VU Track and Field bring home host of honors and two Championships from NJCAA Outdoor Nationals

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Men's and Women's Track and Field teams represented very well over the weekend at the three-day NJCAA Division I Outdoor National Championships hosted by the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

Vincennes claimed two National Championships, six All-American honors and brought home a bunch of Region honors as well.

VU got off to a good start with freshman Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) kicking things off Thursday morning in the 10,000 meters.

Noel finished 24th overall coming in with a final time of 34:34.88.

The VU men's track team continued to stay busy Thursday, with the 4x100 and 4x800 relay teams having their preliminary races, with the 4x100 team placing 14th at 40.95 seconds and the 4x800 team just missing out on the finals with a 10th place finish at 7:54.07.

Freshman Clinton Laguerre had his preliminary race for the 400 meter hurdles Thursday, qualifying for the final with the sixth fastest time at 53.31 seconds, before coming back even stronger in the finals Saturday to place third at 52.06 seconds, being named an All-American.

Vincennes claimed their first of two National Championships over the weekend on Thursday, with freshman vaulter Sophia Amaral taking the top spot in the women's pole vault after clearing a height of 4.02 meters.

Sophia's sister and 2023 NJCAA National Champion Julia Amaral also earned All-American honors in the pole vault Thursday, clearing a height of 3.27 meters to place sixth overall.

VU's second National Championship came in the men's decathlon where sophomore Olegs Kozjakovs really put on a show.

Kozjakovs got off to a great start Thursday in the first five events, taking the top spot in the shot put with a throw of 14.53 meters and finishing second in the high jump and long jump, putting him second on the leaderboard heading into the final five events.

Kozjakovs really boosted himself up the leaderboard on Friday after claiming back-to-back first place finishes in the discus throw and in the pole vault as Olegs was able to hold off the field and claim the Decathlon National Championship with a total of 6,941 points.

Kozjakovs also competed in the open discus throw Friday, placing 13th overall with a best throw of 43.97 meters.

Friday saw the Blazers get back on the track with the prelims of the 400 meters, 800 meters and 1500 meter races.

Freshmen Tumaini Skinner and Olamipo Ladipo took part in the 400 meter races, with Skinner placing 25th overall with a time of 49.10 seconds and Ladipo placing 28th at 50.65 seconds.

Sophomore Matthew Gray (Washington, Ind.) had a very good showing in the very competitive 800 meter dash, placing 30th overall with a final time of 1:56.79.

Sophomore Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) rounded out the preliminary races by placing 13th with a time of 3:55.99 and qualifying for the finals on Saturday, where he placed seventh with a time of 3:55.39, earning All-American honors.

Freshman Brahym Sakka (Tunisia) had a big day on the track Friday, putting together a very strong finish to take 10th in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a final time of 9:24.05.

On the women's side, freshman Emilly Barbosa (Sao Paulo, Brazil) came away with All-American honors after qualifying for the final in the 800 meters with an eighth place finish in the prelims with a time of 2:13.83 before improving to seventh place in the finals with a time of 2:15.08.

Freshman Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) rounded out the VU results from over the weekend, pulling double duty at Nationals by taking home 19th place in the 3000 meter steeplechase at 12:21.72 and later taking 27th in the 5000 meters with a time of 20:30.89.

The VU men's team placed 13th overall with a total of 18 points, while the VU women's team finished 18th overall with 15 points.

"Another season in the books and another Championship finish," VU Head Track and Field Coach Marty Rogier said. "Championship meets usually bring some highs and lows and we definitely experienced both this week. Three days of intense competition will test your nerves and your commitment."

"We got off to a good start Thursday," Rogier added. "Sophia wrapped up a great season by winning her second National Title in the pole vault. Julia also earned her fourth All-American finish since coming to VU finishing sixth. It was a good competition, Sophia had to jump well to win, clearing 4.02 and once again barely missing at 4.15. She had a very consistent season, clearing over four meters in the majority of her meets but we have some work to do next year if she is to hit the bars I believe she is capable of. Julia will graduate as an Academic All American and has a very bright future ahead of her and has been a pure joy to have as part of the VU community the past two years."

"Olegs got of to a shaky start in the Decathlon when the 100 meter race did not go as planned but he shook it off and came back to jump really well in the long jump, getting back in the mix," Rogier said. "As always, he grabbed up some points in the shot put where e is always the leader moving him into first place after three events. The high jump has been kind of an up and down thing this season because he just has not had a lot of time to work on it. But we made a couple of adjustments last week and he jumped a season best 1.92."

"He finished the first day with a solid 400 meter run and was sitting in second place going into day two," Rogier added. "Day two started with the 110 hurdles which went about as well as we hoped. Discus went well and things were looking good going into the pole vault. Luckily Olegs cleared his first two bars which gave him a solid lead but the hope was to extend the lead further with some higher bars. But he broke his pole on the first jump at 4.75, which is always a shaky experience. I was ready to accept what he had and move on but he decided to continue jumping. He went to a bigger stick and actually raised the par to 4.95 and barely missed. He makes that bar and the meet is over."

"The javelin, normally a solid event, really did not go well but he still had enough of a cushion going into the 1500 that he did not have to push too hard to secure the win," Rogier said. "It was an outstanding finish to a great career for Olegs. He added this National Title to his Indoor Heptathlon title and three other All-American finishes as well as earning National Athlete of the Year for Indoors and we are awaiting the outdoor."

"Also on Thursday, the 4x100 relay team of Cohen, Olamipo, Tumaini and Desroy attempted to qualify but came up a little short," Rogier added. "I thought we ran a good race for the conditions and still finished with a very fast 40.8.

"Later Thursday, we had the open 400 meter prelims, with Desroy, Olamipo and Tumaini scheduled to run but weather forced the race to be postponed to early Friday morning," Rogier said. "Mornings are not normally ideal for sprinters. Tumaini and Olamipo both pulled up and were not able to run what they had hoped to. Desroy ran a nice race, easily qualifying for the final but was disqualified for a lane violation. That was a very big disappointment because I felt like he had a legitimate shot at competing for the top spot."

"Desroy will go down as the greatest sprinter in VU history," Rogier said. "He owns the indoor 400 record, second on the 200 list, has both the 200 and 400 outdoor records and is part of the program records for the indoor 4x400, 4x800 and DMR and outdoor 4x100 and 4x400 relays. We will definitely see Desroy running on some very big stages in the future."

"The injuries to Olamipo and Tumaini caused us to miss out on trying to qualify for the 4x400 final," Rogier added. "I was very hopeful for this event because I felt we would go 3:08 and be in the mix for a top five finish but that's the nature of championship meets."

"Also on Thursday, Clinton ran a season and personal best 53.31 to qualify for the 400 meter hurdle final," Rogier said. "He took advantage of the opportunity to come back on Saturday to finish third with another personal best of 52.06. I am very proud of Clinton for finishing the season so strong. He had a tough outdoor season, battling weather at every meet but his commitment and determination paid off to become a well deserving All-American."

"We always tell our kids what a grind our season is, competing almost every weekend from January to the end of May, but I am very proud of how we stuck together and really came into the National Championships with a great group of competitors," Rogier added. "We ended our season with five National Champions and 11 All-Americans."

"I am so proud of the job that Tyler is doing with our distance program and the direction that we are going with the overall program," Rogier said. "I believe our program has been great ambassadors for Vincennes University while competing on the National stage and I am looking forward to working on growing and improving with each coming year."

"Cody started off the competition for VU on Thursday morning by running a hot and humid 10k," VU Assistant Coach and Distance Coach Tyler Steigenga said. "He came in seeded last but was able to beat a few runners. It was a good experience for him to race in his first National Championship on the track to prepare him for next year."

"The men's 4x800 came in ranked 13th and ended up 10th," Steigenga said. "In rainy conditions on Thursday evening, Matthew and Tanner kept us close to the pack and Brahym moved from fifth to first after his leg. Isaac held the lead for 600 meters but was passed by two teams before the finish. Coming in, it was a bit of a long shot, but definitely possible for us to score a point but we knew we'd have to win the heat. Everyone needed to have their best day, which didn't quite happen but I'm proud of their effort as we were in it the whole race."

"On Friday, Isaac ran the 1500m prelims in the second of three heats," Steigenga added. "He was in good position to qualify automatically for the final by finishing in the top three but ran out of gas on the home stretch. He ended up sixth in his heat, making him the last time qualifier with one heat left to run. It was a very long four minutes to wait and see if he would make it. He cut it close but Isaac's time ended up being enough as he finished just over 0.2 seconds ahead of the next two runners."

"Two hours later, Emilly got her opportunity to qualify for the 800 final," Steigenga said. "She has shown in workouts that she has the ability to do so but hadn't quite put it all together in a race up to this point. In her heat, Emilly did a great job of going out fast and holding on to the pack of runners instead of letting a gap open up. She moved up nicely and found herself battling with two other runners for the heat win and automatic qualifier. At the finish, she barely missed getting the win but ended up snagging a time qualifier."

"Matthew ran in the second heat of the men's 800 and finished his VU career with a strong run and a new personal best time of 1:56," Steigenga said. "It's been awesome to see his progression at the end of the season. A month ago he'd never broken two minutes in the 800 and now he's done it five times."

"In the steeplechase, Adi had an off day and finished last in the fast heat," Steigenga added. "Brahym was also in the fast heat for his steeple and ended up finishing 10th. Coming in, we were hoping t get top eight and score but the fields were fast compared to previous years, especially on the men's side. Despite just missing out, it was Brahym's best effort of the season."

"On Saturday, Isaac got things started in the 1500 final," Steigenga said. "He ran a smart race, not wasting energy and staying out of trouble after three athletes fell early on. They rejoined the pack quickly, passing Isaac and putting him in last place after two laps. After that, he began to slowly move up and pass four fading runners at the end of the race to finish seventh. It wasn't quite the improvement that we wanted from last year after finishing fifth but it was awesome to be competing in a final again for an All-American spot after nearly having his achilles sliced during Cross Country season and dealing with mono for the second year in a row during indoor. Isaac has a lot of potential in running and there's definitely a few things we weren't able to accomplish together that we wanted to but I'm excited to see what he does in the next few years now hat he has graduated from VU."

"Not long after Isaac's race, Emilly got her chance," Steigenga said. "She employed a similar strategy in the final that she did in the prelim and was able to match Isaac with a seventh place finish of her own. It took longer than we wanted to get things going after Emilly had a bone bruise in Cross Country as it limited her training leading up to Indoor but she finally got back to her best. I'm proud of how hard she fought to accomplish what she did this weekend."

This concludes another very strong Trailblazer Track and Field season, claiming five National Championships over the Indoor and Outdoor seasons, 11 All-American honors and both Sophia Amaral and Olegs Kozjakovs being named 2024 Atlantic Region Field Athletes of the Year, with VU Head Coach Marty Rogier taking home Region Coach of the Year honors and Assistant Coach Tyler Steigenga being named Region Assistant Coach of the Year.

The Trailblazers will look to reload over the offseason and come back even stronger next season.

VINCENNES RESULTS

TEAM RESULTS

VU MEN – 13th, 18 points

VU WOMEN – 18th, 15 points

MEN'S RESULTS

400m

Tumaini Skinner – 25, 49.10

Olamipo Ladipo – 28, 50.65

800m

Matthew Gray – 30, 1:56.79

1500m

Isaac Stanford – 7, 3:55.39

10,000m

Cody Noel – 24, 34:34.88

400m Hurdles

Clinton Laguerre – 3, 52.06

3000m Steeplechase

Brahym Sakka – 10, 9:24.05

4x100 Relay

VU – 14, 40.95

4x800 Relay

VU – 10, 7:54.07

Discus

Olegs Kozjakovs – 13, 43.97m

Decathlon

Olegs Kozjakovs – 1, 6941 points

100m – 12, 11.62, 728 pts

Long Jump – 2, 6.98m, 809 pts

Shot Put – 1, 14.53m, 761 pts

High Jump – 2, 1.92m, 731 pts

400m – 9, 52.12, 719 pts

110m Hurdles – 7, 16.23, 707 pts

Discus Throw – 1, 42.89m, 724 pts

Pole Vault – 1, 4.55m, 775 pts

Javelin – 9, 40.55m, 450 pts

1500m – 8, 5:04.04 – 537 pts

WOMEN'S RESULTS

800m

Emilly Barbosa – 7, 2:15.08

5000m

Adi Fuller – 27, 20:30.89

3000m Steeplechase

Adi Fuller – 19, 12:21.72

Pole Vault

Sophia Amaral – 1, 4.02m

Julia Amaral – 6, 3.27