Three individual titles helped the Colorado College men's track and field team score a program-record 117.5 points and finish third at the 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship on a cold and windy day in Georgetown, Texas.
 
The Tigers placed third for the seventh consecutive time. Trinity University won the team title with 265.5 points, followed by Texas Lutheran with 240.  
 
After winning the 10K on Saturday, junior James Settles captured his second individual win of the meet in the 5K on Sunday. He won the race for the second time in three years with a time of 14:56.91, the second-fastest ever run at the SCAC Championship Meet. Devlin Swanson finished second to earn all-SCAC honors, while Ayden Cherry placed seventh and Brett Kitazono eighth.
 
Freshman Rabbit Barnes took home the 1500 title in his first league championship meet with a time of 3:56.20, just two-tenths of a second ahead of runner-up Will Salony of Trinity. Settles and freshman Huck Whittemore finished third and fifth, respectively.
 
Meanwhile, senior Leighton Graham collected Colorado College's first SCAC title in the discus with a throw of 144'3".
 
Freshman Josh Williams earned an all-SCAC selection with a second-place finish in the 400-meter race, crossing the line in a school-record time of 48.62 seconds, surpassing the previous mark of 48.63 by Michael Gorman in 2021.
 
Junior Aidan Santos posted a fifth-place result in the high jump, then joined Williams, Barnes and sophomore Holden Perry on the fourth-place 4x400 relay.
 
"We set an all-time high point total at the championship this weekend," head coach Katie Bretscher said. "This is a testament to all our student-athletes' hard work throughout the year. The conditions weren't ideal today.  Everyone preserved and competed.  Even in the cold and windy weather, we had several personal bests and season bests." 
 
Following the event, Settles was named the winner of the prestigious Elite 19 Award for men's track and field. The SCAC Elite 19 is awarded to the student-athlete who has completed the equivalent of at least 60 credit hours at his or her current institution and has at least a cumulative 3.25 GPA. Additionally, the student-athlete must also have earned All-SCAC honors in his/her sport for that particular season.
 
The Tigers return to action on Friday, May 5, at the Air Force Academy Twilight Open, for the first of several "Last Chance" meets throughout the month of May leading up to the NCAA Division III Championships.