Posted: Apr 22, 2023

Records Fall as Men's Track and Field Opens SCAC Championships

GEORGETOWN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran men's track and field program opened the 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championships with record-breaking marks and impressive performances on Saturday at the Southwestern Fieldhouse and Track on the campus of Southwestern University. Texas Lutheran sits in second place in the men's standings with 115 points behind leader Trinity, the reigning champions, who leads with 142 points.

The Texas Lutheran 4x100m relay team, who entered ranked first in the SCAC and 16th nationally, headlined the Bulldogs conference championship opening day with a SCAC Championship record performance on Saturday. The team comprised of: Weston Guzman (McAllen/McAllen), Wyatt Wilson (New Braunfels/New Braunfels), Bryce Powell-Chimene (Dayton/Dayton), and sophomore Elijah Jefferson (San Antonio/Construction Careers Academy) won the event - adding 10 points to the team total - with the record breaking time of 40.91 seconds. TLU now holds four of the top five spots in the event's championship history.

Elijah Jefferson, who ranks fourth nationally in the 200m, lived up to the hype winning the event with a time of 21.34 seconds while teammate Wyatt Wilson would finish third with a time of 21.59 seconds. Jefferson's time ranks second in SCAC Championship history as TLU holds four of the top five times in the event record book.

Luis Green (Monterrey, Mexico/Smithson Valley) added to his illustrious career at Texas Lutheran - winning the 800m run in his first SCAC Track and Field Championship appearance with a time of 1:56.44 to add 10 more points to TLU's point total.

Ezra Acero (San Antonio/Harlan), who ranks 16th nationally in the pole vault, won the event at the 2023 SCAC Championships with a mark of 4.54m. Freshman Cutter Clancy (Stockdale/Stockdale) would add five points with a fourth place finish with a final mark of 3.49m.

Riley Denman (Pearland/Pearland) would add yet another event win for Texas Lutheran with a season-high mark of 48.99m in the hammer throw - placing him atop of the SCAC performance list for 2023. TLU would go 1-2-3 in the Hammer Throw, sweeping the podium with Chase Cook (Austin/McNeil) and Weston Geiger (Shiner/St. Paul) finishing second and third respectively. Geiger would also add a second place finish in the javelin throw with a season-high mark of 54.41m.

Freshman Rickey Franks (Rockport/Rockport-Fulton) finished second in the 400m hurdles with a new school record time of 54.94 seconds. The record was previously held by Ian Hons with 55.19 (2018).

Cole Schuetz set a new school record in the 10K with a time of 35:14.17. The record was previously set by Blake Westbrook in 2016 with a time of 36:02.32.

Full Results: https://tlubulldogs.com/sports/mtrack-out/2022-23/files/day_1_results_-1-.pdf

Coach Holland's Comments: "Where to begin!

It was quite a day for both genders! Lots of loud cheers from the throws area down the hill resonated early on at the track. The cheers continued in the jumps and then onto the track! So many exciting events and above and beyond performances!

There were many, many special things throughout day 1, but some stood out a little more than others. For instance, it's not often you see a school take 1-2-3 like our men did in the Hammer. Or a soccer All-American sprint away from the field to win the 800. Then there's our top pole vaulter STARTING the competition when everyone else was already out.

We are behind in the scores, but we're not out. I think another powerful day and we can make a surge for a higher spot!"

The Bulldogs continue their pursuit of a SCAC title on Sunday in Georgetown, with the day's starting gun set to fire at 8 AM. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.

For all updates on Texas Lutheran Track and Field, follow @tluthrows and @tluxctf on Instagram as well as as all official TLU Athletics accounts.