March 9, 2002
Final Stats
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Baylor won its 12th national championship in the 4x400 meter relay Saturday here at the Randal Tyson Track Center. The foursome of Zsolt Szeglet, Michael Smith, Charles Sterling and Darold Williamson combined to post a season-best 3:05.54 clocking to best second-place Tennessee's 3:06.87 mark.
Senior Szeglet started the Bears off with an impressive 46.56 split in the first leg before handing off to fellow senior Smith for the second leg. Smith's split of 45.88 kept Baylor in a solid second-place behind LSU going into the third leg of the race. Then in the handoff between LSU's Pete Coley and Robert Parham the Tigers dropped the baton giving junior Sterling an edge going into the third leg. Sterling held the lead for the first 150 meters before dropping behind to South Carolina's Otis Harris. Freshman anchor Williamson then took the reigns for BU in the final leg and blew by the competition with his 45.66 split to guide the Bears to it's fifth indoor 4x400 national title.
"We came in as the third team," said Baylor head coach Clyde Hart. "But we have a lot of tradition here and I told this team to go out and do their best because things happen in the indoors and you just never know. LSU was the best team on paper, but tonight things happened and they bobbled the handoff and we came away with another national championship."
Baylor's 4x400 relay crown marks its first indoor title in the event since the 1998 season, when the quartet of Damain Davis, Bayano Kamani, Stephan Berger and Brandon Couts combined for 3:06.38 gold-medal performance.
BU's ten team points amassed for its first place finish propelled them into a six-way tie for 15th with Princeton, Illinois State, BYU, UTEP and Missouri. Tennessee came away with the men's title scoring 62.50 points, while Alabama (47) and LSU (44) rounded out the top three.
On the women's side, LSU won the team championship with 57 points, while UCLA finished second (43) and Florida took home the bronze (35). Baylor finished tied for 51st overall on the one point awarded to freshman April Holliness for her eighth place finish in the long jump Friday.
The only other Bear athlete competing in Saturday's action was senior Jim Autenreith. Autenreith's clearance of 17-3 ? in the pole vault marked his second-best height of the season and was good enough for an 13th place finish overall.
With the indoor season now concluded Baylor's track and field team will not miss a beat as it begins the 2002 outdoor season Saturday, March 16, at the UTSA/Whataburger Relays in San Antonio.
