LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- After exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), the league office today announced its 2021 Men's Outdoor Track & Field postseason awards.
Josh Fry of Colorado College was selected as the Men’s Track Athlete-of-the-Year while Sean Majors of Trinity University earned Field Athlete-of-the-Year honors.
The voting for Newcomer-of-the-Year was split, producing a three-way tie between Justin Johnson of Trinity University, Scottie Reyes of Texas Lutheran University and James Settles of Colorado College, each of whom will share the honor.
Rounding out the balloting, the Trinity coaching staff earned Men’s Staff-of-the-Year honors.
The all-conference team is determined by performance at the conference championship meet where the top three finishers in each event are recognized as All-SCAC. Complete All-SCAC Men's Track & Field Team
Fry, a junior from Bethesda, Md., became the first Colorado College student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championships in two events, posting qualifying times in both the 800 and 1,500 meters. At the national meet two weeks ago in Greensboro, N.C., he placed 13th in the 800 meters and 11th in the 1,500 meters - the latter representing the best finish by a CC male at nationals since Julian Boggs finished fifth in the 5K in 2007. A U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) all-West Region selection in both events, Fry captured both the 800- and 1500-meter races at the 2021 SCAC Championships to become just the fourth runner to win both races in the same year since Colorado College joined the SCAC in 2007, and the first since Trinity's Michael Erickson in 2017. His time of 1:54.48 was the fifth-fastest in SCAC championship meet history. He was also a member of the third-place 4x400 meter relay team.
Over the course of the season, Fry set new Colorado College school records in both the 800 (1:52.66) and 1500 (3:49.87). A two-time Track Athlete of the Week during the regular season, Fry is the first Colorado College student-athlete to earn SCAC Track Athlete-of-the-Year honors.
Majors, a native of Fredericksburg, Texas, started the season with a bang, posting a personal-best jump of 7.35 meters at the team's first meet of the season - the Trinity Invitational. At the SCAC Championships, Majors took All-SCAC honors with a first-place finish in the long jump with a conference championship meet leap of 7.29m. He also finished second in the 400 meters (49.34) and ran the second leg of the Tigers' winning 4x400 relay team, which finished with a time of 3:18.39 - the second-fastest in SCAC Championships history. The junior qualified for long jump at the NCAA Championships and jumped 7.17m, strong enough to earn a third-place finish amongst the best long jumpers in Division III. By way of finishing in the top eight, the junior finished his impressive season as the second Men's All-American long jumper in Trinity University history. The only other Division III Men's All-American long jumper for the Tigers is assistant coach Todd Wildman '09.
Major's selection as Field Athlete-of-the-Year represents the fifth time a Trinity student-athlete has received the honor. He was also recognized by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as a South All-Region long jumper.
Johnson, a freshman from Houston, Texas, won the triple jump at the 2021 SCAC Championship meet with a mark of 13.89m. He also went on to take second in the 110h (15.53) and third in the 400h (56.85). Johnson also ran third leg on the nationally-ranked 4x400 relay team, which won gold with a finishing time of 3:18.29 - the second-fastest finish in SCAC championship meet history. Johnson, along with Majors and two teammates, finished just outside the top 17 which would have qualified the group for a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The team blazed to a season-best time of 3:15.98 at the North Central Gregory Final Qualifier and earned 4x400 relay all-South Region honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Johnson is the fifth Trinity student-athlete to earn Newcomer of the Year honors and the second straight after Majors won the award following the 2019 season.
Reyes, a freshman from Dilley, Texas, won both the discus and the shot put at the SCAC Championships and earned All-SCAC honors in the hammer with a third-place finish. His shot put toss of 15.74 meters is the third-longest toss in championship meet history. His 26 total points earned at the conference met were the third-most by any individual. Reyes qualified for the NCAA Championships in the discus - the first student-athlete from TLU to qualify for the national meet in the event - with a school-record 50.17m toss, one of just three freshmen in the 17-man field, and his 14th place finish was tops among all first-year throwers.
An all-South Region honoree from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in both the discus and the shot put, Reyes is the fourth TLU male to earn Newcomer of the Year honors and the first since Michael Wong received similar recognition in 2018.
Settles won both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the 2021 SCAC Track and Field Championships, and finished the season as the top-ranked 5K and 10K runner in the SCAC with personal-best times of 15:32.71 in the 5K and 32:38.29 in the 10K. Settles is the third Colorado College runner, joining Tony Calderon in 2019 and Julian Boggs in 2007, and fifth overall, to win both the 5K and 10K races at the SCAC meet in the same season.
Settles is just the second Colorado College men's track and field student-athlete to earn Newcomer-of-the-Year honors, joining Gabe O'Friel who won a share of the award following the 2013 season.
The Trinity University staff was selected for Track and Field Staff-of-the-Year after winning the 2021 SCAC Men's Track and Field Championship in late April. Led by head coach Marcus Whitehead, the team picked up six individual victories and one relay win en route to the program's 12th SCAC Men's Track & Field title and first since 2016. The Tigers had a league-high six individuals earn All-Region honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) with one of those recipients, Sean Majors, also earning the league's only All-America honor on the men's side at the NCAA Division III National Championships. This is the 12th overall time the Trinity University staff has been honored with SCAC Men's Staff-of-the-Year honors, and the fifth time under Whitehead's leadership.
