2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Nationals Results

EMPORIA, Kan. – Academy of Art track & field's Shareez Hamm hoisted championship gold on Saturday, winning the 400m hurdles as one of 16 total All-American honors earned by the Urban Knights inside Emporia State's Francis G. Welch Stadium to conclude NCAA Division II Outdoor Nationals.

As the sun began to set on a day loaded with stellar performances, Hamm shined brighter than ever in the men's 400m hurdles. He made his move early, pushing to the front of the field and holding that position around the final curve with three hurdles to go. The Photography major held off Cal Poly Pomona's Ryan Fields down the stretch and ultimately crossed the finish line first overall with a new personal record 49.97. Teammate Josh Marlin was in his own battle through the ending straightaway and secured fifth overall with a 51.09 mark.

"It meant the world to me to become a National Champion, but I owe it all to God because without Him none of this would be possible," Hamm said. "This shows the younger generation from where I am from that anything is possible if you believe in yourself and put God first. My main goal is to get one percent better each day. It took a lot of hard work during the fall and spring semesters, staying consistent with training and showing up every day no matter how I am feeling or whatever is going in my life."

Officially the 30th NCAA DII National Champion in Academy of Art history, Hamm delivered the second-fastest time in ART U history (the fastest by an Urban Knight in a collegiate race) and became an eight-time All-American with the performance while Marlin picked up his second All-American honor with Academy of Art.

"Shareez is one of the most coachable athletes and one of the best leaders I've ever had the pleasure to work with," said Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Kevin LaSure. "There aren't many more deserving of what he accomplished today and I am extremely proud of him. It was a great way for him to finish his college career and it couldn't happen to a better person. This was the goal at the beginning of the season and, even when it didn't look so promising, he stayed the course and continued to trust the work we were putting in day in and day out."

Hamm would return less than two hours later to initiate the Knights' 4x400m relay, running strong to hand off to Omodiaogbe Oboh before Ajani Ince and Marlin ultimately combined to run the third-fastest time in program history at 3:08.53. The effort put Academy of Art into a photo finish with Mississippi College for third place which the Choctaws ended up winning by 0.006 seconds. ART U's fourth-place finish overall still scored five points for the team and solidified the quartet as All-Americans.

One of the first Academy of Art competitors in action on Saturday, Yacouba Gnacko got himself into the final round of the triple jump with a 51-6.5 (15.71m) mark on his second attempt. Still fourth overall approaching the final jump, the native of Paris, France proceeded to elevate to 51-8.5 (17.75m), his second-farthest distance of the season, but others also saved their best for last, pushing him to fifth by the event's end. Competing in both horizontal jumps for the second time at Outdoor Nationals in his career, Gnacko would become an eight-time All-American with the result.

The women's 4x100m relay final featured three teams from the Pacific West Conference as ART U's combination of Marie-Jeanne Ourega, Lauryn James, Toni-Ann Lindsay, and Juvonna Cornette sprinted alongside Azusa Pacific and Fresno Pacific. Fourth overall with the baton in Cornette's hand, the Knights kept that position down the stretch, finishing with a time of 44.79 that, in addition to earning the team fourth, was tied for fourth best in program history. With the performance, Ourega earned the 23rd All-American honor of her legendary career.

Individual success also awaited Cornette on Saturday. Returning to the track for the 100m dash a little over an hour after anchoring Academy of Art's relay, she blazed to a new ART U record of 11.34, breaking her own top mark from two days prior and claiming fifth overall in the event final. James, who was six lanes over from Cornette in the race, went 11.54 and ended up eighth overall as a four-time All-American.

Cornette was not yet done, having just over an hour to prepare for the 200m dash final. She emerged from that race as a six-time All-American in her career (three on the day) with a blistering 23.22 time that represented the Guyana native's fastest wind-legal mark to date. Cornette soon wrapped up a busy afternoon in the podium's sixth place spot.

Prior to his contributing leg of the 4x100m relay, Ince was hard at work in both the 100m and 200m dashes. The Architecture major began his day by placing seventh in the 100m with a 10.26 time that was the second-fastest of his career after his personal record had come in Thursday's prelims. Off the track for only one hour and 15 minutes before he contested the 200m, Ince proceeded to take sixth overall at 20.94, becoming a six-time All-American in his career when the afternoon had concluded.

A strong start to the 5000m was turned in by Katharina Goetschl as she steadily moved up to third then first by the opening 600m of the race. Despite holding that top position through 1000m, she would cede it to Seattle Pacific's Annika Esvelt at the 1400m mark and eventually dropped as low as 12th by the 3000m checkpoint. Goetschl, who had competed in 3000m steeplechase races each of the previous two days, still finished as an All-American, keeping that spot and taking 12th across the finish line with a time of 17:21.95.

"Overall it was a really good weekend," LaSure said. "Things didn't go as well as we had hoped for in every event, but we left with a lot of personal bests and a lot finishes higher than we were ranked coming in. Everyone stepped up with Marie-Jeanne, Katharina, Juvonna, Lauryn, Toni-Ann, Yacouba, Ajani, Shareez, Josh, and Omodiaogbe all finishing in the top eight in their respective events and earning All-American trophies. With many of those athletes returning next season, the future is extremely bright for the program and I look forward to watching them grow from this experience."

Achieving their third-highest Outdoor Nationals placement in program history, the ART U men's team collectively scored 30 points (its highest total since 2018). The Urban Knights, who came in ranked No. 15 nationally, finished well ahead of that projection in eighth overall and second in the West Region behind PacWest Champion Azusa Pacific (32 points) in a tie for sixth with Wingate (32 points), but ahead of Albany State (24 points) and Lee (Tenn.) (24 points) as well as fellow PacWest member Fresno Pacific (23 points).

The women delivered their fourth-highest Outdoor Nationals total with 19 points, putting them now 13th or higher in three of the last four seasons. Also second out of the West Region and among PacWest schools to PacWest Champion Azusa Pacific (44 points) in third, Academy of Art finished 13th overall in a tie with Lincoln (Mo.) (19 points) but ahead of Fresno Pacific (18 points) and U-Mary (15 points).

With the ART U track & field season now having reached its conclusion, make sure to check www.ARTUAthletics.com for all the latest news and information.