Southwestern's indoor track and field program competed over the weekend Friday and Saturday, March 1-2, at the NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Pittsburg, Kansas.

The meet, which spanned two days, hosted the best of the best NJCAA athletes in the country. A total of eight Spartan athletes represented the Southwestern Community College program at this year's championships. Elenani Tinai began the day on Friday for the Spartans with a strong showing in the women's pentathlon finishing 15th best in the country. The men's distance medley relay was up next on day one of competition, as the quartet of Shane Breheny, Albert Miller, Phil Selmer, and Cedrick Watson ran a solid race to also finish in the 15th position. The day was capped off with a new school record (2:34.88) and the 17th best time in the country by Phil Selmer in the 1,000 meter run.

"It is always nice when you get to bring a solid group of athletes to the National Championships. When you have other teammates there with you it seems to help bring some success. I was really proud of our kids on day one! Elenani had a tough go of things early on but kept coming back swinging. The same was evident with both the Men's DMR and with Phil in the 1,000 meter run, they all had the determination to give everything the best they had. We walked away knowing we didn't leave anything out there." said Head Track and Field Coach Trey Bruton.

On Saturday, the Spartans only had one event left to contest, the 4x800 relay, and they made the most of it. The Spartan squad of Phil Selmer, Evan Ouverson, Eric Portis, and Benjamin Aliel set a new school record in the event (7:58.46), good enough for 12th place overall in the country.

"It was a special meet for us, all of our kids worked really hard this season even with the terrible weather and it was a nice way to cap off our season. This fine group of young men and women have helped lay the foundation for our program to continue building on success and excellence both in the classroom and on the track," summarized Coach Bruton.

This meet concluded the indoor season for the Spartans. The outdoor season will begin in the next few weeks where the Spartans hope to continue to build on the success established during the indoor season. A date is not yet set, but the program looks to find a meet to attend in the next few weeks before the students are released for spring break.