Azusa Pacific collected six regional honors announced by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association this week. Nicole Warwick and Jermel Jones both earned West Region Field Athletes of the Year distinction, Jack Hoyt was named the West Region women's and men's Coach of the Year, while Andrea Blackett was the women's assistant coach of the year, and Sean Smith was named the men's assistant coach of the year. 

Warwick, a Modesto, California native, won the long jump crown at the 2024 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a meet-record leap of 6.81m (22-4¼). Earlier in the season, Warwick put up a then-division-leading heptathlon score of 5927 points at the Bryan Clay Invitational, which also doubles as the fourth best total in NCAA DII history. Warwick earned PacWest Field Athlete of the Year honors this season and she ends her time at Azusa Pacific, as a 17-time All-American between indoor and outdoors (nine-time outdoor, eight-time indoor), and a three-time individual national champion ('23 indoor pentathlon, '24 indoor long jump, '24 outdoor long jump). She also has officially set an Olympic qualifying mark in the heptathlon with a score of 6115 points where she is now set to compete in the 2024 Olympic Trials from June 21-30 in Eugene, Oregon.

Jones, who hails from Los Angeles, California, won the long jump at the 2024 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a leap of 8.18m (26-10). Just a few weeks earlier, Jones scored 19 points over three events at the PacWest Outdoor Championships to help the Cougars win the team title all while being named the men's conference Field Athlete of the Year. Jones has also earned an Olympic qualifying mark in the long jump and will compete in the 2024 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon from June 21-30th. Jones ends his time at Azusa Pacific as an eight time All-American, including two individual national titles in the long jump (2022 Indoor & 2024 Outdoor). 

Hoyt is the women's West Region Coach of the Year for the fourth-consecutive season. In his seventh year as Director of Track & Field at Azusa Pacific, Hoyt led the women's squad to a third-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, earning All-American awards in seven events led by Warwick who set a meet record in the long jump. On the men's side, he was named the Coach of the Year for the fourth time as he led the Cougars to a sixth-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, with another seven All-American honors. Azusa Pacific also won the team title at the PacWest Conference Outdoor Championships on the women's and men's side for the the eighth consecutive season and Hoyt earned conference Coach of the Year honors for the fifth time since he took over the program(s) in 2017. 

Blackett is now a seven-time West Region Assistant Coach of the Year, as she has earned the outdoor honor for the past four seasons. Blackett is in her seventh year as Associate Head Coach at Azusa Pacific, coaching the Cougars' sprinters and hurdlers to top-5 finishes at the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the three events – 100 hurdles (second), 4×400 (fourth) and 4×100 (fifth) where the Cougars finished third in the nation as a team. Her athletes also scored 53 points in helping Azusa Pacific win the team title at the PacWest Conference Outdoor Championships for the eighth-straight year. 

Smith, in his fourth year as assistant coach at Azusa Pacific (head coach of men's and women's Cross Country) coached three distance runners to appearances at the DII Outdoor Championships, with all four runners scoring 21 of the men's 32 points in finishing sixth at the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which is the best finish the program has seen in the NCAA era. At the PacWest Conference Championships, his runners accounted for 105 points, including titles in the 800, 1500, 5000 and steeplechase, helping the Cougars capture their eighth-straight conference title. 

Azusa Pacific concludes another successful track & field season with the women's team earning a third place finish at the DII Outdoor Championships, making this the fourth consecutive year where the women's team finished top-six overall. The men's squad earned a sixth place finish at the Championships which is the best ever finish since Azusa Pacific joined the NCAA in 2015. 

The Cougars' regional award winners will now be up for consideration for recognition on the national level, which will be announced in the coming days.