FRISCO, Texas – Junior distance runner Garett Cortez was named the 2018 Southland Conference Men's Outdoor Track and Field Student-Athlete of the Year, announced by the league office Tuesday afternoon.
 
In all, nine members of the University of the Incarnate Word track teams earned Academic All-Southland Conference honors. The academic teams are voted upon by each institution's head track and field coach, academic advisor, and sports information director. UIW's nine student-athletes were second-most in the conference behind Abilene Christian (11).
 
"Garett's unwavering determination in the pursuit of excellence, both athletically and academically, embodies the true spirit of the student-athlete," said head coach Dr. Derek Riedel. "The grit you see displayed on the track is only surpassed by his efforts as a scholar. There are a great number of high-achieving student-athletes in the Southland Conference, so this is a tremendous honor. But, it is an absolutely deserved and earned one."
 
Cortez, a Schertz, Texas, native out of Steele High School, was an automatic selection after earning First Team All-Conference honors. He has a 3.86 cumulative GPA while working toward his master's degree in administration, with a concentration in sports management and a minor in communication arts. He has made the Dean's List every semester. Cortez won the 1500m at the SLC outdoor championships with a new PR time of 3:46.95 after finishing first overall in the prelims. His championship victory was one of five wins for the junior, who earned two third-place finishes (3000m and 5000m) in the indoor championships and earned All-Conference honors with a Top-5 finish at the SLC cross country championships in Abilene. He led the Cardinals in the NCAA South Central Cross Country Regional, earning a top-40 finish. His 36th place finish matched the program record for highest finish in an NCAA race, tying Shayn Weidner's mark in the DII regional in 2009. Cortez missed the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field West Regionals by just over one second.
 
"I'm honored to receive this award from the Southland Conference, and is a testament that hard work does pay off," said Cortez. "I've dedicated much of my time and effort to be the best student-athlete I could be every day. This wouldn't have been possible without my faith and the support of my family, coaches, and teammates that have motivated me along the way. Thank you for this award, and I hope to continue to represent UIW, and the Southland Conference, at the highest standard."
 
Joining Cortez on the Academic All-SLC teams are Clinton Cole, Rodney Littlejohn, Collin Sepulveda, Sarea Alexander, Myah Antwi, Gabrielle Estrada, Victoria Jackson, and Danielle Martinez.
 
Cole, a junior sprinter and jumper from Temple, Texas, has a 3.10 cumulative GPA in rehab sciences. He qualified for the NCAA West Regionals in the 100m, where he placed 20th in the preliminary round with a PR time of 10.35 to advance to the quarterfinals. In that round, he finished 16th in a race featuring the world's fastest sprinter in Arkansas State's Jaylen Bacon. Cole had three first-place finishes, all coming in a three-week span.
 
Littlejohn is a junior decathlete from San Antonio's Taft High School. Littlejohn has a 3.39 cumulative GPA in rehab sciences. He earned the bronze medal in the decathlon in the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships, finishing first in the 100m, long jump, and 1500m. His 6,824 points shattered the previous school record by over 300 points. Littlejohn set PRs in the 100m, shot put, 110m hurdles, pole vault, and the 1500m. He finished second in the decathlon at the Texas State Bobcat Invitational with 6,575 points.
 
Sepulveda, a junior hurdler and sprinter from O'Connor High School, has a 3.37 cumulative GPA in biology. He earned the silver in the 400m hurdles at the SLC Outdoor Championships, where he set a new PR in the finals with a time of 52.35. He was victorious four times in the outdoor season: twice in the 400m hurdles, and once in the 110m hurdles and 4x400m relay team.
 
Alexander was an automatic selection for the All-Academic team as she earned First Team All-Conference honors last month. The redshirt junior jumper out of San Antonio's MacArthur High School had a career-making season for the Cardinals. She set a new school, stadium, and career record in the long jump with a leap of 6.54m/21-5-5 at the SLC Outdoor Championships en route to not only to the gold, but catapulting her to third in the region. She followed that with a PR leap of 12.87m/42-2.75 in the triple jump, which earned second place. Earning spots in both jumps at the NCAA West Regionals, Alexander just missed out on a trip to Eugene in the long jump, as the final jumper, University of Houston's Samiyah Samuels, passed Alexander on her final attempt for the 12th and final spot, beating Sarea by three centimeters. Along with her win at conference, Alexander finished the outdoor season with six victories. She was named the SLC Indoor Female Field Event Performer of the Year after finishing first in the triple jump and second in the long jump.
 
Myah Antwi is a senior thrower out of Huntsville, Texas. She has a perfect 4.00 cumulative GPA as she is working towards her master's degree in health administration. Antwi finished the outdoor season with seven top-10 finishes, including a pair of runner-up titles in the shot put and hammer throw at the UIW Spring Break Invitational.
 
Estrada, a senior thrower from Boerne, Texas, who went to Feast High School, has a 3.94 GPA in communication arts. In the discus, she finished ninth at the SLC Outdoor Championships. Estrada posted two victories at the UIW Spring Break Invitational, winning in the discus and hammer throws. She earned the bronze in the hammer at Texas State and finished fourth at the ACU Last Chance Meet in the discus.
 
Jackson, a sophomore sprinter and jumper out of Cedar Hill, Texas, has a 3.65 cumulative GPA in biology. She helped the 4x400m relay team to a season-best 3:38.49 to earn bronze at the SLC Outdoor Championships and earn a spot in the NCAA West Regional. She ran a strong opening leg in the regionals. She was also part of the 4x100m relay team, which just missed the podium by five centimeters in the SLC Outdoor Championships. She was part of a 4x1 team that posted two victories, at Texas State and the UIW Spring Break Invitational.
 
Martinez, a junior distance runner out of New Braunfels' Canyon High School, posted a 3.84 GPA in marketing with a minor in management. She earned the bronze in the 3000m steeplechase at the SLC Outdoor Championships with a time of 11:11.24, the third-best time in school history. She ran a PR time of 4:46.83 in the prelims of the 1500m at conference. She won the 5000m at the ACU West Kittley Invitational and finished second in the same event at the UIW Invitational. In the cross country season, Martinez led the Cardinals in the NCAA South Central Regional with a 61st-place finish out of 176 runners, besting her previous PR by 17 seconds and was the best finish in an NCAA race by a female runner since 2011.

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