Men’s Outdoor Track & Field

RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s (UTRGV) men’s outdoor track & field unit is eager to start competing in the Southland Conference (SLC) and adding to the league’s rich history in the sport.

The Southland has accumulated 199 NCAA All-American honors and 15 NCAA Championships in men’s outdoor track & field over the years. In the last three seasons, current SLC representatives* have sent 14 individuals and two relay teams to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During that span, SLC schools have tabbed four First Team All-American and three Second Team All-American honors. (*Stephen F. Austin sent five individuals and one relay to the championship meet from 2022-24 while a member of the Western Athletic Conference).

Northwestern State holds the most NCAA All-American honors of any active Southland program with 25. National standouts from the conference include Shadrack Songok from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, who won the men’s 10,000-meter run in 2007 and 2008. Most recently, SFA’s Branson Ellis won the pole vault national championship in 2021. Notably, the SLC boasts six pole vault championships, including three from former member Arkansas State’s Earl Bell, who dominated the event from 1974-76.

While the conference is deeply competitive from top to bottom, it has been the Incarnate Word Cardinals to hoist the outdoor team trophy three seasons in a row. UIW’s 2023 title secured the “Triple Crown” for the Cardinals, meaning their men’s teams won titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field in the same year. It was the fifth men’s Triple Crown and 12^th overall in Southland history and the first since the mid-1980’s.

UIW’s three outdoor titles is tied for third-most among active SLC members with Northwestern State. Both programs are behind Lamar’s 10 titles and SFA’s five, including the 2021 title before their conference move. The only other current conference competitor to claim the team trophy is Southeastern.

Lamar also leads the conference with 136 individual titles. McNeese has claimed a conference-leading seven individual championships in the last two seasons, moving into second among active programs with 82 total. There has been good disparity among the SLC programs at the last two outdoor meets, with newcomer Texas A&M-Commerce, Southeastern and UIW all taking six titles, making for close scores in the team standings. UIW’s 2024 outdoor championship was decided by just six points as the Cardinals scored 167, followed by Northwestern State in second with 161 and McNeese in third with 116.

Southland men’s track & field athletes have also established a presence on the professional level. Six conference schools had representatives at the 2024 U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials who once competed in the Southland – Kyle Sieracki from UIW in decathlon, Kenson Tate from Lamar in long jump, Donavon Banks from McNeese in javelin, Zachaeus Beard from NSU and J.T. Smith from Commerce in the 100-meter dash, and SFA’s Jeremiah Curry in the 200-meter dash.

Commerce alum Joseph Brown, who competed for the Lions prior to their move up to Div. I, made the Olympic Team in discus.