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.
WACO, Texas - Baylor track and field head coach Todd Harbour announced the signing of seven student-athletes to National Letters of Intent for the 2010-11 academic year. The signing class includes two men and five women.
"Overall we are excited at the young men and women that are the beginning of our 2010 class," Harbour said. "We are still working on signing a few more but this is a very nice start."
The 2010 signing class includes two high school teammates from the state of Texas with The Woodlands High School products Justine Charbonnet and Taylor Torres. The rest of the class covers both coasts with California native Chad Rozean (Mission Viejo) and New York native Dennis Scruggs (Springfield Gardens), as well as the Midwest and Canada. Kansas native Tiffani McReynolds (Kansas City) and Illinois native Ericka Wilk (West Chicago) are joined by Ontario's Mariah Kelly. Both additions to the men's team enter as experienced 400-meter runners, while the women added two distance runners, two sprinters and one thrower to the mix.(CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY)
