Jan. 25, 2002
WACO, Texas -
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This Week
Baylor travels to Baton Rouge, La. to participate in the LSU-hosted Purple Tiger Invitational Sat., Jan. 26. The meet will be held at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse with field events beginning at 9:30 a.m. and track races starting at 10:30 a.m. The last field event is scheduled for 6 p.m., while the final races will conclude at 8:10 p.m. All times listed are EST.
Big field awaits Baylor in Baton Rouge
26 teams are set to participate in the 2002 Purple Tiger Invitational. Teams of note on the men's side include host LSU, who is currently ranked third in the nation, as well as 17th-ranked Texas. Ranked teams making an appearance on the women's side include No. 3 LSU and 11th-ranked Rice.
Bears among the best in the Big 12
Two meets into the 2001-02 indoor season the Bears are already pacing the Big 12 Conference owning the top times in five individual events. In addition Baylor has seven individuals and four relay teams that have posted either the second or third best times in the conference to date. Athletes with the top conference marks include Darold Williamson in the 400 meters (47.40), Kyle King in the 3,000 meters (8:22.36), Alex Adler in the 5,000 meters (15:11.28), Barbara Petrahn in the 600 yards (1:22.72), and the men's mile relay team (3:14.10). A complete list of Baylor's top-five conference performers and times can be found on page two.
BU in the rankings
After spending the first week of the season ranked 25th in the nation, according to the Trackwire Top 25 poll, Baylor's men's indoor track and field team slipped out of this week's top 25 ranking. Despite dropping out of the team ranks both Baylor's men's and women's 4x400 relay teams, as well as individuals Zsolt Szeglet (400) and Barbara Petrahn (400) have been listed among the nation's top 12 in their respective events according to Trackwire. Even with the loss of three legs from its national championship 4x400 relay team a year ago, Baylor's men's relay team is still considered one of the top in the nation. The Bears will likely call upon senior Michael Smith, sophomore Joel Martin, and freshmen Darold Williamson and Dwight Ruff to join lone returnee Zsolt Szeglet in it's quest to continue it's national dominance in the 4x400 relay. BU's women's 4x400 relay team returns three runners, in sophomore Tiffany Wise and seniors Chava Demart and Barbara Petrahn from it's 4x400 team that finished fourth at the outdoor NCAA's a year ago. Baylor will look to another pair of freshmen, Jasmine Esiere and Danielle Myricks to fill the hole left by departed senior Keisa Brown. Seniors Zsolt Szeglet and Barbara Petrahn have both been listed as one of the top-12 collegiate runners in the men's and women's indoor 400 meters, respectively. Szeglet is the defending Big 12 outdoor champion and ran the lead leg on BU's national championships 4x400 team in 2001. Petrahn earned outdoor All-America honors in both the 400 meters and the 4x400 relay a year ago, after being sidelined for the indoor season with an injury. In her only race of the season to date Petrahn blew away the field in the 600 yards at the Oklahoma All-Comers, posting a time of 1:22.72. Her time ranks as the fastest in the Big 12 Conference so far this year.
Hart begins 39th season at the helm
Clyde Hart begins his 39th season as the head coach of Baylor's track and field program this season. In his tenure at BU, Hart has firmly established the Bear program as one of the best in the nation. Hart has coached athletes to 23 national championships (11 individual/12 relay) and 429 All-American awards (143 individual/286 relay). Named the men's assistant coach for Team USA at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, Hart has coached athletes to ten world record performances. In 1996, he was named the Coach of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee. That year he coached Michael Johnson to gold medals in the 200 meters and the 400 meters at the Games of the 26th Olympiad in Atlanta, Ga. Hart was also named the NCAA Indoor Coach of the Year in 1996 after garnering such honors in 1989. A four-time Southwest Conference Indoor Coach of the Year, Hart has established Baylor as "Quarter Mile University," after producing 14 4x400 relay national champions and four 400 meter national champions.
