2025 PacWest Championships Results (Day 1)
FRESNO, Calif. – The start to the Pacific West Conference Championships saw multiple Urban Knights step onto the podium as Academy of Art track & field had both
Yacouba Gnacko's long jump and
G'nea Pitt's javelin throw earn them both top two finishes at Ramirez Field on Friday.
Though Concordia's Dylan Fox was the leader one attempt into the long jump, Gnacko soon found himself tied for first of 21 jumpers after both coincidentally posted the same mark, 24-7.75 (7.51m), in their respective fourth attempts. Though Fox would earn the title based on his second longest leap bettering that of Gnacko, the season-best performance for the Industrial Design major, his third time on the All-PacWest Team, elevated him into the top 10 in the country as an Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier.
Riding the momentum of a season-best 140-2 (42.74m) on her last javelin throw before the final round, Pitt extended that mark with a 141-2 (43.04m) two attempts later. The Communications & Media Technologies major ended in second out of 18 competitors as well as a top 30 Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier.
The only other Knight to score for her team on Friday was
Jaylen Walker in the long jump. Her second attempt at 18-0.5 (5.50m) earned her fifth of 24 overall with four points to her name.
Sharing the same heat,
Josh Marlin and
Robin Black each turned in Outdoor Nationals provisional marks in the 400m hurdles prelims. Marlin ended up the leader of 16 hurdlers after his 51.46 season best put him among the nation's top 10. Black ended up fourth overall out of the two heats with his 52.57.
More Knights could be found among the upper tier of their respective prelims as
Tre'Sean Bouie not only qualified to the final in the second spot of 22 competitors at 400m, but his 46.80 effort was also an Outdoor Nationals provisional that is 11th in the nation and fourth in ART U history.
Tariq Dacres will join Bouie in the event on Saturday after taking seventh by way of a 49.11 time.
Bouie's best 200m of the year, 21.29, also put him through to the 200m final where
Ajani Ince will also toe the line. Ince, owner of a 21.10 mark, was just in front of his fourth-place teammate in the third spot of 21 out of the prelims. Additionally, Ince improved his season-best 100m time by more than 0.10 seconds by going 10.41 for second of 16 in the prelims and top 40 in the country as an Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier.
First in the 800m prelims by more than a full second,
Lina Hanich turned in a time of 2:11.22 to lead the 22-runner field. Teammates
Michaela Andrews (2:13.07) and
Grace Southern (2:14.92) took fourth and ninth respectively to add their names to Saturday's final. Both Hanich and Southern were also among the top five out of 20 others in the 1500m, going 4:38.70 and 4:39.32 respectively.
The men's 800m prelims had a pair of Knights at the forefront as
Vaughn Lacour and
Ethan Forbes both ran sub-1:54.00 times to pace the group of 22. Lacour went 1:52.04 for the top result and Forbes was a few steps behind at 1:53.79. Saturday has Forbes in the 1500m as well following his sixth-place 3:58.29 in the prelims on Friday.
Tresley Love qualified through to the 400m final, taking seventh of 23 overall with a time of 56.04 across the finish line.
On the opening day of the heptathlon,
Maika Cuenca-Andreo sits in the fifth spot of 12 after her third-place results in both the 100m hurdles (15.08) and 200m (25.96) stood out among the first four events.
The Knights will finish up the PacWest Championships tomorrow back in Fresno.
