Stephen F. Austin Sweeps Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Titles
HUMBLE, Texas – After three days of action, the 2021 Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships came to a close Sunday afternoon at Turner Stadium in Humble Texas. Stephen F. Austin swept the men’s and women’s team titles, marking the first time a school has accomplished the feat since Sam Houston in the 2018 season. The Lumberjacks earned their fifth outdoor championship in program history and their first since 2016. The Ladyjacks added a 10th title to an already impressive program, marking their second-consecutive team championship.
Southeastern Louisiana’s Jonathon Sawyer was named the Southland Men’s Most Valuable Performer (MVP) after accounting for 21.25 of the Lions’ total points. Sawyer secured a gold medal in the 400-meter event with a time of 45.75 and a silver medal in the 200m dash with a finishing time of 20.80. He also ran the second leg on SLU’s 4x400m relay squad that finished second overall with a time of 3:09.15. His fourth point-scoring performance of the meet came in the 4x100m relay, where he ran the anchor leg to push the Lions to a 40.66 time and a fourth-place finish.
Abilene Christian’s Annina Brandenburg nabbed the Southland Women’s MVP honor after registering first-place performances in the shot put and discus events with marks of 16.55m (54-03.75 ft) and 53.39m (175-02.0 ft), respectively. She also threw a 48.22m (158-02.0 ft) mark in the javelin to take second place in the event. Brandenburg racked up 28 of ACU’s 119.5 points on her own and pushed the Wildcats to a third-place finish.
Three meet records fell in the men’s competition, while two records were broken among the women’s competitors. Sam Houston’s Bryan Henderson finished with a 10.11 mark in the 100m dash, toppling the previous record of 10.12, set by Micah Larkins of Northwestern State in 2018. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Leonardo Ledgister crossed the finish line with a 49.23 in the 400m hurdles to beat a 31-year-old record of 49.53 set by UT Arlington’s McClinton Neal in 1990. Branson Ellis took home a gold medal in the pole vault with a meet-record clearance of 5.72m (18-09.25 ft), which bested Colton Ross of SFA in the 2014 season. Ella Anttilla set a meet record in the women’s triple jump with a leap of 13.28m (43-07.0 ft), beating the previous record of 13.22m from UT Arlington’s Lisa Austin from the 1993 championship. Grace McKenzie bested Ryanne Dupree’s (UTSA) best mark in the heptathlon long jump with a 6.06m (19-10.75 ft) attempt. Dupre set the previous record with a 6.01m jump in the 2007 season.
Stephen F. Austin secured the men’s team title with 135 points, while Southeastern Louisiana claimed runner-up honors with 111 points. The Ladyjacks scored 171 points to take home the women’s championship, just ahead of Northwestern State’s 125-point performance.
Top three finishers in each event final are automatically named Southland All-Conference honorees.
Athletes who achieve
qualifying marks, or have done so this season, will now prepare for the NCAA’s Regional Meets. The East Regional will be hosted in Jacksonville, Fla., while the West Regional will be held in College Station, Texas. Both regional events will take place May 26-29. The 2021 NCAA National Championships will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., June 9-12.
Men’s High Point Scorer – Jonathon Sawyer, Southeastern Louisiana (21.25)
Women’s High Point Scorer – Annina Brandenburg, Abilene Christian (28)
Final Team Standings
| Men |
Points |
Women |
Points |
| 1. Stephen F. Austin |
135 |
1. Stephen F. Austin |
171 |
| 2. Southeastern Louisiana |
111 |
2. Northwestern State |
125 |
| 3. Sam Houston |
104 |
3. Abilene Christian |
119.5 |
| 4. Abilene Christian |
81 |
4. McNeese |
91 |
| 5. Central Arkansas |
68.5 |
5. Central Arkansas |
62 |
| 6. New Orleans |
67 |
6. UIW |
50 |
| 7. McNeese |
50 |
7. Southeastern Louisiana |
46 |
| 8. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
48 |
8. Houston Baptist |
36 |
| 9. Houston Baptist |
46.5 |
9. Sam Houston |
33 |
| 10. UIW |
45 |
10. New Orleans |
28 |
| 11. Lamar |
43 |
11. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
25.5 |
| 12. Northwestern State |
27 |
12. Lamar |
17 |
| 13. Nicholls |
0 |
13. Nicholls |
14 |
Day Three Champions
| Event |
Name |
School |
Distance/Time/Points |
| Women’s 100m |
Taylor Tolen |
Abilene Christian |
11.34 |
| Men’s 100m |
Bryan Henderson |
Sam Houston |
10.11* |
| Women’s 100m Hurdles |
Mathilde Coquillaud-Salomon |
Stephen F. Austin |
13.46 |
| Men’s 110m Hurdles |
Joshua Smith |
Sam Houston |
13.79 |
| Women’s 200m |
Ajah Criner |
Central Arkansas |
23.63 |
| Men’s 200m |
Zachary Jewell |
Central Arkansas |
20.72 |
| Women’s 400m |
Natashia Jackson |
Northwestern State |
53.14 |
| Men’s 400m |
Jonathon Sawyer |
Southeastern Louisiana |
45.75 |
| Women’s 400m Hurdles |
Mathilde Coquillaud-Salomon |
Stephen F. Austin |
59.68 |
| Men’s 400m Hurdles |
Leonardo Ledgister |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
49.23* |
| Women’s 800m |
Jessica Rabius |
Houston Baptist |
2:11.00 |
| Men’s 800m |
Alec Snell |
New Orleans |
1:50.89 |
| Women’s 1,500m |
Kelsey Ramirez |
Stephen F. Austin |
4:26.94 |
| Men’s 1,500m |
Andrew Bosquez |
Sam Houston |
3:59.13 |
| Women’s 3,000m Steeplechase |
Sara Steimel |
Central Arkansas |
10:57.13 |
| Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase |
Benjamin Drew |
Houston Baptist |
9:06.02 |
| Women’s 5,000m |
Irene Rono |
Abilene Christian |
17:15.20 |
| Men’s 5,000m |
Gideon Cheplak |
McNeese |
14:33.52 |
| Women’s 10,000m |
Irene Rono |
Abilene Christian |
37:14.29 |
| Men’s 10,000m |
Gideon Cheplak |
McNeese |
29:58.94 |
| Women’s 4x100m Relay |
R. Byrd, D. Granados, N. Jackson, J. Fields |
Northwestern State |
45.61 |
| Men’s 4x100m Relay |
P. Martin, J. Curry, A. Robinson, A. Callahan |
Stephen F. Austin |
39.71 |
| Women’s 4x400m Relay |
D. Granados, J. Moore, E. Wilson, N. Jackson |
Northwestern State |
3:41.21 |
| Men’s 4x400m Relay |
M. Mattar, P. Martin, J. Curry, A. Robinson |
Stephen F. Austin |
3:08.69 |
| Women’s High Jump |
Nissi Kabongo |
Stephen F. Austin |
5-08.75 ft (1.75m) |
| Men’s High Jump |
Slavko Stevic |
Southeastern Louisiana |
6-11.5 ft (2.12m) |
| Women’s Pole Vault |
AnnMarie Broussard |
Northwestern State |
12-10.75 ft (3.93m) |
| Men’s Pole Vault |
Branson Ellis |
Stephen F. Austin |
18-09.25 ft (5.72m)* |
| Women’s Long Jump |
Jasmyn Steels |
Northwestern State |
21-04.25 ft (6.51m) |
| Men’s Long Jump |
Rodney Ruffin |
Southeastern Louisiana |
23-11.75 ft (7.31m) |
| Women’s Triple Jump |
Ella Anttila |
Abilene Christian |
43-07.0 ft (13.28m)* |
| Men’s Triple Jump |
Christopher Welch |
Houston Baptist |
52-11.5 ft (16.14m) |
| Women’s Shot Put |
Annina Brandenburg |
Abilene Christian |
54-03.75 ft (16.55m) |
| Men’s Shot Put |
Tyler Richardson |
Abilene Christian |
56-00.5 ft (17.08m) |
| Women’s Discus |
Annina Brandenburg |
Abilene Christian |
175-02.0 ft (53.93m) |
| Men’s Discus |
Tommy Nedow |
Southeastern Louisiana |
171-01.0 ft (52.15m) |
| Women’s Hammer Throw |
Alanna Arvie |
McNeese |
208-07.0 ft (63.57m) |
| Men’s Hammer Throw |
Trenton Bridges |
Stephen F. Austin |
209-09.0 ft (63.93m) |
| Women’s Javelin |
Charlotte Wissing |
Southeastern Louisiana |
158-05.0 ft (48.30m) |
| Men’s Javelin |
Franck DiSanza |
Southeastern Louisiana |
242-00.0 ft (73.76m |
| Heptathlon |
Grace McKenzie |
McNeese |
5,491 points |
| Decathlon |
Scott Boon |
Houston Baptist |
7,602 points |
*Southland Conference Outdoor Meet Record