TLU's Jones, Garza, men's track & field coaching staff honored by SCAC

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- After exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), Texas Lutheran's Darren Jones and Garrett Garza and the TLU Men's Track & Field Coaching Staff received major post-season awards, the conference office announced today.
 
Jones (Waller/Waller) was selected as the Men's Track Athlete of the Year, and Garza (Round Rock/Stony Point) 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, claiming Men's Track & Field Coaching Staff of the Year.

The all-conference team is determined by performances 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 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 Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Jones added two more All-America citations during his junior season.
 
At this year's Indoor Track & Field National Championships, Jones claimed his first individual All-America citation with a third-place finish in the 60-meter dash, crossing the line in 6.827 seconds.
 
A little over a week ago, at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Jones continued his outstanding season by finishing eighth in the 200-meter dash in 21.48 to grab his second career individual All-America honor.
 
Earlier this year, Jones picked up All-Region awards in three events – the 100, the 200 and the 4x100.
 
At the 2019 SCAC Track and Field Championships, Jones earned All-Conference honors by winning gold in all three events. His win in the 100 was his third straight All-SCAC honor, and he became 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 closed out his career with an exclamation point by earning a pair of All-America honors. At the 2019 NCAA DIII indoor championships, Garza finished eighth in the shot put to collect his first All-America award.
 
Garza then capped off his outstanding senior season by finishing as the national runner-up in the outdoor championship shot put with a school-record toss of 17.81 meters (58 feet, 5.25 inches).
 
In April, Garza captured individual conference titles in both the shot put and the discus to lead the Bulldogs to their third consecutive SCAC Outdoor Men's Track & Field team title. Garza's 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 won eight individual shot put titles in 2019 and was undefeated against DIII throwers in the outdoor season until the national championship meet. He broke his outdoor shot put record five times and broke it twice during the national meet.
 
Garza is just the second athlete in SCAC history to win three-straight conference shot put titles, and he is 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 discus.
 
This is the second time in program history TLU has taken home SCAC Field Athlete of the Year. Former Bulldog Alejandro Briseno won the award in 2016.
  
The Texas Lutheran coaching staff was selected for Men's Track and Field Coaching Staff of the Year after winning the 2019 SCAC Men's Track and Field Championship.
 
Led by Head Coach Darlene Holland, the Bulldogs sent a league-high five male student-athletes to the 2019 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships and earned two outdoor All-America honors.
 
The Bulldogs finished in a tie for 31^st in the final outdoor men's track & field 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.
 
TLU's coaching staff includes: Holland, Bevevino, throws coach Benjamin Wolf, and assistant coach Eddie Ortiz.

Full conference honors release.