Elijah Jefferson crosses the finish line as the anchor of the TLU 4x100m relay team (photo by Aaron Brewer)

Posted: May 26, 2023

TLU 4x100M Relay Team Wins Run-Off; Earn All-America Status at NCAA Championships

ROCHESTER, NY -- After a dramatic opening on Thursday, the No. 24 Texas Lutheran men's track and field continued competition in the 2023 NCAA Division-III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday with the pole vault, 4x100m relay and the 100m dash.

Sophomore Ezra Acero (San Antonio/Harlan) opened competition for the Bulldogs Friday morning with a 15th place finish in the pole vault. Acero, who entered the event ranked 15th in Division-III ahead of championship weekend, finished 15th on Friday amidst a pack of numerous finishes at the 4.75m mark after scratches at lower heights.

All eyes were on the TLU 4x100m relay team Friday evening after forcing a run-off with Loras College after tying for the eighth and final spot in the event finals on Thursday. With their backs against the wall and All-America status on the line, the team of Weston Guzman (McAllen/McAllen), Wyatt Wilson (New Braunfels/New Braunfels), Bryce Powell-Chimene (Dayton/Dayton) and Elijah Jefferson (San Antonio/Construction Careers Academy) delivered - winning the run-off with a season-best time of 40.68 seconds. The time was hundredths of seconds off the program record set in 2018 (40.65) by a team that would finish as national runner-ups at the 2018 NCAA Championships. The All-American team will now compete in the event finals Saturday morning at 11:55 AM with an opportunity to be crowned national champions.

After racing in the 200m dash Thursday and the 4x100m relay on Thursday and earlier Friday evening, Jefferson would also race in the 100m dash prelims Friday evening. Jefferson, who entered with the weekend ranked 12th in NCAA Division-III, would finish 16th with a time of 10.66 seconds. The final eight cut needed to make the event finals was set at 10.52 seconds.

Gerrit Twitero (McQueeney/Seguin), the national leader entering the weekend, will compete in the high jump finals Saturday morning at 9 AM CST/10 AM EST.

Full Results: https://live.deltatiming.com/meets/20382

Coach Holland's Comments: "We took the good with the bad today, unfortunately. The day started with Ezra having trouble with his approach in the pole vault. He made the first two heights, but struggled at 4.90 m which is just under his PR. He actually cleared the height that made All American, but because of the early misses he was outside of the top eight.

Later that afternoon, we battled back in a runoff against Loras and won the 4 x 100 relay to advance to the finals Saturday. We ran a season best and just missed the school record by a couple hundredths of a second. The finals will be rough, because we have lane one, but we are always ready for a challenge!

Elijah finished off the day in 100 m. Kind of got a rough start. Made up for it at the end, but still short of making the finals.

Looking forward to the high jump and the 4 x 100 relay tomorrow to cap off our NCAA championships."

For all updates on Texas Lutheran Track and Field, follow @tluthrows and @tluxctf on Instagram as well as as all official TLU Athletics accounts. All schedule updates can be found on tlubulldogs.com.