Huntsville Leader

With the close of the 2021-22 campaign, the Alabama A&M Sports Information Office is producing a Season in Review for each of the program's 16 sports from the past year.

That series began with the fall season before progressing to the winter and spring campaigns. Each week reviews will be released on Mondays and Wednesdays until concluding with the final spring sport on Monday, July 18 and a Department Season in Review on Wednesday, July 20. Today we take a look back at the 2021-22 Men's Outdoor Track & Field season.

2021-22 Men's Indoor Track & Field

Conference Affiliation: Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC)

Overall/Conference Finish: T9-of-12

Final National Ranking: N/A

NCAA: N/A

All-Americans/All-America: N/A

All-Region Selections: N/A

All-Conference Selections: 2: Javelin: Brandon McLaren (1st), Long Jump: Brandon McLaren (1st)

Conference Weekly Honors: 1: Field Athlete of the Week: Brandon McLaren (4/2)

Major Awards and Honors: 2: SWAC Champion: Brandon McLaren (Long Jump), Brandon McLaren (Javelin)

2021-22 Season in Review

• Competed in six meets during season.
• Returned to SWAC Indoor Championships (5/5-7) for first time since 2018, delivering impressive individual performances. Tied for ninth with 28 points.
• Produced 8-of-23 finish at Margaret Simmons Invitational (3/26), finishing with 38 points over the two-day meet at Murray State. Finished ahead of the likes of Morehead State, Murray, Austin Peay and Jacksonville State.

Individual Achievements/Honors

• Junior Brandon McLaren (Clifton, Hanover, Jamaica) delivered nine top five finishes in 14 events across six meets. Produced impressive outing at Margaret Simmons Invitational, winning the javelin over 23 other competitors with a mark of 57.99-meters and was 2-of-32 in the long jump at 6.99-meters. Both were season-highs at the time and also placed 12-of-32 in discus with season-best 40.60-meters.
• McLaren added long jump victory (6.92m) ahead of 29 others and was 3-of-16 in javelin (56.70m) at Hilltopper Relays (4/2). Was 2-of-8 in javelin (55.51m) at Music City Challenge (4/30) before delivering career performance at SWAC Championships. In the latter he would notch three podium finishes, earning individual titles and All-SWAC honors in the javelin (1-of-21, 61.01m) and long jump (1-of-24, 7.45m). Both of those were season-bests and were joined by a 3-of-22 mark in the 110-meter hurdles (14.34, 14.75 Prelim).
• The multi specialist would also earn SWAC Field Athlete of the Week on April 2 following an outstanding performance at the Hilltopper Relays.
• Freshman Tyler Pitts (Madison, Ala.) improved his time in the 400-meter hurdles in five straight meets to close the season. Lowered time from 59.95 to 57.35, 56.86, 56.60 and 56.50, the latter coming in the SWAC Championships.
• Pitts was not the only one to show consistent improvement, as senior Demetrius Hurry II (Foley, Ala.) bettering his hammer distance three times. Began with a 13-of-32 finish and mark of 42.74-meters at Margaret Simmons before hitting 44.06 at Hilltopper Relays and 44.34 at Music City.
• Freshman Keyshawn Johnson (Lakeland, Fla.) delivered a pair of strong performances at Margaret Simmons, finishing 9-of-36 in the 400-meters (51.70) and 18-of-55 in the 200-meters (22.681) before placing 6-of-37 in the 400-meters with a time of 50.42 at UAB's Green and Gold Invitational (4/9).
• Junior Nicholas Powell (Montgomery, Ala.) produced tremendous results at Margaret Simmons, finishing 3-of-36 in the 400-meters (50.30) and 5-of-55 in the 200-meters (22.16). He then added a 6-of-58 outing in the 200-meters at the Hilltopper Relays, crossing the line in 22.54.
• Junior Isaiah McCaulley (Huntsville, Ala.) posted a pair of strong performances at Margaret Simmons, finishing 12-of-32 in the hammer (43.39) and 15-of-32 in the discus (39.25).
• Sophomore Jeremy Gresham (Montgomery, Ala.) notched a 7-of-32 outing in the 400-meters at the Hilltopper Relays, finishing in a time of 50.78.
• Sophomore Shawn Guerrier (Miami, Fla.) produced strong performances in the 100- and 200-meters as he lowered times in each at the Margaret Simmons and Hilltopper Relays. In the first, placed 18-of-54 in 11.17 in the 100-meters and 24-of-55 in the 200-meters before lowering those to 11.16 (15-of-47) and 22.88 (13-of-58) in the latter.
• In those same meets, junior Kyle Graham (Mobile, Ala.) placed 5-of-36 (51.00) in the 400-meters at Margaret Simmons before coming in 11-of-58 in the 200-meters (22.79) at the Hilltopper Relays.

Original source can be found here