ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) sent 10 athletes to compete at the 2023 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Polisseni Track & Field Complex at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, New York, highlighted by a trio of All-American performances.
Texas Lutheran junior Gerrit Twitero took home fourth place in the men’s high jump after clearing a mark of 2.02m to secure his first All-American honor. It marked the first time in TLU history an athlete has earned AA honors in the high jump and the first time since Jerry Maldonaldo of former member Hendrix in 2008 an SCAC athlete has earned the accolade.
Colorado College rising senior James Settles earned All-American honors with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000-meters on Saturday. Settles, appearing in his first Division III national meet, completed the race in a time of 14:12.53 after entering the competition with the 17th-fastest time in Division III. He is the first SCAC athlete to earn AA honors in the 5,000-meters since Colorado College’s Julian Boggs finished fifth in 2007.
Rounding out the SCAC All-American performances was the TLU men’s 4x100 relay squad which turned in a sixth-place finish Saturday afternoon with a time of 41.03. The Bulldog quartet of first-year Weston Guzman, sophomore Wyatt Wilson, junior Bryce Powell-Chimene and sophomore Elijah Powell qualified into the final after winning a dramatic runoff against Loras College on Friday evening when the two teams tied for the eighth and final spot in the event prelims on Thursday. This is just the second All-American performance by a 4x100 relay team in SCAC history, joining the 2018 TLU relay squad that finished runners-up.
Other highlights from the 2023 Championships included Trinity teammates Casey Hampton and Azariah Anderson.
Hampton finished ninth in the long jump, just narrowly missing the All-American podium after the senior leapt 7.19m on his second attempt. Anderson turned in a second ninth-place finish for the Tigers after crossing the line in 14.52 second in the 110-meter hurdles.
Southwestern sophomore Jamal Maxey joined Hampton in the long jump and finished 20th with a mark of 6.24m.
TLU’s Elijah Jefferson, in addition to his All-American performance in the 4x100 relay also competed in a pair of individual events. He opened his championship with a 15th-place finish in the 200-meters with a time of 21.58 and then finished 16th in the 100-meters after crossing the line in 10.675 seconds.
Texas Lutheran’s Ezra Acero took home 15th in his NCAA debut in the pole vault. The sophomore cleared 4.75m on his second attempt to secure 15th.
MIT took home the NCAA team title for the first time in program history with 60.5 total points. Texas Lutheran finished 37th with 7.5 points, while Colorado College finished tied for 49th with five total points.
To view the results from the 2023 Championships, click here.
