March 22, 2002

Bears to host Dr Pepper Invitational

The Baylor track and field team will remain home for the first time this season to host the annual Dr Pepper Invitational Sat., March 23. The Bears will welcome eight other teams to the Hart/Patterson Track and Field Complex including Angelo State, Northwood, Sam Houston State, Southern Methodist, Stephen F. Austin, North Texas, Southwest Texas State and Paul Quinn College. The Dr Pepper invitational will kick off at 9 a.m. with the men's javelin. The first running event, the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, is set to begin at 12:30 p.m. The Dr Pepper meet marks the first of two invitationals the Bears will host this season. Baylor will also put on the annual two-day Michael Johnson/Southwestern Bell Open, April 19-20.

Hart begins 39th season at the helm

Clyde Hart is in his 39th season as the head coach of Baylor's track and field program. 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 24 national championships (11 individual/13 relay) and 431 All-American awards (144 individual/287 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 13 4x400 relay national champions and four 400 meter national champions.

Last Year at the Dr Pepper Invitational

Baylor's men's and women's track and field teams posted 11 first-place finishes as the Lady Bears took the honors in seven events and the Bears captured first in four. Leading the way for Baylor on the women's side were Ssereta Lafayette and Tamara Johnson. Lafayette finished first in the 100 meters with a time of 12.02 seconds and took third in the 200 meters with a 24.69 clocking. Johnson, meanwhile, placed third in the 100 (12.19) and second in the 200 (24.37). Teammate Barbara Petrahn won the 200 with a mark of 24.11 in her first individual race of the year. Lanie Millar took home first in the 800 meters with a time of 2:12.97. Kara Newton gave the Lady Bears their fourth individual champion, pacing the field in the 5,000 meters by more than 17 seconds with a time of 17:42.97. Prior to her 5,000-meter title, Newton turned in a second-place showing in the 3,000 meters at 9:55.24. Baylor also finished first in both the 4x100-meter relay (45.87) and in the 4x440-yard relay (3:56.89). Alicia Hooker took third in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing in 14.06 seconds. Rachal Roessler finished second in the discus (39.69 meters, 130-2) and third in the shot put (11.44 meters, 37-6 ?) to lead Baylor in field events. Amber Barnes also placed sixth in the shot put with a mark of 10.64 meters (34-11). Kerry O'Bric finished third in the javelin with a throw of 40.82 meters (133-11). She also finished first in the long jump at 5.93 meters (19-5). Cynthia Benson and Jordan Willmann both cleared 1.63 meters (5-4) to finish second and third, respectively, in the high jump. The Baylor men dominated both the 400 meters and the 800 meters. Zsolt Szeglet eased to victory in the 400 with a time of 47.99. Joel Martin (49.21) took second and Luke Austin (50.23) tied for third. Damian Davis took home the hardwood in the 800 (1:53.79). Alex Adler gave the Bears a third individual champion, winning the 1,500 meters in a time of 15:00.20. Ferenc Bekesi finished second at 15:08.54. Baylor also finished first in the 4x440-yard relay, the Bears' "A" team turned in a time of 3:15.06 while the "B" team was second with a 3:22.60 clocking. Martin Dossett finished second in the 200 meters with a time of 22.31, he also took third in the 110-meter hurdles with a 14.23 mark.

Lady Bears watch school records fall

During the 2002 indoor season Baylor's women's team saw four of its school records fall by the wayside. Senior Rachal Roessler started off the year breaking her own school record mark in the weight throw recording a distance of 52-9 1/2 at the LSU Purple Tiger Invitational. Her distance was nearly a full foot better then the previous mark (51-9 3/4) she set at the 2001 Big 12 Championships. Sophomore Katherine Duncan then went on to set a school record in the 1,000 meters at this year's indoor conference meet. Duncan's time of 2:54.96 was over a second faster then the previous mark (2:55.99) set by Janet Dollins in 1992. In Ames, Iowa two more records fell as senior Lanie Millar shattered the indoor 800 meter record and freshman April Holliness topped the long jump mark. Millar's time of 2:06.34 in the 800 earned her an automatic bid into the NCAA Championships and broke the previous school record mark (2:07.42) held by Jill Chertudi since 1994. Holliness' jump of 20-6 3/4 bested the previous distance of 20-5 set by Yulanda Nelson in 1997.

Men's 4x400, Millar and Williamson included in "Dandy Dozen"

Baylor's men's 4x400 relay team as well as senior Lanie Millar and freshman Darold Williamson are listed among the nation's top-12 in their respective events according to the latest Trackwire "Dandy Dozen" rankings. The men's 4x400 relay team, consisting of Zsolt Szeglet, Michael Smith, Charles Sterling and Darold Williamson concluded the indoor season winning the national title with a season-best time of 3:05.54. Baylor's national championship in the 4x400 relay marked its fourth in the last five years as Baylor won the indoor title in 1998 and 2002 and the outdoor crown in 2000 and 2001. Anchor-leg Williamson is also ranked among the best in the nation in the 400 meters. The freshman from San Antonio, Texas won the Big 12 Indoor Championship (47.01) in the event before placing 11th at the national championships with a time of 46.61. Senior Lanie Millar is the lone Lady Bear listed among the nation's elite, garnering honors in the 800 meters. Millar won the Big 12 indoor title with a meet record time of 2:07.83 and set a school record in the event, posting a time of 2:06.63 at the Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa.

Bears capture fifth indoor 4x400-meter relay national title

Baylor won it's fifth indoor national title in the men's 4x400-meter relay March 9th at the 2002 NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Seniors Zsolt Szeglet and Michael Smith along with junior Charles Sterling and freshman Darold Williamson made up the gold-medal winning team. The Bears won the race with a time of 3:05.54, the second-fastest indoor time in the nation this season. Baylor has now won four consecutive 4x400 relay races this year. The streak includes first-place performances at the Big 12 Indoor Championships (3:08.15), the Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa (3:05.77), the NCAA Indoor Championships (3:05.54) and the UTSA Relays (3:07.96).

Youth, who needs it? Baylor does!

Baylor has seen tremendous success from its freshman athletes during the 2002 indoor season. Leading the way is sprinter Darold Williamson. A San Antonio, Texas native, Williamson has already emerged as the Bears top 400 meter runner finishing no lower then third in all but one (NCAA Indoor Championships) 400 meter race this season. He won the Big 12 title (47.01) in Lincoln, Neb. and went on to finish 11th in the nation at the NCAA Indoor Championships (46.61). Williamson also posted a season-best mark of 46.46 at the Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa. In all, Williamson won three indoor meets this season (Big 12 Championships, LSU Purple Tiger Invitational, Houston Invitational), placed second in three additional races (Tyson Invitational, Last Chance Meet, Oklahoma All-Comers). A Duncanville, Texas native, Holliness has set the stage for a tremendous career having already set a school record and earned All-American honors in the long jump in just her freshman campaign. Holliness' distance of 20-6 3/4 at the Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa eclipsed the school record mark by nearly two inches and was her best effort of the season. Holliness then finished eighth in the nation at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a jump of 20-5 to earn All-American status. In addition, Holliness placed seventh in the long jump at the Big 12 Championships (18-11 1/4) and recorded her first collegiate title at the Southwest Classic, jumping a distance of 19-9 3/4.

Petrahn ties Baylor conference title record

Winning both the 200 meters and the 600 yards at the Big 12 Indoor Championships, senior Barbara Petrahn is now tied with three other Baylor athletes for the women's school record for most overall conference titles (5). Four of Petrahn's conference titles have come in individual events (200 meters - 2002, 400 meters - 2000, 2001, 600 yards - 200 meters), while the fifth came as a member of the 2000 4x400 meter relay team. Her four individual event conference titles tie her with two former BU athletes (current Baylor assistant coach Stacey Bowers and Lisa Stone) for second all-time on Baylor's individual event conference titles list.

Bears finish tied for 25th in Trackwire poll

Baylor's men's team concluded the indoor season tied for 25th with five other teams (Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Notre Dame, SMU) in the Trackwire Top 25. Despite the ranking the Bears finished tied for 15th at the indoor national championships, earning ten points for their first-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay.

Szeglet's career concludes at NCAA Indoor Championships

Running out of eligibility senior Zsolt Szeglet concluded his phenomenal career at Baylor at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Championships. Szeglet went out in style running the lead-leg on the Bears' national championship 4x400 relay team. In all, Szeglet earned All-American honors four times, all of which were achieved as a part of Baylor's 4x400 relay teams. Szeglet was also a member of two Big 12 4x400 championship relay teams (2000 indoor and 2001 indoor) and was the 2001 Big 12 Conference champion in the 400 meters.

2002 Outdoor Recap

UTSA/Whataburger Relays March 16, 2002 Trinity University (San Antonio, Texas)

Baylor's track team began the outdoor season on the right foot setting three meet records and grabbing eight first place finishes at the two-day UTSA/Whataburger Relays. The Baylor women set meet records in both the 4x200 relay and the 4x400 relay, while freshman Chris Gillis topped the meet record in the long jump for the men. The women's time of 1:37.04 in the 4x200 was nearly two seconds faster then the previous record mark (1:39.09), also set by a Baylor squad in 2000. The women again improved on a record of there own in the 4x400 relay running the race in 3:38.40, besting the Bears' previous meet record mark of 3:42.64 set in 2000. Gillis turned in a career best jump of 25-1 ? in the long jump to take home the meet title in the event. Gillis' mark was an improvement of over seven inches on the old meet record mark (24-6) held by former Baylor athlete Tre Gardner. Other first place finishes on the men's side came from seniors Jon Capron and Sherman Harness and the men's 4x400 relay. Capron won the 800 meters with a time of 1:53.26 and Harness tied for first in the high jump competition with a jump of 6-6 ?. The men's 4x400 relay continued its dominance from the indoor season winning its fifth consecutive race in the event with a time of 3:07.96. Just missing meet titles were freshman Dwight Ruff and junior Charles Sterling. Ruff was the runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles (51.93), while Sterling finished second in the 400 meters clocking 47.30. The women's side turned in two additional first-place finishes of their own, as freshman Elizabeth Wilson and Jessa Vacek won the 100-meter dash and the 3,000 meter run, respectively. Wilson's winning time was clocked at 12.10 seconds, while Vacek turned in a mark of 10:09.13. Grabbing runner-up honors for the Lady Bears were senior Alisha Hooker and the 4x100 team. Hooker posted a time of 14.27 in the 100-meter hurdles and the 4x100 ran to a 46.04 finish.