Prairie View A&M men's track and field closed the indoor season with an eighth-place finish at the Southwestern Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, compiling 41 points over two days of competition Feb. 21-22 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama. The Panthers leaned on a mix of podium finishes, strong distance efforts and key relay points to cap the indoor campaign and build momentum toward the outdoor season.
The Panthers set the tone on Day 1 with a series of qualifying efforts and early scoring performances. Bryce McFadden advanced to the 400-meter finals after clocking 47.73 seconds in the prelims, while Sebastian Cruz moved on in the 800 meters with a 1:52.57 in his preliminary heat. On the distance side, Thierry Garcon delivered one of the team's first scoring efforts of the meet with a sixth-place finish in the 3,000 meters, crossing in 9:00.95.
Prairie View A&M also picked up valuable field-event points on the opening day. In the pole vault, Darryl Muckelroy cleared 4.42 meters to secure second place, providing one of the top finishes of the weekend for the Panthers. The distance medley relay added to the team total as the quartet of Jaiden Johnson, David Barrett, Jordan Smith and Garcon combined to run 10:51.65, placing sixth and further solidifying Prairie View A&M's presence in the distance events.
Day 2 brought the Panthers' strongest individual results and several performances that climbed the Prairie View A&M record book. McFadden matched his preliminary time with another 47.73 in the 400-meter final, this time earning a third-place finish. The performance stands as the third-fastest indoor 400 in program history, underscoring McFadden's consistency and impact in the event at the conference level.
Cruz followed his qualifying run in the 800 with a fourth-place finish in the final, once again stopping the clock at 1:52.57. In the longer distances, Garcon capped an impressive double by taking third in the 5,000 meters in 15:15.04. That time ranks as the second-fastest indoor 5,000 in school history, giving the Panthers another high-scoring effort from the distance group and reflecting the program's growing depth in the event.
The field events continued to be a key source of points on the second day, highlighted by Devin Miller's runner-up finish in the high jump. Miller cleared 2.07 meters to take second, adding another podium performance to the Panthers' tally and complementing Muckelroy's pole vault result from Day 1. Together, the vertical jumps provided a strong foundation for Prairie View A&M's 41-point total.
Full results from the meet can be viewed online and can be rewatched on SWAC TV.
With the SWAC Indoor Championships marking the end of the indoor schedule, Prairie View A&M now shifts its focus to the outdoor season. The Panthers are scheduled to open outdoor competition on March 20 at the Texas Southern Relays, looking to carry over the momentum from their conference podium finishes, school-record-caliber marks and relay contributions into the next phase of the 2026 campaign.
