The very first champions in Vanguard/Southern California College history were crowned at the 1974 NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships.  Ed Bouldin, who competed in a now discontinued event, was one of two champions at the two-day event, along with Don Turri (see below). The two-mile race walk saw Bouldin set an Indoor Championship record by 23 seconds with a time of 14:37.8, almost six seconds ahead of Paul Ide of Fort Hays Oregon College of Eduction. The event was on the Indoor program until the 1980 season.Â
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| With two champions crowned at the Indoor Championships, the squad would double down at the Outdoor Championships in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Four individual outdoor championships were captured that during the meet and the team finished second overall, nine points behind Eastern New Mexico. Jack Causey cleared 6-09.0 (2.1m) to win the high jump over British Tharpe of Dallas Baptist. | RESULTS |
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| Jim Feeney gave the squad their second gold medal from field events on the day as he paced all contenders in the javelin with a 236-10 throw (71.98m), nine feet further than Carlos Omphroy of Occidental. | RESULTS |
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| In a now discontinued event, Mike Singletary won the only outdoor track title for the Lions in 1974. His time of 46.3 seconds in the 440 yard dash got him across the line just .2 seconds ahead of Isiah Douglas of Southeastern Louisiana. He was one of the last champions of that distance, as the discipline remained on the Championship slate for just two more seasons and was eventually replaced by the 400m run. | RESULTS |
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Don Turri was the undisputed shot put champion of the NAIA in 1974. He won gold at both the indoor and outdoor championships, the only SCC/VU student-athlete to claim two titles in a single year. At the indoor event, Turri nailed a 58-09.75 (17.7m) throw, two feet further than Walley Autem of Pittsburg State, to claim the gold. He then picked up an extra few inches at the outdoor event to post a mark of 59-00.5 (18.1m) to beat Ray Fogg of Pomona Pitzer by almost three feet to nab his second title of the year.
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Don Turri completed his run as the best shot put thrower in the NAIA at the 1975 Indoor Championships. He improved on his 1974 Outdoor Championship mark by getting his throw out to 59-07.0 (18.1m), beating Steve Lindgren of Hamline by nearly three feet.
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| 21 years later and the track and field program got another student-athlete back on the top step of the podium with Kevin Carlson at the 1996 Outdoor Championships. Leaping 7-00.5 (2.15m) in the high jump, Carlson bested Jason Clinch of Linfield College by half an inch to claim victory. | RESULTS |
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| Winston Lawson then ended another dry spell for the Lions with a triumph in the heptathlon at the 2018 Indoor Championships. Lawson scored 5,321 points in the seven-part event, almost 200 more than Westmont's Pieter Top in second. Lawson was fifth in 60m dash (7.13), second in the long jump (22-0.75, 6.50m), third in the shot put (30-06.50, 11.20m), first in the high jump (6-07.50, 2.02m), first in the 60m hurdles (8.13, which set an NAIA record for the discipline in the heptathlon), fifth in the pole vault (13-09.25, 4.20m), and 10th in the 1,000m run (2:54.39). | RESULTS |
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| The buildup for another champion lasted almost exactly one year, as after a 13th place finish in 2018, Amanda Chan rose to the occasion in 2019 at the NAIA Indoor Championships. Clearing 5-07-25 (1.71m) in the high jump, Chan beat Kyara Black of Spring Arbor to win gold and give Vanguard back-to-back years with a champion at the Indoor Championships. She also registered the third title in the high jump discipline in school history. | RESULTS |
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VU track and field got another first at the NAIA Indoor Championships in 2022, as Keili Dorn took to the track in the 5,000m race. Dorn kept pace with the top four runners, who separated themselves from the group and were the only four in contention at the bell lap. Dorn found herself in fourth on the backstretch but she threw down a huge kick from there. Dorn passed the other two runners in the final corner and despite Becca Richtman of Montana Tech making a push of her own, Dorn passed her on the straight to win by a second with a time of 17:05.70. That mark was a new personal best for the Lion and her title was the first for a long-distance runner in school history.
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The first individual National Champion to not be from track and field came from men's wrestling in 2023. Gerardo Hernandez swept through the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament bracket at 174-pounds to take his first trophy of the post season. Entering as the #3 seed at the NAIA Championships, Hernandez took multi-point wins in his first two matches to get to the quarterfinals. He then took down the second seed in the semifinals before finishing off top-seeded Isaiah Luellen of Grand View 3-1 in sudden victory to become the best in the NAIA at 174-pounds.
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| The final NAIA National Championship came in the final NAIA event in VU history. The women's 4x400m Relay Team of Jordyn Burke, Eryn Burke, Elizabeth Betten, and Brooke Dalgity had set a school record of 3:41.48 on May 9, which was almost four seconds faster than any other team in the NAIA. Entering as the favorites in the event, the squad easily won its heat by just over six seconds with a 3:42.05 and the Blue and Gold had almost three seconds over Cumberland (Tenn., 3:44.93) after the three preliminary heats concluded. Though both teams ran faster in the final, Cumberland could not keep up. The Lions set a school record of 3:39.71 to again clear CU by just over three seconds (3:42.86) in the last event of the day at the NAIA Outdoor Championships to give the Lions the perfect ending to school's time in the NAIA. RECAP | RESULTS  |
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