaching the final round as the event leader at 50-2.75 (15.31m). That distance held up the rest of the way, giving him his third consecutive title in three tries by nearly three feet.

Continuing another impressive multi-year run, the Academy of Art men's 4x100m relay tasted gold for the eighth straight occasion as Nathaniel Mark, Ajani Ince, Shareez Hamm, and Emmanuel Ajiroba claimed the title by almost a full second with a time of 40.33. The new facility record was the Knights' fourth time under the Outdoor Nationals provisional standard this year and would have them among the country's top 13 if not for their 40.01 season-best from a little over two weeks ago.

Two of those relay members were also in the top 4x400m quartet with Hamm and Ince joining Omodiaogbe Oboh and Josh Marlin for ART U's second consecutive year breaking the meet record. Strong throughout the four trips around the track, the Knights posted a 3:08.56 mark which, in addition to being a new meet and facility record, was second in Academy of Art history and returned the team to top five in the nation this season.

The top finisher in the men's 100m dash for the first time in his career, Ince pushed just ahead of Dominican's Wakilli Bennett for the 10.41 victory mark. Those 10 points combined with eight from Ince in the 200m dash where his 20.73 personal record made the Architecture major a runner-up as well as seventh in the country as an Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier. Ajiroba took fourth in the event.

Quickly ahead of the competition in the women's 800m, Hanich had no problem capturing her first individual conference championship, finishing at 2:08.79 across the line. Just a fraction of a second from both the meet record and her outdoor personal record, Hanich nonetheless won by more than two seconds as Michaela Andrews took third with the second-fastest outdoor time of her career at 2:11.45, making her an Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier.

From one dominant victory to another, Katharina Goetschl wasted no time jumping out to a lead in the 5000m, only continuing to push the pace throughout. In the end, she crossed the finish line at 16:56.86 with a 37-second gap between her and second place as the Industrial Design major set a new facility record and her first won her second event in as many days.

Both the men's 400m and 400m hurdles had Marlin deliver season-bests while claiming runner-up finishes. He initially went 47.19 for a top-20 Outdoor Nationals provisional mark in the 400m, taking second just ahead of Oboh's own season-best 47.54. Later in the 400mH, Marlin and Hamm each ran their first sub-51.00 marks of the year at 50.68 and 50.77 respectively for second and third overall, keeping the country's top five all from the NCAA DII West Region with Fresno Pacific's Kalobe Jimenez (50.59), the PacWest Champion, atop the list.

In addition to contributing to the men's overall score with a fifth-place finish, Vaughn Lacour bettered the 800m personal record he set last year by nearly two full seconds with a time of 1:51.85 in Saturday's final.

Jason Bayindoula matched his season-best with a clearance of 6-5.5 (1.97m) in the high jump, earning him fifth overall while teammate Elijah Roberts added an eighth-place result.

Among the team scores, the Knights finished third on the women's side with 119 points while the ART U men took fifth with 95 points (12 points from a tie for third between Biola and Concordia at 107 points apiece). Team titles were secured by Azusa Pacific as the Cougars' got 218 points from its women's squad and 243 points from its men.

With competition in the month of April now complete, Academy of Art will have two more weeks of meets to qualify for Outdoor Nationals beginning with the Oxy Invitational on May 4.