IRVINE, Calif. – Following one of the strongest PacWest Championships in conference history, where meet records were broken in 17 of the 42 events, the PacWest coaches voted on the conference awards with Azusa Pacific and Fresno Pacific each winning four, while Academy of Art won three.
 
For men's track & field, Shareez Hamm from Academy of Art won Track Athlete of the Year, while Azusa Pacific's Jermel Jones II was voted the Field Athlete of the Year. For the women, Kyla Richardson from Fresno Pacific is the Track Athlete of the Year, and Marie-Jeanne Ourega from Academy of Art is the Field Athlete of the Year. Azusa Pacific head coach Jack Hoyt led the Cougars to both PacWest titles and was named the Coach of the Year for the men and Co-Coach of the Year on the women's side with Ray Winter from Fresno Pacific.
 
Of the 17 PacWest records broken at the PacWest Championships, seven of them were in women's track, which had a strong field of candidates this year. Richardson, who has established herself as the best sprinter in NCAA Division II going into nationals, earned the award after setting three PacWest records herself at the conference meet. She won the 100-meter dash in 11.31 seconds, beating defending national champion Mechaela Hyacinth, who ran the second-best mark in the country behind Richardson in that race. She also won the 200-meter dash in 23.12 seconds, which also leads the country. Fresno Pacific's 4x100 relay team ranks third in the nation after running a record-setting time of 44.92 seconds at the PacWest Championships.
 
Ourega won PacWest titles in the long jump and the triple jump, crushing the previous PacWest record in the triple jump with her mark of 12.84 meters. She also recorded the second-best mark in meet history behind only herself in the long jump at 6.28 meters. Ourega ranks in the top-5 in both of those events as well as the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.67 seconds at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational. Both Richardson and Ourega have been named the USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Athlete of the Week once this season.
 
Jones won the long jump at the PacWest Championships with a jump of 7.50 meters, which was four centimeters away from his own meet record. He ranks third in the nation in the long jump thanks to his mark of 7.75 meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Jones also competed in the high jump at the PacWest Championships where he cleared 2.01 meters for a new personal best, earning five points for Azusa Pacific. In the triple jump, he took third place with another personal best of 15.41 meters.
 
Hamm won three gold medals at the PacWest Championships for Academy of Art, winning both hurdles races as well as the 4x100 relay. He set a new personal best in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.46 meters, which is a provisional qualifier. Hamm also moved up to 21st in the nation in the 400-meter hurdles with his time of 52.62 seconds. In the 4x100 relay, Academy of Art's best time this year came at the Mt. SAC Relays with a time of 40.59 seconds, which ranks 18th in NCAA Division II.
 
This year's Freshmen of the Year are Fresno Pacific's Xiamara Young in field and Alayna Verner from Azusa Pacific on the women's side. Bo Olsen from Fresno Pacific won the track award for the men, while Yacouba Gnacko from Academy of Art won in the field. Gnacko won the triple jump at the PacWest Championships with a meet record distance of 15.82 meters, beating the nine-year old record set by Johnny Carter by 16 centimeters. Gnacko ranks third in the country in the event, while his teammate Mathieu Tshani ranks second with 16.10 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays.
 
Hoyt now has seven PacWest Coach of the Year awards since winning his first one in 2018. Azusa Pacific has now won six PacWest titles in a row in both men's and women's track & field. Those are tied for the third-longest streaks in conference history behind California Baptist's streak of seven men's cross country titles and BYU-Hawaii's 16 women's tennis titles.
 
Winter, who has won two Coach of the Year awards in cross country, won his first Coach of the Year honor in women's track & field, being named Co-Coach of the Year. Fresno Pacific finished in second place in both men's and women's track & field. For the men, it was the first time getting to 200 points since winning the title in 2014. The women earned their fifth runner-up finish in program history and first since 2018.
 

2022 ALL-PACWEST MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD AWARDS
Track Athlete of the Year	Shareez Hamm	Academy of Art
Field Athlete of the Year	Jermel Jones II	Azusa Pacific
Track Freshman of the Year	Bo Olsen	Fresno Pacific
Field Freshman of the Year	Yacouba Gnacko	Academy of Art
Coach of the Year	Jack Hoyt	Azusa Pacific