Men's Track and Field

Gnacko Hops, Skips and Jumps to National Best, Palmer Runs 46.84 in 400

Academy of Art and Fresno Pacific win weekly men's track and field awards, just like they did for women's this week.

Yacouba Gnacko is the Field Athlete of the Week again, this time posting the nation's top mark in the triple jump. Shemar Palmer ran the one-lap race almost faster than anyone in the country and his Sunbird foursome ran to a very fast 4x400 time.

2024 Results/Schedule
TFRRS Event Lists
 
CO-TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Fresno Pacific's Shemar Palmer, Sprints, Soph., Jamaica            
Fresno Pacific's Shemar Palmer ran one lap in 46.84 at the Stanford Invitational to win the event and also clock the second fastest time in the nation in Division II. The Jamaican also is apart of three different relay squads that have qualified with provisional times for the NCAA DII Championships. The 4x100 team is currently 10th in the country with a 40.71 while he has also ran legs on two different 4x400 squads with one ranked 5th and another ranked 14th respectively. That group finished second at Stanford and established the third fastest time in Fresno Pacific history.

CO-TRACK  ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Academy of Art's Yacouba Gnacko, Jumps, Jr., Paris, France       
Academy of Art's Yacouba Gnacko hop, skipped and jumped his way to a mark of 51-7 in the triple jump, a season best for him and the top mark in Division II thus far. The 2023 PacWest Field Athlete of the Year placed sixth overall at the Texas Relays in a field of Division I and professional athletes. The France native placed second at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships and fifth this year indoors.

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Concordia's Dylan Fox posted the second longest long jump mark in the conference this year with a leap of 24-8 1/4. That mark is also the tenth best in the nation...ART U's Josh Marlin ran 51.56 in the 400 hurdles...Biola's Aiden Tomasini ran the mile in 4:09.49, placing second at the Mike Fanelli Classic in San Francisco...Azusa Pacific's Felix Perrier recorded the fastest steeplechase time in D2 this year, running 8:50.04 at the Stanford Invite. That placed him fifth overall in the Division I field. 

LOOKING AHEAD: All six PacWest men's track and field squads will be in action this Friday and Saturday in meets hosted by UC San Diego, California-Berkeley, Chabot College and Pomona-Pitzer.