LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- After exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), the league office today announced its 2019 Men's Outdoor Track & Field postseason awards.
Darren Jones of Texas Lutheran University was selected as the Men’s Track Athlete-of-the-Year, while Jones’ teammate, Garrett Garza, earned Field Athlete-of-the-Year honors.
Sean Majors of Trinity University was the coaches’ choice for Newcomer-of-the-Year honors, and the TLU coaching staff rounded out the awards, earning Men’s Staff-of-the-Year.
The all-conference team is determined by performance at the conference championship meet where the top three finishers in each event are recognized as All-SCAC. Complete All-SCAC Men's Track & Field Team
Jones, a native of Waller, Texas, is a three-time All-American on the track, having secured two outdoor track & field honors and one indoor track & field award. After helping guide the Bulldogs to a national runner-up finish in the 4x100-meter relay at the 2018 NCAA Div. III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Jones added two more All-America citations during his junior season. At this year’s Indoor National Championships, Jones claimed his first individual All-America citation following a third-place finish in the 60-meter dash, crossing the line in 6.827. A little over a week ago, at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships he continued his outstanding season finishing eighth in the 200-meter dash in 21.48 to grab his second career individual All-America honor.
Earlier this year, he picked up All-Region awards in three events – the 100, the 200 and the 4x100 – and at the 2019 SCAC Track and Field Championship meet, Jones earned All-Conference honors winning gold in all three events. His win in the 100-meters was his third-straight All-Conference honor and Jones becomes just the ninth athlete in SCAC history to earn that accolade three or more times in a career. This is the fifth consecutive year TLU has claimed SCAC Men’s Track Athlete-of-the-Year, following a run of Marquis Brown winning the award the previous four years.
Garza, a native of Round Rock, Texas, closed out his career with an exclamation point by earning a pair of All-America honors. At the 2019 Indoor Track & Field Championships, Garza finished eighth in the shot put capturing his first All-America award. He then capped off his outstanding senior season by finishing as the national runner-up in the shot put with a school record toss of 17.81 meters.
In April, Garza threw to individual conference titles in both the shot put and the discus to lead the Bulldogs to their third consecutive SCAC Outdoor Track & Field team title. His crown in the shot put was his third-straight SCAC title in the event and marked his fourth All-Conference honor in the affair. Garza is just the second athlete in SCAC history to win three-straight shot put titles and fifth athlete in conference history to earn four All-Conference honors in the event. Additionally, Garza took home All-South/Southeast Region citations in both the shot put and the javelin. This is the second time in program history TLU has taken home SCAC Field Athlete-of-the-Year following Alejandro Briseno who won the award in 2016.
Trinity’s Majors, a freshman from Fredericksburg, Texas, won the long jump (6.67m), finished second in the javelin (49.41m) and ran a leg on the winning 4x400-meter relay team to score 20.5 for his team at the 2019 SCAC championship meet. Majors also qualified for his first NCAA Outdoor Championship meet in his rookie campaign, finishing 10th overall in the long jump. In addition, Majors earned All-South/Southeast Region honors in both the long jump and the 4x400-meter relay.
The Texas Lutheran staff was selected for Track and Field Staff-of-the-Year after winning the 2019 SCAC Men's Track and Field Championship. Led by head coach Darlene Holland, the team sent a league-high three male athletes to the 2019 NCAA Division III championship and earned two All-America honors while finishing tied for 31st in the final team standings. Additionally, Holland and assistant coach Ben Bevevino picked up major United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association South/Southeast Regional Awards. Holland was named the South/Southeast Region Men's Track & Field Coach of the Year, and Bevevino was named the South/Southeast Region Men's Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year. This is the third consecutive season TLU has been honored with SCAC Staff-of-the-Year honors.