GENEVA, Ohio -- Texas Lutheran senior Garrett Garza highlighted Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) efforts on day two of the 2019 NCAA Div. III Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio with his national runner-up performance in the shot put.
Garza tossed the shot a school-record 17.81 meters (58 feet, 5.25 inches) to claim his second All-America award of 2019. Garza was eighth in the indoor championships.
The Round Rock, Texas native’s finish is the top outdoor individual placement in TLU Outdoor Men's Track & Field history.
The SCAC also featured seven other student-athletes in competition on Friday. Highlights included Colorado College senior Henry Baldwin who finished tied for 15th in the high jump. Baldwin, who finished 17th at nationals a year ago, cleared 1.98m on his second attempt to improve on his national finish from last season. CC sophomore Camille Weaver, competing in the heptathlon for just the second time, finished 17th in the nation finishing with 4,476 points. Weaver jumped 5.29m (11th) in the long jump, threw the javelin 30.16m (10th) and posted a time of 2:35.23 (19th) in the 800 on Friday.
In other TLU action of Friday, juniors Paris Foster, Darren Jones and Ashely Rynard along with sophomore Connor Thompson all joined Garza to represent the Bulldogs in competition on day two.
Foster placed 16th in the men’s 110-meter hurdles preliminaries crossing the line in 14.97 seconds. The Magnolia, Texas native also ran in the 100-meter dash, finishing 19th with a time of 10.98.
Jones nearly missed out on qualifying for his second championship final after a 12th-place finish in the men’s 100-meters with a time of 10.60, just .02 seconds from making the final. Jones will compete for a national championship in the 200-meters on Saturday.
Rynard competed in the women’s 800-meters, finishing 17th in the prelims after stopping the clock in 2:15.58. Rynard finished ninth in the same event at last year’s championship meet.
Thompson, competing in his first national meet, turned in an 18th-place preliminary effort in the men’s 400-meters with a time of 49.48.
Trinity's Blair Walker finished 20th Friday in the preliminaries of the men's 400-meters with a time of 49.81.
The NCAA Div. III Outdoor Track & Field National Championships will conclude today as TLU’s Cortnee Priour (triple jump) and Jones (200-meters) along with Trinity’s Molly McCullough (3,000-meter steeplechase) and Abigail Bannon-Schneebeck (400-meter hurdles) will all vie for national championships.
