2025 USTFCCCA Indoor Regional Award Winners
NEW ORLEANS – Following another indoor season marked by national achievements, Academy of Art track & field had one student-athlete and one coaches earn regional recognition as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Friday. Indoor West Region selections featured
Yacouba Gnacko as Men's Field Athlete of the Year while Director of Track & Field/Cross Country
Kevin LaSure was awarded Men's Coach of the Year.
In his 10th year at ART U's helm, LaSure was the West Region's Coach of the Year after the men's team earned the
highest finish of any West Region team at Indoor Nationals (18th overall). A total of six All-American honors emerged from the finale including Gnacko in the triple jump,
Ajani Ince in the 200m, and the men's 4x400m relay. As a whole, the indoor season featured multiple new program records, 13 Indoor Nationals provisional qualifications, and
18 separate All-Region selections all before five Urban Knights visited the podium in Indianapolis.
Remaining among the top NCAA Division II triple jumpers for the entirety of the season, Gnacko proceeded to challenge for a national title in the postseason. The Industrial Design major surpassed 50-0 (15.24m) feet at four different meets including his best, a 50-8 (15.44m), fittingly at the Last Chance Indoor National Qualifier on
Mar. 2. That mark had him fifth in the country heading into
Indoor Nationals (first in the West Region) where he held the top spot for multiple rounds and ended up third overall to become a nine-time All-American. Gnacko, who garnered two
All-Region selections after a season-best 23-4 (7.11m) at the Silver State Invite/Multi on
Dec. 6 kept him with the region's fourth-best distance, concluded his indoor campaign with seven top-2 finishes across both horizontal jump events.
This is specifically the seventh West Region Men's Indoor Coach of the Year honor in LaSure's career (11th combining the indoor and outdoor men's and women's sides). For Gnacko it is the second time he has earned this honor in his career after first doing so in
2024.
