Trailblazer Track and Field brings home three National Championships

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Vincennes University men's and women's Track and Field teams had another outstanding showing Friday and Saturday at the 2024 NJCAA Indoor National Championships in Gainesville, Fla.

VU freshman pole vaulter Sophia Amaral got things started on Friday by winning the pole vault National Championship by clearing a height of 4.01 meters.

Sophomore Desroy Jordan picked up the second National Title for the Trailblazers Saturday in the 600 meter dash, qualifying Friday with a time of 1:18.44 before coming back even faster Saturday with a time of 1:17.31.

Sophomore Olegs Kozjakovs was the third VU event winner over the weekend putting together a stellar weekend to claim the top spot in the heptathlon.

Kozjakovs got off to a fast start in the first four events Friday, winning the shot put with a throw of 15.02 meters and placing second in the long jump at 7.03 meters.

Heading into the final three events of the heptathlon, Kozjakovs was in second place with a total of 2,954 points.

Kozjakovs would get a massive boost Saturday with an outstanding performance in the pole vault event, clearing a height of 5.00 meters to earn a massive 910 points, jumping him into the top spot on the leaderboard.

Olegs closed out the heptathlon by placing sixth in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:52.95 earning 735 points and finishing the weekend with 5,327 points to claim the National Championship.

Kozjakovs wasn't done there however, as Olegs would claim two-time All-American status Friday in the pole vault event as well, placing second after clearing a height of 4.79 meters.

Sophomore vaulter and 2023 Indoor National Champion Julia Amaral would also pick up her third All-American honor Friday, placing eighth in the women's vault with a height of 3.31 meters.

Sophomore Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) just missed out on the podium in the 1000 meters, finishing 10th with a time of 2:28.40.

Stanford would then turn around and compete in the men's Distance Medley Relay with freshmen Brahym Sakka (Tunisia), Clinton Laguerre and Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.) to place 15th with a time of 10:18.40 and close out the weekend Saturday in the 4x800 relay along side Sakka, Spence and freshman Bryaun Manuel (East St. Louis, Ill.) and place ninth with a time of 7:51.71.

Freshman Emilly Barbosa (Sao Paulo, Brazil) also served as a triple threat for the Blazers over the weekend, competing individually in the 1,000 meters and placing 17th with a time of 3:05.20 before joining freshmen Zinzile Gumpo, Jasmyn Self (Casey, Ill.) and Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) in the Distance Medley Relay to place 12th with a time of 12:58.32.

Barbosa capped off the busy weekend Saturday in the 4x800 relay with Fuller, Self and freshman Grayson Haynes (Sebree, Ky.) with the team placing 13th with a time of 10:25.48.

Freshmen Olamipo Ladipo and Tumaini Skinner rounded out the Trailblazer finishers, competing in the 200 meters with Ladipo placing 32nd at 22.01 and Skinner finishing 37th with a time of 22.48 seconds.

The men's 4x400 relay team also competed Saturday but were unfortunately disqualified for running outside of their lane and unable to post a time.

Overall, the VU men's team placed 10th after earning 27 points and the VU women's team placed 23rd with 11 points, very good showings for both teams.

"We had a very exciting weekend at the NJCAA Indoor Championships this weekend," VU Head Track and Field Coach Marty Rogier said. "It started with Olegs being named the Midwest Region Field Athlete of the Year for the Indoor Season. That's a really big honor coming from our Region."

"The men's team had a great showing, finishing in the top 10," Rogier added. "Our program had three National Champions with Sophia, Desroy and Olegs all claiming the top spot on the podium. In addition to that, we earned two more All-American honors and broke two school records. To compete at this meet is such a thrill because the level of competition is so high. The quality and depth of talent was probably one of the best in this championship's history."

"Our sister tandem from Brazil, Sophia and Julia, got us off to a good start Friday in the pole vault where they scored our only points on the women's side," Rogier said. "Sophia, once again, dominated the meet, clearing 4.01 meters, easily surpassing the second place finisher by over a foot to win her first National title."

"Julia, last year's National Champion, added an eighth place finish to earn her third All-American award over the past year," Rogier added. "I'm very excited for outdoor season to see what the girls might do when they get a little wind at their back."

"Saturday Desroy ran a brilliant race to win the 600 meters in dramatic fashion," Rogier said. "He closed in the last 150 meters to pass the two top ranked athletes in the country to capture his first National Title. It was really exciting to see Desroy get a championship of his own. Desroy was ranked fourth in the 600 and seventh in the 400 prior to this weekend, so it was a tough decision to decide which race to go after because the sprints are extremely competitive at this level. I wish I could say it was great coaching, but Desroy is a fierce competitor and has the ability to measure up to others during a race and just close the door at the right time. It was a well-deserved win."

"Olegs was again just outstanding," Rogier said. "Friday was the first day of the Heptathlon, where he competed in the 60 meter sprint, long jump, shot put and high jump. He was in second place at the end of the first day's events but wasn't done. After hat five hour event, he competed in the open pole vault competition. We were not sure about trying this difficult double but the schedule provided the opportunity and he managed to tie for second place in a very good competition, clearing 4.79 meters. I was hoping that he might pull off the win but it was a lot to ask of him to compete in five events in one day."

"He returned Saturday for day two of the Heptathlon sitting in second place with three events left," Rogier said. "It started a little rough with the hurdles, where he dropped to fourth place in overall points. But he rallied back in the second event, which was his specialty, the pole vault. He got it going and cleared five meters, which was higher than the winning height in the open competition. That big point total put him in the lead with only the 1000 meters left. The 1000 meters is not exactly Olegs' favorite event and he had to stay within 15 seconds of his closest competitors. He gutted it out and closed out the event with 5,327 points, beating Harry Crosby of South Plains by only 50 points."

"One of our few disappointments of the meet came in the 4x400 relay," Rogier added. "I thought we were in a good position to earn a medal if we ran up to our potential but on the first leg Clinton came up with an injury about 100 meters into the race. He popped up and looked like he was going to drop out but he stayed in the race and ran on one wheel the rest of the way. Olamipo, Tumaini and Desroy all ran very well to still finish with a good time but were disqualified because Clinton ran out of his lane when he was injured."

"It was a tough break for Clinton because he has been running so well," Rogier said. "It was an incredible act of being a great teammate. He could have dropped out of the race but he kept going in order to give his teammates a chance to run. Not a lot of athletes today would do that. That's why he is so special to this team. Hopefully we can get him healed up and ready for the Outdoor Nationals."

"I told the team that I have been coaching for 40 years and we had about a 45-minute window that might have been the most exciting of my career," Rogier said. "Olegs was clearing huge bars in the Heptathlon pole vault and had the whole crowd cheering for him. Desroy, at the same time, wins the 600 in what was one of the most exciting finishes of the day. 30 minutes later Olegs completes the 1000 meter run to clinch his heptathlon title. So for that 45 minutes or so, Vincennes held the spotlight on the biggest stage of the season. It was really special and I was incredibly proud of how we competed and what our team accomplished against the very best programs in the country."

"The men's and women's Distance Medley Relays got the running events started on Friday," VU Assistant Track and Field/Distance Coach Tyler Steigenga said. "The women were up first and ran 12:58, just a second and a half off their qualifying time. We fell short of our goal of placing second in our heat but everyone performed well. In the men's DMR we missed out on the fast heat by one place, so our goal was to win the heat and run as quick as possible to give us a shot at beating one of the eight teams in the fast heat to score a few points. Brahym got us off to a good start in the 1200 leg and Clinton got us into the lead with a 48 second 400. We dropped back a few places with Tanner's 800 but he handed of to Isaac a few seconds back of first place. Isaac tried to get up there and catch them but ultimately ended up fading in the final laps."

"Seven hours after the DMRs Emilly and Isaac came back to run the 1000 meters in hopes of qualifying for the final," Steigenga added. "Emilly had a great race and ran 3:05.20, which is the third best time in VU history. Unfortunately, she was a few seconds off qualifying for the final and ended up 17th overall. Isaac came back strong in the 1000 meters, where he ran a school record time of 2:28.40, improving on the old record by almost three seconds. Despite the great effort, he missed out on the final by .04 seconds and was the first runner out. Missing out on the final was gut wrenching, especially being that close."

"Saturday saw both men and women compete in the 4x800 relay," Steigenga said. "The women ran okay, coming off the DMR but it wasn't quite what we wanted. For the men, we were in a similar position as the DMR, where we were trying to win and run fast in the first heat. Bryaun led off the race with a 1:59 split and handed off to Isaac in third place. Isaac ran a 1:54 split and handed off the baton to Tanner with over a two second lead. Tanner maintained the lead and ran a 1:59 and handed off to Brahym, who had the lead going into the final 50 meters but faded in the home stretch. He got passed by two teams, which would mean we'd need three from the faster heat to run slower than us. It didn't come to fruition as we ended up finishing ninth in 7:51.71, a half second off of scoring. It was a very bittersweet moment as the effort was great and is the second best time in school history, but it was tough to be so close to our goal and miss out again."

"Overall, it was a great weekend," Steigenga added. "Being able to see what Olegs, Sophia and Desroy did, winning their events, we were hoping to add some points on the distance side but came up short. I'm still proud of my crew and what they did. A month ago we didn't have any national qualifiers as we were trying to recover from a lot of sickness and injury. So to accomplish what we did this weekend is definitely a success. We've got a month to do some solid training now and get ready to do even better outdoors."

The Trailblazers will look to build on this success and grow as VU begins preparations for the 2024 Outdoor season.

Members of the VU squad will begin the outdoor season by heading to the WashU Distance Carnival hosted by Washington University in St. Louis on Friday, March 29.

The rest of the VU team will begin their season Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30 at the EIU Big Blue Classic hosted by Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill.

VINCENNES RESULTS

TEAM RESULTS

VU Men – 10th, 27 points

VU Women – 23rd, 11 points

MEN'S RESULTS

Pole Vault

Olegs Kozjakovs – 2, 4.79m

600m

Desroy Jordan – 1, 1:17.31

DMR

Sakka, Laguerre, Spence, Stanford – 15, 10:18.40

200m

Olamipo Ladipo – 32, 22.01

Tumaini Skinner – 37, 22.48

1000m

Isaac Stanford – 10, 2:28.40

4x400 Relay

Laguerre, Ladipo, Skinner, Jordan – DQ

4x800 Relay

Manuel, Stanford, Spence, Sakka – 9, 7:51.71

Heptathlon

Olegs Kozjakovs – 1, 5,327 points

60m – 14, 7.44, 732 points

Long Jump – 2, 7.03m, 821 points

Shot Put – 1, 15.02m, 791 points

High Jump – 8, 1.78m, 610 points

60m Hurdles – 12, 9.08, 728 points

Pole Vault – 1, 5.00m, 910 points

1000m – 6, 2:52.95, 735 points

WOMEN'S RESULTS

Pole Vault

Sophia Amaral – 1, 4.01m

Julia Amaral – 8, 3.31m

DMR

Barbosa, Gumpo, Self, Fuller – 12, 12:58.32

1000m

Emilly Barbosa – 17, 3:05.20

4x800 Relay

Fuller, Self, Haynes, Barbosa – 13, 10:25.48