March 27, 2002
WACO, Texas -
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Bears travel to Houston
The Baylor track and field team hits the road this weekend to compete in the Tom Tellez Invitational Sat., March 30 in Houston, Texas. The UH-hosted meet will begin at 10 a.m. with the men's hammer. The first running event, the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, is set to begin at 1 p.m.
Baylor to face stiff competition
Despite a field of only five teams at the Tom Tellez Invitational the Bears will still face some of the top competition in the nation Saturday. LSU enters the meet having won the women's team title at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Championships less then a month ago. The Tigers also posted a third place finish on the men's side at the same meet. Also boosting strong teams are in-state rivals Texas and Texas A&M. Texas' women finished tied for 11th and the men were tied for 23rd at the indoor championships, while Texas A&M shared the 23rd-place finish on the men's side with Texas and the Lady Aggies placed 22nd overall.
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 Houston Invitational
Baylor reached NCAA automatic qualifying standards in two men's events as the Bears' ninth-ranked men's team finished third and the women's team finished second. Bayano Kamani posted a first-place time of 49.49 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles, well below the NCAA automatic standard of 50.10. Michael Smith finished second in the race, reaching provisional standards with a time of 50.59. Meanwhile, Baylor's men's 4x400-meter relay team finished second with an automatic time of 3:02.16. Zsolt Szeglet reached provisional standards in the 400 meters with a winning mark of 46.18. In the 800 meters, Floyd Thompson finished first with a time of 1:49.70, and teammate Damian Davis was second at 1:50.36. Baylor's men also turned in strong performances in the 1,500 meters and in the 5,000 meters. Nick Devenport ran a time of 3:50.99 in winning the 1,500, Ferenc Bekesi (14:50.44) and Alex Adler (15.11.29) finished first and second, respectively, in the 5,000. The Bears finished third with a team score of 122.50. Texas finished first with 147, followed by Texas A&M with 134.50. On the women's side, Baylor's 127 points were second only to the 139 amassed by Louisiana State. Texas A&M finished third with 120 points. Barbara Petrahn posted the highlight for the women's team, she finished second in the 400 meters with a provisional clocking of 52.81. Meanwhile, Baylor got first-place finishes from Ssereta Lafayette (24.04) in the 200 meters, Lanie Millar (2:09.30) in the 800 meters, Stephanie Bennett (4:33.09) in the 1,500 meters and Chava Demart (1:00.29) in the 400-meter hurdles. Kara Newton finished second in the 1,500 with a time of 4:37.30. The Lady Bears' 4x400-meter relay team finished first with a provisional time of 3:37.91. The 4x100 team finished third, but its time of 45.09 is one one-hundredth of a second under the provisional umbrella. Kim Cook also had a second-place showing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 11:11.37. Cynthia Benson led the Lady Bears on the field with a first-place jump of 1.73 meters (5-8) in the high jump.
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 open 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 saw tremendous success from its freshman athletes during the 2002 indoor season. Leading the way was sprinter Darold Williamson. A San Antonio, Texas native, Williamson 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) and 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.
