BIRMINGHAM, AL. – The University of the Incarnate Word men's track and field team won the Southland Conference Indoor Championship for the first time in program history on Monday, scoring upwards of 20 points more than the second-place team. This is the second conference championship UIW Athletics has won in the month of February after the men's swimming and diving team clinched the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association title on Feb. 20.
 
The women's indoor track and field team secured a second-place finish at the meet.
 
The men entered day two in second place with a score of 46.5, narrowly trailing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, before having a historic second day to push them ahead of the Islanders with a final score of 131.5.
 
Over the two-day event, the men secured eight podium finishes. Parker Barrett started the conference meet breaking a UIW and Crossplex facility record for shot put, throwing a 16.05. Matheo Bernat followed, taking second in the men's long jump. Kyle Sieracki placed second in the men's pole vault to end the first day of the SLC Conference Meet.
 
On the second day, Isaiah Hudgens opened with a personal record of 8.06 in the men's Heptathlon 60-meter hurdle event, securing the victory. Bernat continued his momentum from day one and brought home the gold in the men's 60-meter hurdle event. For the men's heptathlon event, two Cardinals took their place on the podium as Hudgens was second and Sieracki placed third. For the final event of the meet, UIW brought home silver in the men's 4x4 meter relay. This historic second day of competition pushed the Cardinals ahead of TAMU-CC for their first SLC Championship in program history.
 
"I am at a loss of words for how proud I am of both the men and women! They believed it was possible and they went out and did it! This is a special team. They love each other and back one another up and that makes this even more special. This championship validates how we went about building the squad - staying committed to being balanced and well-rounded. Both genders are like that, and the exciting part is that I believe we are better built for outdoor!" said head coach Derek Riedel.
 
The women also had a historic finish at the SLC Meet, keeping the second-place spot through the second day to secure silver with a final score of 134.
 
The women's team took the podium numerous times, first with Madison Algeria's third-place finish in the women's pentathlon. Klaire Bentley brought home the gold in the women's weight throw with a best mark of 18.98. The women finished the day with a victory in the distance medley run by Ivette Alcantar, Alia Henderson, Maryn Demaio and Abigail Gray.
 
On the second day, Sa'niya Fowler started the Cardinals off with a third-place finish in the women's shot put. UIW added two to the podium for the women's triple jump when Gabrielle Thomas took the silver and Oghale Omakor secured the bronze. For the women's mile, Gray came in second and Henderson placed third. Maryn DeMaio was third in the women's 800-meter run. Sullivan Wilke finished third in the women's high jump before Grey ended the day bringing home the gold in the women's 3,000-meter run.
 
Final Results Link
 
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