SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- The Concordia track and field men took a road trip north to compete in the 2024 PacWest championships. With a firm goal to finish in the top three, and an attitude of togetherness, the team accomplished its goal. In a truly exciting fashion, it even came down to the last event. To top it all off, the team had its second-ever PacWest Athlete of the Meet honoree.
 
The team was led by freshman Trey Vergenz whose three podium finishes tallied 26 points. An impressive event-win and new PR in the discus, backed up by two second-place finishes in the hammer and the shot put is no small feat. The entire PacWest clearly agreed since the coaches voted him male field athlete of the meet. He became only the second ever CUI track and field athlete to receive this honor.
 
The rest of the throwers also chipped in for more than a few points. Jaylen Newman, Hunter Hornaday, and Ryan Santana combined for 26 points across three events, topped by a podium finish from Newman in the discus. The throwers' combined 52 points accounted for nearly half of the teams' 107 points.
 
Also in the field, two men rode their performances right onto the podium. First, Dylan Fox earned his second consecutive PacWest championship in the long jump. The junior bested his personal record, school record, and meet record in one 7.62m jump. He also launched himself back into the nation's top-10 to give himself a shot at another national appearance. The other podium finish came from Tyler Denes in the pole vault. In the middle of his decathlon, the junior snuck in a quick pole vault competition to earn himself a silver medal. He then went back to finish the decathlon and secure himself yet another silver medal.
 
As the decathlon results were tabulated, the 4x400m relay began. CUI was down by one point to Biola and needed to finish at least on spot ahead of them for the tie. The first two legs of Matias Vasquez and Bryce Tondryk remained ahead of the direct opponent, but as their runner narrowly surpassed Mason Mizuta at the end of the third leg, Christopher Victoria was having none of it. The junior made up the gap and never looked back as he tied the meet for the men. The team ended up tying for third to achieve their goals of scoring over 100 points and finishing in the top 3.
 
Other scoring performances came from Dylan Fox and Cooper Tirado in the 100m, Noah Plaza in the 1500m with a new PR of 3:52.55, and the steeplechase trio of Juan Sebastian Garcia, Dustin Berger, and Gavin Hellerstedt. Additionally, outstanding performances by Mason Mizuta in the 400mH and Fernando Aguirre in the 10,000m added points that the team was not expecting.
 
Many of the men finished their seasons in Santa Barbara, but some will stay to fight their way into the nation's top-20 for a spot at the NCAA championships while others chase school or personal records.
 
For the PacWest results CLICK HERE
For the entire schedule CLICK HERE