The 2022-2023 season concluded for the Texas State track and field team June 10 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin. 
The season’s end can be seen as a bittersweet moment, serving as the final chapter of one Bobcat legacy and just the beginning for two more. 
Redshirt senior sprinter Sedrickia Wynn, freshman thrower Elisabet Runarsdottir and freshman long jumper Chris Preddie were the athletes representing Texas State at the NCAA Championships.
This was the highest number of athletes Texas State has sent to the event since the 2017 season. All three athletes reflected on what it was like earning the right to compete on the grandest stage in collegiate outdoor track and field. 
“Making it to nationals was awesome,” Preddie said. “Cool experience. Used to watch it as a kid so being there was really different.” 
For Wynn, this was her very first trip to the NCAA Championships in her Division I career. She said the experience was different than what she had become accustomed to. 
“It’s [Nationals], a place I’ve never been before, so basically it’s the best competing against each other so it was a whole different scene,” Wynn said. 
While the trio of Bobcats all earned All-Americans honors for their respected performances at the Championships, Runarsdottir was the only one to be named a first-team All-American. 
Runarsdottir set a new personal best record with a toss of 66.98 meters/219.9 in the women’s hammer throw competition to finish in seventh place. Her throw was 10^th best in Texas State program history. 
Runasdottir said it was a great feeling to be named a first-team All-American as a freshman. She also credits the level of stress she endured during her event due to being in the first of two groups. 
“I had to sit and wait for the second group to finish. That was really stressful because I had to wait and hope that I would advance,” Runarsdottir said. “The stress boost really helped me get in the right mindset of telling myself, ‘I need to do better to get to the podium’… I decided I had to do my absolute best and put it all out on the field and that’s what I did. I’m really proud of how that competition went.” 
Preddie said despite only being a freshman he came into the season with lofty expectations for himself including making it to the NCAA championships. 
“No matter what I do I want to win,” Preddie said. “Coming into outdoor, even indoor, I was like, ‘What do I have to do at practice every day to be able to win?’ So, making the NCAA Championships I wanted to do it. I knew I could.” 
For Wynn, the NCAA Championships marked the end of her five-year collegiate career. Wynn said the emotions of running what may be her final race were bittersweet. 
“I was happy that I was there but at the same time kind of upset that I didn’t make it to the next round,” Wynn said. “But when I got back to the hotel that day, I just thought about how my season went and I was lucky to be one of the top 24 people in the nation to actually make it here in my last meet… I cried a little bit.” 
Wynn, a five-year collegiate veteran having begun her career at Highland Community College in Highland, Kansas, has put her stamp on the Texas State track and field record books with an illustrious resume highlighted by five gold medals.
“It means a lot to me because I’m the type of person who likes to leave something for someone to remember and to make history and leave a legacy for myself,” Wynn said.
Wynn is uncertain what the future holds for her after graduating from Texas State this summer but said she still has a strong desire to continue running. 
“I grew a passion for [track and field]. It’s not something I want to give up right now but if it’s time to hang up the spikes then it’s time to hang up the spikes,” Wynn said.   
All three athletes share the belief that the collective success of the 2022-2023 team along with their individual All-American honors at the Championships could bring more awareness and attention to the sport of track and field which is often overshadowed by more renowned sports such as football, basketball and baseball. 
“Throughout the year this class this group did a good job of bringing exposure to the sport making it entertaining for people to watch,” Preddie said. “You don’t really see track and field on your social media but now especially this year content creators of the sport, brands they’re bringing a lot of attention to it and it’s just going to continue to grow.”