Jacks Aim for Southland Crowns in Birmingham

Wednesday, February 25

Birmingham, AL

Stephen F. Austin

Southland Conference Indoor Championships

SLC Indoor Championships_preview_web.png

Jacks Aim for Southland Crowns in Birmingham

2/24/2026 12:34:00 PM | Track & Field

Event Schedule Live Results ESPN+ (Day 1)ESPN+ (Day 2)

SFA men look to defend indoor title in Alabama, women eye first indoor championship since ’23 WAC title

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Four weekends of competition inside for Stephen F. Austin track & field has led to this week's Southland Conference Indoor Championships from the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Alabama. The SFA men look to defend their '25 title, while the SFA women eye their first indoor championship since claiming the '23 WAC crown and the program's first SLC title since 2020. The action commences on Wednesday, February 25 with the championships crowned on Thursday.

LIVE COVERAGE
Watch (Day 1): ESPN+
Watch (Day 2): ESPN+
Live Results: live.xpresstiming.com

SFA BY THE NUMBERS
Southland Indoor Championship History
--- 67 --- SLC Women's Indoor Individual Champions
--- 53 --- SLC Men's Indoor Individual Champions
--- 10 --- SLC Women's Indoor Championship Titles
--- 5 --- SLC Men's Indoor Championship Titles

--- 2025 --- Last SFA Men's SLC Indoor Title
--- 2020 --- Last SFA Women's SLC Indoor Title

NOTES & NUMBERS
Southland Conference Indoor Performance List (Men | Women)
--- Keyshawn Garcia (800m), Riley Elliott (Mile), Paul Kiprotich (5000m), Brayden Hill (PV) and Bryson Williams (TJ) are the top performers in the Southland Conference this season.
--- Three other Jacks: Samual Pavan (HEP), Kason Reed (WT) and Ryan Binskin (3000m, 5000m) hold the league's second-best result in their respective events, while three other Jacks and the squad's 4x400 relay team own podium-worthy efforts heading into this week's championships.
--- Evaline Chepkoech (800m) and Basia Mitchell (PEN) are leading their respective events heading to Birmingham.
--- Mitchell also has produced the league's second-longest long jump mark this season, while Aubrey Griffin (PV), Valentine Jemutai (5000m) and Evaline Chepkoech (mile) have recorded the SLC's second-best results this indoor season.
--- Overall, the Jacks will carry 52 top eight Southland Conference efforts across both squads to the indoor championships
--- SFA's 3000m program record has been broken twice this indoor season with Ryan Binskin the current record holder at 8:07.77 which bested Nathan Kapel's previous-best time of 8:08.15 which was set in Fayetteville nearly a month prior to Binskin's effort on the same track.
--- New standards have also been set by Valentine Jemutai (5000m) and Keyshawn Garcia (800m). Jemutai is also the newest program record holder in the women's 3000m.
--- First-year Lumberjack Evaline Chepkoech has been busy rewriting the record books beginning first with a new program best in the 1 mile at the Charlie Thomas Invitational which she then shaved six seconds one week later during the same meet in which she set a new program record in the women's 800m.

TFRI: Track & Field Rating Index (As of February 24)
--- The most recent updates to the USTFCCCA's Regional Track & Field Rating Index have the SFA men at ninth of 38 teams in the South Central Region (SCR), first among all non-high major teams, and with a 118.0-point lead in the SLC TFRI.
--- The SFA women lead the SLC by 2.34 points and are inside the region's top 20 at 19th.

EVENT SQUAD RANKINGS
SFA Men | SFA Women
--- The SFA men are ranked inside the top 50 event squad rankings in four events: shot put (#28), 5000m (#33), weight throw (#42) and 800m (#43)
--- The Jacks are inside the top 100 in two other events: 3000m (#59) and mile (#64).
--- The SFA women rank inside the top 100 event squad rankings in six events: 5000m (#37), pole vault (#51), weight throw (#71), mile (#78), 3000m (#91) and shot put (#98).

JUMP MAN, JUMP MAN, JUMP MAN… AGAIN
A week after being named the Southland Conference's Men's Field Athlete of the Week (Feb. 3) following an impressive effort in winning the triple jump event (15.86m) at the Robert Platt Invitational hosted by Houston, Bryson Williams claimed the honor for a second-consecutive week as he landed 16.04m (52-7.5) to finish second at the Charlie Thomas Invitational in College Station. That mark improved his previous second all-time mark of 15.86m, and it currently stands as the 18^thlongest mark in the event this season and leads all non-high major jumpers.

RECORD BOOK REWRITING
Tyson Invitational / February 13-14
Ryan Binskin – 3000m – fastest all-time (8:07.77)
Valentine Jemutai – 3000m – fastest all-time (9:31.59)
Evaline Chepkoech – 800m – fastest all-time (2:07.91)
Evaline Chepkoech – 1 mile – fastest all-time (4:40.69)
Mercy Kipchumba – 3000m – 2^nd fastest all-time (9:31.83)
Riley Elliott – 1 mile – 2^nd fastest all-time (4:02.62)
Valentine Jemutai – 1 mile – 3^rd fastest all-time (4:52.52)
Robert Fuelle – 800m – 5^th fastest all-time (1:51.15)
Miranda Duran – 1 mile – 6^th fastest all-time (4:55.43)
Mercy Kipchumba – 1 mile – 7^th fastest all-time (4:56.57)
Pablo Lesarri – 3000m – 10^th fastest all-time (8:21.39)

Charlie Thomas Invitational / February 6-7
Evaline Chepkoech - 1 mile - fastest all-time (4:46.66)
Miranda Duran - 1 mile - 9th fastest all-time (4:59.97)
Basia Mitchell – Pentathlon – 8th highest score all-time (3,711)
Basia Mitchell – 60mH – 10th fastest all-time (8.69)
Keyshawn Garcia – 800m – fastest all-time (1:49.16)
Pablo Lesarri – 800m – 9th fastest all-time (1:52.69)
Samuel Pavan - Heptathlon - 4th highest score all-time (5,270)
James Williams – Shot Put – 8th longest all-time (16.99m)

Robert Platt Invitational / January 30-31
Bryson Williams - TJ - 2nd longest all-time (15.86m) - won event

John Thomas Terrier Classic / January 30-31
Valentine Jemutai - 5000m - fastest all-time (16:24.90)
Lauren Creaby - 800m - 5th fastest all-time (2:11.61)
Mercy Kipchumba - 5000m - 2nd fastest all-time (16:31.34)
Trude Lamb - 5000m - 6th fastest all-time (16:53.44)
Sharon Boyani Omwoyo - 5000m - 9th fastest all-time (17:13.62)
Riley Elliott - 1 Mile - 3rd fastest all-time (4:05.72)
Pablo Lesarri - 1 Mile - 5th fastest all-time (4:07.93)
Paul Kiprotich - 5000m - 2nd fastest all-time (13:52.85)
Ryan Binskin - 5000m - 4th fastest all-time (14:13.58)
Riley Elliott - 5000m - 6th fastest all-time (14:19.61)
Devon Judelson - 5000m - 9th fastest all-time (14:24.06)

Arkansas Invitational | January 16
Nathan Kapel – 3000m – fastest all-time (8:08.15)
Paul Kiprotich – 3000m – 2nd fastest all-time (8:08.18)
Lauren Creaby – 600m – 2nd fastest all-time (1:34.64)
Valentine Jemutai – 3000m – 3rd fastest all-time (9:40.63)
Mercy Kipchumba – 3000m – 4th fastest all-time (9:42.18)
Perry Watkins – 60m – 4th fastest all-time (6.80)
Robert Fuelle – 1 Mile – 5th fastest all-time (4:09.04)
Basia Mitchell – LJ – 6th longest all-time (19' 2 ½")
Devon Judelson – 3000m – 6th fastest all-time (8:10.51)
Riley Elliott – 3000m – 8th fastest all-time (8:17.41)
Ryan Binskin – 3000m – 9th fastest all-time (8:20.08)

SFA T&F ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
February 17
MT: Ryan Binskin
MF: Brayden Hill
WT: Evaline Chepkoech
WF: Aubrey Griffin

February 10
MT: Keyshawn Garcia
MF: James Williams
WT: Evaline Chepkoech
WF: Basia Mitchell

February 3
MT: Paul Kiprotich
MF: Bryson Williams
WT: Valentine Jemutai
WF: Aubrey Griffin

UP NEXT
The Jacks await announcements of official qualifiers for the NCAA Indoor National Championships in Fayetteville on March 13 and 14. SFA gears up for outdoor season with the Jacks in action on March 27 and 28 at the Clyde Hart Invitational in Waco.

FOLLOW THE LUMBERJACKS
For all the latest information including meet results, athlete performances and additional news surrounding SFA track & field, visit SFAjacks.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Lumberjacks on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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