COLUMBIA, Mo. - Baylor's men's 4x100-meter relay collected the conference title on the final day of competition at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in Columbia, Mo.
For the second straight day rain and cold hit the conference championships, but Baylor's relay teams, along with a breakout group of freshman and sprinters, posted fantastic finishes. In the team races, Texas A&M claimed the women's title with 157 points, while Baylor was eighth at 62 points. For the men, Nebraska claimed the team title at 118 points, while Baylor was fifth at 63 points.
"We battled hard and competed all weekend long," head coach Todd Harbour said. "This is a great track conference, and I felt like we had a good day today. I would like to say a special thanks to our seniors, its hard saying good-bye to such a great group. Our coaching staff appreciates all that they have done."
The men's 4x100-meter relay team reclaimed the conference crown for the first time since 2007, holding off hard-charging Texas A&M. Marcus Boyd, Whitney Prevost, Courtney Thomas and Trey Harts combined for the winning effort in a time of 39.36. On the women's side, the 4x100 relay squad also had a solid day with a second-place finish in a time of 44.68 from DeAna Carson, Tiffany Townsend, Tiana Hood, and Brittany Carr.
In the 4x400, Baylor's men were without the services of Harts, who suffered a leg injury during the 200-meter dash, but battled in the closest finish of the day only fall .03 short of first place. The group of Zwede Hewitt, Michael Liggins, and Boyd added James Gilreath to the mix to run the third leg on their way to a time of 3:04.48. Baylor's women raced to a third-place finish with their second-fastest time of the season. Tiana Hood, Brittany Bruce, Tiffany Townsend, and Diamond Richardson combined for a time of 3:33.66.
"I am really proud of our 4x4's and the way they went after it today," Harbour said. "It was a tough blow losing Trey (Harts) in the 200, but those guys came out and were in a great battle with A&M. Our women put together another great time and are competing at a high level."
Along with the great day from the sprint crew, a group of Baylor freshmen made their mark in the conference. Skylar White added on to her second-place discus finish from Saturday breaking her own school record in the shot put with a toss of 50-10.75. In the 400-meter hurdles, on the women's side, Christina Holland was fourth at 58.56, while two-sport standout Chance Casey was fifth at 50.65 for the men.
"Skylar White has to be the highlight of the weekend for us," Harbour said. "She is competing against some of the best throwers in the country. For a freshman to do that is just amazing. And Skylar wasn't the only freshman that stepped up. Chance (Casey) and Christina (Holland) were both impressive in their hurdle races.
Junior All-American Tiffany Townsend continued her road back to elite form with a second-place finish in the 100 meters at 11.35 and a third-place finish in the 200 meters at 23.07, both season bests. Also for the women, Diamond Richardson made a tough run out of lane one in the 400 meters to place fourth at 54.03 and Brittany Carr ran a season-best for the second straight day to place eighth in the 100 meters of 11.72.
For the men, senior All-American Chris Gowell made a bid for the 800-meter championship, but finished second with a season-best time of 1:48.96, just one spot ahead of Big 12 indoor champ Gilreath, who finished in a season-best of 1:49.36. In the men's 400, Hewitt raced a stacked field to a personal-best time of 46.14 to finish third, while teammate Liggins was fourth at 46.50.
Senior Courtney Thomas led the short-distance sprinters on the men's side with a fourth-place finish in the 200 meters at 20.89. Prevost was seventh in the 200 at 20.99, while Harts was seventh in the 100 at 10.42.
Also for the women, Erin Bedell led two Lady Bears in the top eight of the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Bedell was sixth at 10:11.81, while sophomore Kristen Hanselka earned her first all-Big 12 honor in seventh. Hanselka shaved 14 seconds off her previous personal best in just her second career steeplechase race for a time of 10:28.96. Senior Lauren Simpson also collected the first all-Big 12 honor of her career posting an eighth-place finish in the 800 meters.
Next up for the Baylor track and field team is the NCAA West Regional in Austin, Texas on May 28-29.
Saturday February 27, 2010 7:01 PM Posted by staff
AMES, Iowa - Follow the Bears on Friday and Saturday with live updates from the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships in Ames, Iowa. Saturday's events will begin in the field at noon and on the track at 1:30 p.m. Results will be posted live as the events finish.
AMES, Iowa - Follow the Bears on Friday and Saturday with live updates from the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships in Ames, Iowa. With the cancellation of the preliminary rounds of the 60 meters and 60-meter hurdles, events on the track will begin at 3:10 p.m., while field events will start at 3 p.m.
Saturday February 13, 2010 7:33 PM Posted by staff
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Baylor's relay teams led the way with the top finishes on the final day of action at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. The Baylor men met NCAA provisional standards in the 4x400-meter relay and the distance medley relay.
"Overall it was an outstanding weekend," head coach Todd Harbour said. "We had a lot of quality performances during the two days even though had to overcome a little bit of adversity getting here with travel. I thought we bounced back pretty well today."
In the men's DMR, Gavyn Nero, Drew Seale, James Gilreath and Chris Gowell shaved 11 seconds off the Bears' season best to place second with a school-record time of 9:38.46. The time also marked the fifth fastest in the NCAA this season, and the second school record in as many days for Gowell. The Bears broke the previous school record, set in 2001, by nearly five seconds.
Baylor's men's 4x400-meter relay team of Trey Harts, Marcus Boyd, Michael Liggins, and Zwede Hewitt turned in one of the nation's fastest times at 3:06.77, but was narrowly edged out of first-place for the third consecutive meet. This time it was Florida on the winning end.
The women's DMR team of Leigh Ann Ganzar, Lizzy Whitney, Kathryn Benvegnu and Danielle Bradley rounded out the women's distance crew on the day with a fourth-place finish. The group crossed the line in a time of 11:46.26. The Lady Bears' 4x400-meter relay team placed 15th with a time of 3:41.68. Brittany Bruce, Diamond Richardson, Christina Holland, and Tiana Hood combined to finish just .08 behind their season best.
On the track in individual events, Harts turned in the top finish of the day, placing fifth in the highly-competitive 200 meters. Harts turned in his best performance of the season with a time of 21.00, good for third best in the Big 12 and seventh best in the NCAA.
In the women's field events, triple jumper Jessica Ubanyionwu made an enormous improvement on already impressive career-best. Ubanyionwu added nearly two feet to her personal best with a leap of 43-1.25 to place fourth. Her jump puts her atop the Big 12 by nearly a foot and sits her in seventh in the NCAA. High jumper Dess Meek record her season-best clearance of 5-7 to place second. Meek had zero misses through the first three clearances, allowing her the top tie-breaker at 5-7.
On the women's side, senior All-American Erin Bedell met the provisional standard in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:30.02 to place second. The time also mark's Bedell best in the event this season. In the same race, sophomore Cate Westenhover placed fourth with a career-best time of 9:36.98, and senior Nichole Jones placed ninth with a season-best time of 9:49.45. The sophomore tandem of Sam Patty and Kristen Hanselka each had a solid day in the 5,000 meters. Patty placed seventh with a career-best of 10:03.01, while Hanselka recorded a season-best 10:04.86 to place eighth.
Also on the track, distance runner Brandon Reed shaved 12 seconds off of his previous personal best in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:52.33, to placed fourth in the collegiate division. In the men's field events, Kyle Cash placed eighth in the high jump, clearing a height of 6-6.75.
"Jessica's triple jump was outstanding," Harbour said. "We had some great highlights at the meet with Trey's 200 and especially the two school records with Chris' (Gowell) 800 yesterday and the DMR today. We just have to get a few of them healthy, hopefully we can get everybody well for the Big 12."
Baylor's track and field team will have a weekend off as they prepare for the Big 12 Indoor Championships in Ames, Iowa on Feb. 26-27.
Saturday February 13, 2010 10:31 AM Posted by staff
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Senior trackster Chris Gowell continued his onslaught of the middle distance records at Baylor with a record-breaking 800-meter performance on his way to an event victory at the ultra competitive Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
Gowell broke his own record in the indoor 800 meters with a time of 1:48.26 on his way to a narrow victory. The Wales native's time marked the fastest time in the Big 12, and the third fastest in the NCAA, this season. It is also the second record-breaking performance for Gowell this season. Nearly a month ago, he raced his way to a convincing victory in the 1,000 meters at the Texas A&M Invitational with his BU record of 2:22.38.
Also on the track for the Bears, middle distance runner James Gilreath nearly broke his personal best on his way to a season best in the 800 meters. Gilreath placed 10th in the deep field with a time of 1:51.44, just .02 from his career best.
In the men's 400 meters, Marcus Boyd had the top finish with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 47.22 to place 13th, while teammate Zwede Hewitt ran his fastest individual 400-meter race of the season with a time of 47.55.
Senior Ben Haby also had a career-best day for the Baylor men, with his personal best in the mile. Haby placed fifth in the college division with a time of 4:13.59.
For the women, All-American long jumper DeAna Carson had a solid day with a ninth-place finish with a leap of 19-5.25.
On the track, senior All-American sprinter Tiffany Townsend turned in the top finish of the day. In the preliminary heats, Townsend won her heat with a season-best time of 7.34, just .02 off her personal best and .03 off the BU record. Townsend went on to place sixth in the finals of the 60m with a time of 7.38.
A pair of 800-meter runners in senior Nichole Jones and freshman Stephanie Morgan also ran solid times on the day. Jones placed 13th with her season-best in the event with a time of 2:10.37, while Morgan was just behind her with a time of 2:10.51
The Bears will be back on the same track on Saturday for the final day of the Tyson Invitational at the Randal Tyson Track Center. Field events will kick off the day at noon with the women's shot put, while running events will get rolling at 12:40 p.m. with the women's 5,000 meters.
