AUSTIN, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana's James Benson II (400m), Grant O'Callaghan (1500m) and Adam Cortez (10k) set outdoor school records during the first day of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays Thursday at Mike A. Myers Stadium hosted by the University of Texas.

Benson II, a junior, ran a 46.05 which broke the four-year school outdoor record held by SLU's Andre Colebrook (46.60-2017). Friday's performance earned Benson II a spot in the 400m finals Friday at 3:20 p.m.

Joining Benson II in Saturday's final will be teammate Johnathon Sawyer. Sawyer, the all-time Southland Indoor recorder holder in the 400m, finished seventh in the prelims in a time of 46.70.

O'Callaghan, a senior, finished runner up in the 1500m in a time of 3:47.18 breaking his own record of 3:47.81 set at the 2018 Southland Indoor Championships.  

With Thursday's efforts, Benson II and O'Callaghan earned themselves top 5 marks on the TFFRS National Performance list.

Senior Anthony Cordero added to the Lions' day one success. The El Paso, Texas native set a personal best in the 3k steeple chase finishing in 9:16.57.

In the final event of the day, senior Adam Cortez set the third school record of the day. The El Paso, Texas native ran the 10k in 30:40:48 breaking a 12-year mark held by SLU's Henry Rop (31:09.09 – 2009 Southland Indoor Championships).

"Wow, what a first day," said SLU track and field head coach Corey Mistretta. "To come to a meet like the Texas Relays and perform like our guys did was something really special. It says a lot about our team and what we can look forward to as we continue on in the season. "James was really special today. He is still recovering from a back injury that kept him out of training for a few months and to run 46.05 is encouraging to say the least. I look forward to seeing him and Johnathon race in the final on Saturday. Starting a meet off with three school records is really exciting and motivating to the rest of the group, we aren't finished."

The meet continues Friday as live video stream links and results will be available at the Southeastern track and field schedule page at LionSports.Net.

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