The Sam Houston State University men’s track team won the Southland Conference indoor championship for the fourth consecutive season.  This senior class has now completed a perfect run of indoor championships.

“To be able to have a group that has come through and never known not to win is a good thing,” head coach David Self said. “It’s also a daunting task to keep that up over the years… but we have a very talented group of seniors that have done a great job indoors.”

Leading the class is senior sprinter Chris Jefferson. He placed second in the 200-meter dash clocking in at 20.97 seconds, finishing only behind freshman teammate Jo’Vaughn Martin, who set a school record in the event with a time of 20.94 seconds. Martin and Jefferson also placed second and third respectively in the 60-meter dash.  In a group with a lot of experience, it was the freshman Martin that really made headlines at the conference meet.

“He has made the first big jump,” Self said. “He’s already running really fast, the big challenge for me as a coach is to make sure that his realistic expectations can be met. He’s got a lot of really fast running left in his career.”

Junior hurdler and Huntsville native Fabian McCall took home the individual title in the 60-meter hurdles and set a meet record in the event with a time 7.75 seconds— breaking a record that had been in tact since 2003.

All in all, the Bearkats cruised to a conference title, scoring 112 points as a team. SHSU was the only school in triple digits and 29 points ahead of second place Southeastern Louisiana University.  With that success the Bearkats will have a school record three athletes heading to the indoor national championships March 9: Jefferson, McCall and sophomore pole vaulter Clayton Fritsch. 

Once the indoor nationals are wrapped up, outdoor season will be upon the team. They will head to Abilene to compete in the ACU Spring Break Invitational.