Posted: Apr 23, 2023
GEORGETOWN, Texas - Trinity University won the program's 14th SCAC Men's Track and Field Championship and third straight by claiming the 2023 title Sunday afternoon at the Southwestern University Track & Field facility. Official Website | Complete Results | Day Two Photos
Trinity University's Justin Johnson was named 2023 SCAC Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Meet as the junior took first place in both the triple jump and the 400 hurdles, posted a second-place finish in the 110 hurdles, a sixth place finish in the long jump and was part of the Tigers' winning 4x400 relay team to earn 33.5 points. Junior James Settles of Colorado College was the only other male athlete to earn multiple wins at the championship, picking up victories in the 5000 and 10000 meters as well as a third in the 1500 meters.
This weekend's meet, which was the first-ever held on Southwestern's campus, produced one conference championship record as a new standard was set on Saturday in the men's 4x100 relay.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Trinity - 265.5
2. Texas Lutheran - 240
3. Colorado College - 117.5
4. St. Thomas - 74
5. Southwestern - 49
6. Centenary - 13
7. Dallas - 12
8. Schreiner - 0
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Colorado College junior James Settles took top honors in Sunday's first race (watch post race interview), the 5000 meters, finishing in a time of 14:56.91, the second-fastest time in SCAC championship meet history. It was Settles second gold of this year's meet after taking first in the 10,000 meters the previous day. The junior, who also pulled off the 5,000/10,000 sweep in 2021, is just the third SCAC man to win both races at a single championship twice in a career. Teammate and fellow junior Devlin Swanson finished second in a time of 15:17.53 and Trinity junior Diego Flores was third in 15:19.53.
- Sophomore Garrit Twitero (watch post event interview) started Sunday's field events defending his high jump title with a gold medal winning clearance of 2.05 meters (6' 8 3/4") - the second-highest mark in SCAC championship history. He is the fifth different man in league history to earn back-to-back titles in the event. Sophomore Matthew Hicks was runner-up for the second consecutive year and cleared 1.97 meters (6' 5 1/2") to earn silver while irst-year Trent Svacina of Trinity finished third with a jump of 1.87 meters (6' 1 1/2").
- Senior Leighton Graham of Colorado College made history on Sunday (watch post event interview), becoming the first CC man to win the discus at the SCAC championship meet. He took top honors and the subsequent top podium position with a toss of 43.96 meters (144' 3"). Junior Chase Cook of Texas Lutheran earned second for the third consecutive year, tossing the discus 42.52 meters (139' 6") at this year's event. Sophomore Riley Denman of TLU ws third with a throw of 40.28 meters (132' 2").
- Junior Justin Johnson of Trinity, who won the event as a freshman before finishing as runner-up last year, returned to the top step of the podium in the triple jump with a leap of 13.58 meters (44' 6 3/4"). He is just the third SCAC man to win the event multiple times but in non-consecutive years, joining Kenny McGhee of Rhodes (1994 and 1996) and Joey Garcia of Sewanee (2004 and 2006). First-year Bocar Diagana of Trinity was second with a jump of 13.35 meters (43' 9 1/2") and first-year Michael Roper of Southwestern placed third with a distance of 13.08 meters (42' 11").
- First-year Dalon Harris of Texas Lutheran (watch post event interview) kept the Bulldogs' dominance in the shot put rolling with a winning toss of 15.09 meters (49' 6"). He is the eighth straight TLU man to win the event, which along with the 200 meters, is the longest current win streak by any institution in any event on the men's side. TLU sophomore Riley Denman finished second with a throw of 13.36 meters (43' 10") and junior Heath Schake of Trinity was third with a toss of 13.34 meters (43' 9 1/4").
- The afternoon track events started with the 110 meter hurdles where first-year Garrett Haass of Texas Lutheran (watch post event interview) defeated defending champion junior Justin Johnson of Trinity to earn gold. Haass finished with a time of 15.33 compared to 15.53 for Johnson. Senior Kyle Anderson of Trinity took third for the second consecutive year, breaking the tape at 15.53 in this year's race.
- First-year Jonathan Olmsted of Dallas became just the third Crusader man to win an individual title at the SCAC Championships (watch post event interview), picking up gold in the 400 meters with a finish of 48.43. First-year Josh Williams of Colorado College placed second in 48.62 and senior Ethan Gilmore of Trinity was third in 49.20.
- Texas Lutheran dominated the 100 meter dash, with Bulldogs sweeping the top three podium positions. Sophomore Wyatt Wilson picked up gold in a time of 10.69 (watch post race interview), the fourth-fastest time in SCAC history. Defending champion sophomore Elijah Jefferson, who had already won the 200 the previous day, had to settle for silver in the 100 with a finishing time of 10.72. First-year Weston Guzman completed the 1-2-3 Bulldog sweep with a bronze medal finish of 10.93. The all-SCAC sweep by TLU represented just the fourth time that has happened in the event in conference meet history, with the last occurance produced by TLU at the 2017 championships.
- First-year Rabbit Barnes of Colorado College (watch post race interview) kept the Tigers' streak of consecutive victories in the 1500 meters alive with a gold medal finish of 3:56.20. The win marked the third straight for a CC athlete in the event as Josh Fry had picked up wins in 2021 and 2022. Sophomore Will Salony of Trinity earned his second straight runner-up finish in the 1500, crossing the line this year in a time of 3:56.40. Junior James Settles of Colorado College medaled for the third event of the '23 championships, taking bronze with a time of 4:01.57.
- The Trinity quartet of Ethan Gilmore, Grant Bishop, Nic Ladreyt and Justin Johnson ended the meet in style for the Tigers, earning the program its fourth straight 4x400 win at the SCAC championships. The quartet crossed the line in a winning time of 3:20.31 to ice Trinity's team win. Texas Lutheran finished second in 3:20.57 and St. Thomas was third in 3:21.24.