The Texas State Bobcats women’s track and field squad won the Sun Belt Indoor Championships for the first time since the 2019 season with 108 total points on Monday and Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama. Finishing in second place for the SBC Indoor Championships women’s side were the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, who scored 93 points.
Top performers to help the Bobcats women’s team come out on top were Melanie Duron and Taejha Badal. Duron took home gold in the shot put event with an 18.21m throw. This mark set a Sun Belt record, a Sun Belt meet record and the top throw in Texas State history. The mark also ranks #8 in the NCAA. Badal secured first place and set a PR (personal record) in the 200m event with a 23.37s time. Badal’s 23.37s time ranks as the second fastest time in Texas State history.
Although first-place finishes are always the goal, many Bobcats secured the women’s team points with top-five finishes. Chinenye Uzoh, Abigail Parra, Lauryn Small, Precious Okougbodu, Utitofon Sam and Nyomi Garcia all finished within the top-three of their respective events.
Freshman Nyomi Garcia shattered the women’s 5000m Texas State record with her performance. Garcia recorded a time of 16:55.82, finishing fourth overall and 10 seconds faster than the school record. Parra placed second in the mile on the women’s side with a time of 4:46.62, also good for the second-best time in school history.
As for the men’s team, Texas State finished third overall with a total of 97.5 points. Finishing in first place and claiming the Indoor SBC Championship was the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns with 142 points.
Sophomore Henry Buckles showed out for Texas State in the men’s shot put. Placing first, Buckles threw a mark of 19.91m. This mark is good for both the Texas State school record and the Sun Belt Conference meet record. Buckles ranks fifth in the NCAA with this performance.
Other top performers for the Texas State men’s team were high jumpers Kason O’Riley and Aiden Hayes. After previously recording the second best high-jump in Texas State history, O’Riley took home the gold in the SBC Indoor meet. The senior recorded a 2.21m leap, tying the Sun Belt Conference meet record in the process. Hayes finished second in the event with a mark of 2.18m.
With the 2025 SBC Indoor Championships in the book, the next meet on the board for Texas State track and field will be the NCAA Indoor Championships hosted in Virginia Beach, VA, from March 14-15. Only athletes who qualified for their respective performances will be moving on to compete.
