Urban Knights Crowned NCAA DII Champions

3/9/2013

Birmingham, AL -- National Champions.


In their first ever opportunity to even compete in the NCAA Division II postseason, the Academy of Art University track & field program was named the downright best team in the country. Both individual and team efforts were needed, but the Urban Knights got contributions across the board to reach that ultimate goal: A National Championship.

"Many things will be written about what we accomplished this weekend, everyone will have their own unique perspective on it," head coach Charles Ryan said. "For me, what happened in Birmingham this past week was about two things: these amazing artist-athletes and what their victory stands for in the greater landscape of academics and sports. These women crashed a party that for as long as I can remember was never an option to attend. Athletes who also have a passion for art until now have always had to make a choice and could never have both. You could not be serious about art and be taken seriously as an athlete. Well, that message is dead. It was put on life support the day that President Elisa Stephens and Dr. Jamie Williams decided they were going to set out to show you could. And a small group of eight young ladies officially pulled the plug and buried it forever at the Birmingham Crossplex."

Put into an amazingly strong position after senior Vashti Thomas, Friday's long jump champion, won the 200m dash outright and placed fourth in the triple jump, the Urban Knights held a 12-point lead heading into the final event: the 4x400m relay. They placed third in that event to earn five more points, but had already sealed the championship going in when Grand Valley State failed to place anyone in the women's 3000m.

"There really are no proper words to properly articulate how proud I am of Ms. Thomas," Coach Ryan said. "What she set out to attempt has never been done before. It's not even a rational thing to do: Five events, prelims, and finals all in one championship is just not done in this sport. She could have easily picked out one or two events, focused on those, and went out to break some records, but she wanted to do all she could to deliver history for this program."


"This week was incredible," associate head coach Torrey Olson said. "There was so much emotion put into the meet, so many small ups and downs, and reevaluations of what was possible. It was also incredible to see how that brought the team closer together."


The day's events began on the men's side with redshirt freshman Johnny Carter being crowned the NCAA Division II jumps champion after his incredible 52-1 (15.87m) mark in his second attempt. Just like the long jump the previous afternoon, Carter led the 17-person field after his opening 51-5.75 (15.69m) distance, but on his second attempt, the title was won.

"My focus was just to relax, God has it all under control," Carter said. "He has truly blessed me to be here. I trusted Him on each jump and I came out victorious! It was unbelievable! I didn't know if I was dreaming or not. I'm so blessed to come out on top. GOD FAVORS ME!"

Carter offered one more attempt of 51-5.5 (15.68m) in round four and coasted to his new title as the national champion in both the long jump and triple jump. All three of his marks on Sunday were farther than the 51-3 distance which had led NCAA DII all year.

"Also the women's basketball team helped with my confidence today!" Carter said. "My goal was to represent the school as best as I could and I believe we as a team did it. Coaches and all!"

"Watching Johnny do his thing this weekend was just a great time," Coach Ryan said. "He was always in control, very poised, which is rare for a freshman, and just looked like he was out there enjoying his moments. He continues to evolve as a jumper and I cannot wait to see what the outdoor season will bring for him. Johnny just became a two-time champion as a freshman and has a shot for at least two more in outdoor. What a way to officially kick off your collegiate career!"


The day continued on with the women's 60m hurdles, where the Urban Knights made up half of the field in the finals. When the dust settled, all four Knights gained points towards the team score, led by Thomas in second place (8.16) and Briana Stewart in third (8.34). Julian Purvis took fifth place, while Dinesha Bean was in seventh to pick up two points.

"To have fifty percent of the NCAA Championship field standing at the start line representing ART U is a ridiculous accomplishment on its own," Coach Ryan said. "The 60mH was always part of the big picture for us and was our best opportunity to really deliver a powerful blow to the other top teams. No other team in any event had the kind of firepower that we were capable of in that event and the ladies delivered. Briana Stewart, Julian Purvis, Dinesha Bean and Vashti Thomas put a lot of pressure on everyone when they all qualified for the finals and to see all four of them standing on the podium as NCAA All-Americans was the first of so many proud moments I had in the finals. I know they wanted the sweep, but this is the NCAA Championships and they all fought hard and left it on the track."

Academy of Art then moved to cement themselves among the premier jumping programs in the country in the women's triple jump. Thomas was sitting in third place after her second-round jump of 41-0.5, but dropped off the podium in the third round. She offered one more jump in the fifth round, but settled for fourth place and five important points to add to the Knights' total. Thomas was at it again in the 60 meter dash, doing her best impression of a gymnast in the Olympics doing the all-around. Her time of 7.54 was good enough for two more points that brought the Knights within spitting distance of GVSU, who was ahead after nine events by a score of 34.00 - 32.00.


In the next event for the women's team, the Urban Knights turned to their first All-American, as Jenny Bergren toed the line for the women's mile. The senior whipped around the track, and in an event indicative of what was to come, finished third overall by posting the fastest mark in ART U history (4:50.03), edging the entrant from Grand Valley by half of a second and pushing them off the podium in fourth place. The Knights picked up a point, but were still behind 39.00 - 38.00 after ten events, with only seven to go.

"As for Jenny's race itself, I was so proud of her," Coach Olson said. "She's come so far as an athlete and competitor in a very short time. The mile is an event she hadn't contested seriously since high school, and in her five races this season she ran five PRs, including the prelim and the final. And she went through her first prelim and final situation with such poise. I am excited to see what she'll be able to do with what she has taken away from this experience when she moves back to outdoor track, which is more familiar territory."

"For those who look at this meet on paper, they might see or say that even without Jenny's six points in the Mile, we would have won, but that would be an extremely lazy observation and a total discredit to how crucial Jenny and her performances were to what we accomplished," Coach Ryan said. "Make no mistake about it; what Jenny pulled off in the Mile was 'THE MOMENT' of the entire meet. When she stepped out on the track for the Mile, things were not going well for us. We had scored less than expected in a few events and it was starting to look like the title was slipping away. When the gun went off, I witnessed this woman compete with such poise. She was so in control she smiled at us with about 1.5 laps to go. It was incredible. She slowly climbed from 2nd to last all the way up to take 3rd place. As she crossed the line, ahead of the runners from Grand Valley and Lincoln, it hit me: We are really about to pull this off. It was such an emotional moment and from that moment forward everything started going our way. Jenny's presence and performances meant everything to our team this weekend and it still chokes me up when I think about that moment."

Neither team had anyone competing or earning points in the women's 400m or the high jump, but GVSU gained two points in the women's 800m. The Knights got that back and more when Thomas took the field in the 200m dash. After winning her heat, Thomas capped off the race with a photo finish, edging Danielle Williams (Johnson C. Smith) by 0.002 seconds to take first place and push the Knights into the top spot in the standings for the first time that day, leading GVSU 48.00 - 41.00 with four events left to score. Her mark of 23.43 (23.428 actual) was the best in program history.


"In a sport designed to be totally selfish, Vashti Thomas is selfless," Coach Ryan said. "She was determined to pull this off and did she ever. It was simply awe inspiring, capped off by a National Championship in the 200m over the defending champion to seal the meet. And she did it after prelims and finals in four other events, with everything on the line. That kind of stuff just doesn't happen, but she did it. I am in awe of Vashti Thomas and I know I'm not the only one."

There was a good chance Grand Valley could retake the lead in the women's 3000m, sending three runners to the final field while the Knights were sitting on the sidelines. But the Lakers were shut out of the distance event, placing none in the top eight. After the triple jump finished, the Knights had the championship all but sealed up, leading by 12.00 points with only two events left to score. One of those was the pole vault, which GVSU had already placed out of, and the other was the 4x400m, which the Knights went into needing only to finish the race to take home the title.

They did more than that, however, as the fearsome foursome of Briana Stewart, Chantel King, Keanna Moody, and Dinesha Bean barreled around the track and finished in third place with a time of 3:43.48, the second-best mark in program history. The finish gave the Knights 59.00 points, and with the Lakers falling out of the standings, the next best team was PacWest rival Grand Canyon, who finished with 45.00 points, followed by Lincoln (Mo.) with 44.00 points.

"As a distance runner, Jenny doesn't train with the rest of the women who were there, but after her race it was like a teammate would spring out from behind every corner and fling her up in the air," Coach Olson said. "Everyone was so excited for her, and she was pretty mesmerized by them as well. It's an individual sport in many ways, and we as coaches are always striving to do what's best for each individual, but it's great to see the emotion that comes out when all that individual preparation comes together in the achievement of a common goal. And the feeling when we finally knew we had the meet won -- I was speechless."



"These ladies attempted feats never before seen, while taking down two powerhouse programs that have simply dominated for years," Coach Ryan said. "They pulled this off in a city celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the civil rights movement while representing something almost no one thought would gain traction or was even worth the fight. National Champions in their inaugural year into the NCAA. Art Who? ART U! Get used to the name, get it right, move over because the artist-athlete is real, and we are here to stay. Take a bow, ladies. Very few people in this world can ever say they were the first at anything. National Champions are crowned every year, but this one means so much more."

Courtesy Academy of Art