Men three-peat track-and-field championship

The men’s track-and-field team at the University of the Incarnate Word’s has won both the Southland Conference indoor and outdoor championships three straight seasons.

The team – under the leadership of its head coach, Dr. Derek Riedel -- clinched the latest outdoor championship with a six-point victory Saturday, May 11, in Houston.

Griffin Neal was the only Cardinal to medal on day one, taking first place, earning 10 points in the 10k with a time of 30:06.92 minutes. However, the Cardinals still performed well with several top finishes which saw the men in first place and the women in third.

Day two started strong for UIW as Kyle Sieracki and Isaiah Hudgens found themselves on the podium in the Decathlon. Sieracki’s 7,833 Decathlon points came from six separate personal records and a new UIW school record, with the fifth-best score in the history of the conference, punching him a ticket to NCAA Nationals. Hudgens’ 7,666 points broke his previous personal record.

Three more Cardinals earned bronze medals to close out day two. Justice Jones took down his own school record in the long jump, leaping to 7.67 meters. Sa’Niya Fowler tied her personal best in the shot put, throwing it 14.36 meters for bronze. Eric Pineda rounded out this group, finishing close to his personal best in the 3,000 steeple in 9:24.97 minutes. Also in the 3,000 steeple, Chris Daniels won the event by eight seconds.

At the end of the second session, the women’s team was in third place with 44 points. The men’s team was firmly in first with more than double the points of the second-place team with 110 points.

On the third and final day, Neal secured his second gold medal of the championship to hand the Cardinals the men’s title with his first-place finish in the 5,000-meter run. With a narrow lead, UIW needed the best from everyone, including Candan Martin, who made the trip to and from San Antonio for graduation before securing five points in the men’s 400-meter hurdles to help secure the victory. Sieracki found himself back on the podium for his final event, placing second in javelin, throwing 61.14 meters. The men’s team totaled 167 points to take home the title.

The women’s team finished day three with two bronze medals, the first from Dasya Tolbert in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.67) and the second from Abbigail Morrow in high jump (1.73 meters). These podium finishes helped the team to 89.50 total points