VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Azusa Pacific track & field opened two days of competition at the 2023 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, as it was a busy and successful day for both the men's and women's teams.

ALL-AMERICAN PERFORMANCES

Day one saw two Cougars earn All-American distinction in their individual events, as Nicole Warwick is an indoor All-American in the long jump for the second time in her career, and Eliana Saunders leaped to All-American distinction in the high jump.

Warwick placed third overall in the long jump final, as she reached a distance of 6.13m (20' 1 ½") on her third attempt of the day, which is her indoor personal-best. Warwick is now a two-time indoor long jump All-American (2018 & 2023), and she is an eight-time All-American for her career, between indoor and outdoor and across three events (long jump, heptathlon, pentathlon). Warwick is seeking to become a nine-time All-American tomorrow, as she will compete in the pentathlon, which she enters this weekend ranked No. 1 in the nation for the event.

Saunders, who entered Indoor Nationals ranked No. 15 in the high jump, turned in a lifetime best clearance of 1.72m (5' 7 ¾") to finish seventh overall to capture the first All-American honor of her career. Saunders cleared her new personal-best on her first attempt at the height. 

SPOTS CLINCHED FOR SATURDAY FINALS

On Friday, a pair of Cougars raced in the preliminary round of their events, as Esther Conde-Turpin competed in the 60 meter hurdles, and Alayna Verner ran the 400 meters. Conde-Turpin, who is Azusa Pacific's all-time leader in the 60 meter hurdles (8.39), set a new career-best time in the prelims, as she ran a time of 8.29 seconds to secure a spot in the finals with the second-fastest qualifying time of the event. 

Verner is headed to the 400 meter finals after she posted the fourth-fastest prelim time of the day with a time of 54.22 seconds, which was just a tick off of her career-best of 54.07 seconds. 

WORRELL LEADS HEPTATHLON THROUGH DAY ONE

Aaron Worrell is atop the heptathlon standings through four events, and Lincoln Krog is in fifth, as the final three events lie ahead tomorrow.

Over the four events on Friday, Worrell amassed 3,217 points, and his day was highlighted by a pair of lifetime-bests. In the long jump, Worrell achieved a new career-best distance of 7.22m (23' 8 ¼"), and he also set a new personal-record in the shot put, where he threw a distance of 12.48m (40' 11 ½"). Worrell opened the competition with a 60 meters time of 7.05 seconds, and he closed out Friday with a high jump clearance of 2.05m (6' 8 ¾"). 

Krog also set a pair of new personal records in the long jump and shot put. Krog leaped to a mark of 24' 2 ¼", which was the furthest distance among the heptathletes. In the shot put, Krog threw a distance of 13.22m (43' 4 ½") on his first attempt of the day. Krog started with a 60 meters time of 7.19 seconds, and wrapped up day one with a 1.87m (6' 1 ½") clearance in the high jump.

Up Next: Nationals wrap up tomorrow, with multis set to open the day. Worrell and Krog will close out the heptathlon, while Warwick and Alysa Henry are set to compete in the pentathlon. In the afternoon, Raymon Harper will compete in the men's long jump, Verner and Saunders will race in the finals of their respective events, and the day will wrap up with women's 4x400, where Azusa Pacific's team of Verner, Conde-Turpin, Henry, and Kiayra Holmes will run for the Cougars. To watch live, head over to NCAA.com, and follow along with the live results.