INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- In a list released last week, 14 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) men’s track and field athletes were selected to compete at the 2024 NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships to be held on May 23-25 at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Complete NCAA Release
Trinity University will be represented by six athletes, followed by Texas Lutheran University with five. Colorado College is sending two student-athletes, while Southwestern University will send one to the championships to represent the SCAC.
For each individual event contested, including the decathlon and heptathlon, the top 22 declared student-athletes were accepted into the competition. For each relay event contested, the top 16 declared relay teams, one per institution, were accepted into the competition.
Trinity’s Justin Jefferson, the back-to-back SCAC Track Athlete of the Meet, will make his NCAA Outdoor Championship debut. The senior, a three-time SCAC in the triple jump, qualified 10th for the NCAA Championships with a leap of 14.69m.
Jefferson will be joined by teammates, first-year Price Schultea, sophomore Orie Piken and junior Legend Grigsby as the quartet will compete in the 4x100 relay. The Tiger relay enters the NCAA Championships with the 15th best time in the nation at 40.83.
Rounding out the individual Texas Tiger qualifiers are juniors Azariah Anderson and Will Salony. Anderson, who is making his second-straight national appearance, qualified 16th in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.28. Last year, Anderson finished ninth in the same event at the NCAA Championships with a time of 14.52. Salony, who is a two-time qualifier at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, will make his NCAA Outdoor Track debut after qualifying 17th in the 1,500-meters with a time of 3:47.56.
Texas Lutheran’s Ezra Acero is set to make his second-straight appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The two-time SCAC Champion and Championship Meet record holder in the pole vault, qualified tied for seventh in the event, clearing a mark of 5.02m. Last year Acero took home 15th in his NCAA debut.
For the second-straight year, the TLU 4x100 relay team will vie for a national title in that event. The SCAC Champion quartet of sophomores Weston Guzmen and Rickey Franks, junior Justin Freeney and senior Bryce Powell-Chimene qualified with the 14th fastest time in the nation of 40.81.
Colorado College’s Josh Williams will make his NCAA Outdoor Championship debut after qualifying in two different events. The SCAC Champion in both the 200- and 400-meter dashes will toe the line in both events at this week’s championships. He qualified 13th in the 200 with a time of 21.05 and 17th in the 400 with a time of 47.48. Senior distance runner James Settles will make his second-straight appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The CC Tiger and two-time SCAC Champion in the 5,000-meters, qualified 17th with a time of 14:07.78. Last year, Settles earned All-American honors after finishing with a time of 14:12.53. Coincidentally enough, Settles also entered last year’s championship with the 17th fastest time in the country.
Rounding out the SCAC contention heading to South Carolina for a shot at a National Title is Southwestern University senior Adrian Washington. Washington, who set the program record in the high jump last month at the SFA Carl Knight Invitational, clearing a mark of 2.07m, qualified tied for 11th best in the field with the jump.
The complete list of qualifiers is available HERE.
