RIO GRANDE VALLEY – As The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) makes the move to the Southland Conference (SLC), the men's indoor track & field team is setting its sights on immediately competing at a high level in a formidable conference.
All 12 conference members have teams that battle throughout the indoor track & field season. Over the years, the Southland has accumulated 87 NCAA Indoor Track & Field All-American honors by consistently sending student-athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships. The talent continues to improve and the conference is getting tighter every season.
In 2024, the Incarnate Word men's team won its third indoor conference title in a row, but the scores at the top were incredibly close. UIW accumulated 109 points to win, while McNeese had 106 points in second and Northwestern State had 104 points in third.
Among current conference members, Lamar boasts the most indoor SLC championships with six, followed by UIW, Northwestern State and SFA all at four. Southeastern is the other active member to claim the top spot at an indoor conference meet and has done so twice. SFA won the 2021 title in its last season competing in the SLC prior to the 2024-25 return.
Lamar also leads the way with 79 individual conference titles. Other program with double-digit individual indoor championships are Northwestern State with 64, SFA with 51, McNeese with 43, Southeastern with 42 and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with 10. Every school has tabbed at least one indoor title.
Southland representatives have sent 10 student-athletes to the men's indoor national meet in the last four seasons. Lamar's Kenson Tate made the 2024 national championship in long jump. Northwestern State had qualifiers in back-to-back seasons as Dijmon Gumbs competed in shot put in 2024 and Zachaeus Beard made it in the 60-meter dash in 2023. Southeastern's Shea Foster, the SLC indoor record holder in the 5,000-meter run, earned First Team All-American status in 2021 with a sixth-place finish in the event on the national stage. Houston Christian sent two to the 2021 indoor championships, where Denim Rogers earned a First Team All-American nod as he took eighth in heptathlon and Christopher Welch competed in high jump. SFA had two earn First Team All-American honors in 2022 (while in the Western Athletic Conference) as Branson Ellis, the SLC indoor record holder in pole vault and three-time NCAA qualifier, took fifth-place finish in pole vault and Asani Hylton finished eighth in heptathlon.
There are 12 NCAA Indoor Champions in the Southland's history. Most recently, Alexander Young of Southeastern won the 2016 weight throw championship. In 2008, Shadrack Songok of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi won the 5,000-meter run. McNeese has two NCAA Indoor Champions in Brad Gebauer (pole vault, 2007) and Michael Roberson (high jump, 1996). Northwestern State's Brian Brown, the SLC indoor high jump record holder, won the national title in the event in 1990. The other seven national champions belong to former SLC programs in Arkansas State (3), Louisiana-Monroe (3), and UT Arlington.
UTRGV regularly competes at meets alongside its new conference foes. The Vaqueros stack up well in the Southland and will strive to be a top opponent across all disciplines.
Men's Southland Conference Indoor Records
| Event |
Athlete |
School |
Time/Mark |
Year |
| 60-meter dash |
J.T. Smith |
Commerce |
6.55 |
2023 |
| 60-meter hurdles |
Fabian McCall |
Sam Houston* |
7.74 |
2019 |
| 200-meter dash |
Elston Cawley |
UT Arlington* |
20.64 |
1998 |
| 400-meter dash |
Johnathon Sawyer |
Southeastern |
46.23 |
2020 |
| 800-meter run |
Escoffrey Thomas |
UT Arlington* |
1:48.50 |
1997 |
| Mile run |
Sam Stabler |
Lamar |
3:59.33 |
2014 |
| 3,000-meter run |
Sam Stabler |
Lamar |
7:53.98 |
2015 |
| 5,000-meter run |
Shea Foster |
Southeastern |
13:32.28 |
2021 |
| 4x400-meter relay |
--- |
Southeastern |
3:07.67 |
2020 |
| DMR |
--- |
UTSA* |
9:52.90 |
2012 |
| High jump |
Brian Brown |
Northwestern State |
2.34m |
1990 |
| Pole vault |
Branson Ellis |
SFA |
5.80m |
2020 |
| Long jump |
Brian Cooper |
McNeese |
8.22m |
1987 |
| Triple jump |
Al Joyner |
Arkansas State* |
16.78m |
1982 |
| Shot put |
Steve Cate |
Louisiana Tech* |
19.85m |
1986 |
| Weight throw |
Alexander Young |
Southeastern |
23.80m |
2016 |
| Heptathlon |
Romain Martin |
UT Arlington* |
5,880 pts |
2012 |
*Denotes former SLC member
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