April 24, 2002
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Drake Relays
Drake Stadium * Des Moines, Iowa
ScheduleThursday:
9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday: 8 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Ranked Teams Participating:
Men: No. 5 SMU, No. 6 Nebraska, No. 8 Georgia, No. 9 Alabama, tNo. 11 UTEP, tNo. 16 Notre Dame, tNo. 23 Baylor, tNo. 23 BYU, tNo. 23 Missouri
Women: No. 5 Kansas State, No. 6 Arizona, No. 8 Illinois, tNo. 9 BYU, tNo. 15 Nebraska, tNo. 15 Iowa State, No. 23 Rice, tNo. 25 Missouri
Bears travel to Iowa for Drake Relays - The Baylor track team returns to action this weekend, traveling to Des Moines, Iowa, for the 93rd annual Drake Relays. Competition for the Bears begins Thursday at 3:30 p.m. with the preliminary rounds of the women's 400-meter hurdles and concludes Saturday with the men's 4x400-meter relay at 6 p.m. Baylor will look to continue its dominance in the men's 4x400-meter relay, an event it has won nine of the last ten years at the Drake Relays.
Baylor men drop to 23rd in Trackwire poll - The Baylor men dropped into a three way tie for 23rd in the latest Trackwire Top 25 poll released April 23. The Bears are tied with BYU and Missouri with 13 total points, Tennessee tops this week's chart with 87 points. Baylor's No. 23 ranking is its lowest since it first entered the poll just prior to the NCAA Indoor Championships at the No. 25 spot. The Bears have been ranked as high as ninth this season (April 9). Week by week national rankings for the Baylor Bears can be viewed on the page six sidebar.
Bears among the nation's elite - Baylor's men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams as well as four athletes on both the men's and women's teams are listed among the nation's elite in the latest "Dandy Dozen" rankings compiled by Trackwire. The Dandy Dozen provides a detailed overview and ranking of the top 12 athletes in each NCAA track & field event based on several factors, including performances at major competitions, progression of marks throughout the season and times and places in head-to-head competition against name competitors. Below is a complete list of Baylor athletes represented in the nation's top-12 this week:
Athlete(s) Event Nat'l Ranking Top MarkJim Autenreith Pole Vault 12th 18-0 1/2Dwight Ruff 400 Hurdles 8th 50.55Michael Smith 400 Hurdles 7th 50.47Darold Williamson 400 meters 6th 45.28Smith, Ruff, Quiroga, Williamson 4x400 relay 4th 3:05.28Chava Demart 400 Hurdles 11th 58.27April Holliness Long Jump 11th 21-4 1/2Danielle Myricks 400 Hurdles 12th 58.56Barbara Petrahn 400 meters 12th 53.29Wise, Demart, Myricks, Petrahn 4x400 relay 11th 3:36.03
Last Year at the Drake Relays - Eight-time All-American and three-time NCAA Champion Bayano Kamani joined Baylor's women's 4x100-meter relay team in the winners circle at the 92nd annual Drake Relays. Ssereta Lafayette, Chava Demart, Keisa Brown and Barbara Petrahn combined to finish first in the 4x100 with an NCAA provisional qualification time of 44.83 seconds.
Kamani lay claim to the invitational 400-meter hurdles title with a time of 49.49 seconds. Baylor's Michael Smith, then ranked second in the NCAA, finished fourth with a mark of 51.26 seconds.
Zsolt Szeglet finished third in the invitational 400 meters at 46.27 seconds, Brandon Couts was sixth, running 46.72. Floyd Thompson finished second in the 800 meters with a time of 1:50.97, and teammate Damian Davis was fourth (1:51.48). Ferenc Bekesi gave Baylor another top-three finish, placing third in the 1,500 meters at 3:47.25.
However, a rather good day for Baylor turned sour in the meet's final event. For the first time since 1991, the Bears failed to win the men's 4x400-meter relay. After getting passed in the final turn, Arizona State anchor Tony Berrian pulled even with and passed Couts down the last straightaway. The result was a first-place time of 3:03.10 for the Sun Devils, Baylor's quartet of Szeglet, Kamani, Thompson and Couts finished second at 3:03.82.
Demart, Brown, Petrahn and Lanie Millar combined for a third-place finish in the women's sprint medley relay, turning in a time of 3:51.72.
The previous day, Millar posted the third-fastest 800-meter time in school history at 2:07.00, to reach NCAA provisional qualification standards. The converted quarter-miler, who had won each of her previous four 800-meter races that season, finished sixth in easily the toughest field she had faced that year.
Meanwhile, Lafayette, Demart, Brown and Petrahn teamed to finish second in the 4x200-meter relay with a time of 1:33.19. Georgia edged the Bears by just five hundredths of a second (1:33.14).
Baylor's men's 4x1-mile relay team of Matt Chance, Nick Devenport, Jon Capron and Bekesi finished fourth with a time of 16:47.79.
Men's 4x1,500 relay establishes new school record - The Baylor quartet of Kyle King, Jon Capron, Matt Chance and Ferenc Bekesi combined for an impressive 15:35.74 mark in the 4x1,500-meter relay at the Texas Relays to establish a new Baylor record in the event. The foursome's time was nearly five seconds faster then the previous school record mark (15:40.08) set last year at the Texas Relays and was good enough for a third-place finish behind 15-time meet champion Arkansas and runner-up Arkansas-Little Rock.
Holliness, Thornhill take top honors at Texas Relays - Freshman April Holliness and junior Debbie Thornhill turned in outstanding performances to come away with individual event gold at the highly competitive Texas Relays. Holliness outdistanced the competition in the long jump recording a mark of 20-5. The Duncanville, Texas native not only provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with the mark, but became the first Baylor athlete to win the women's long jump competition in the 75-year history of the Texas Relays. Thornhill easily won the women's 5,000 meter run with a PR time of 16:40.73. Her mark set a new Mike A. Myers stadium record and also provisionally qualified her into the NCAA Championships, a first-time feat for Thornhill.
Lady Bears set four meet records at Tom Tellez Invitational - Knocking off defending national champions and then-No. 1 LSU 155.50 points to 144 points, the Lady Bears dominated the competition at the Tom Tellez Invitational March 30. Senior Chava Demart posted her first provisional mark of the season in the 400-meter hurdles on the way to setting a meet record with a blistering 58.82 mark in the event. Demart's time was nearly four seconds faster then her previous season-best mark set two weeks earlier at the UTSA Relays. Demart later combined with fellow senior Barbara Petrahn, sophomore Tiffany Wise and freshman Danielle Myricks to set another meet record in the 4x400-meter relay with a then season-best 3:36.59 clocking. Representing the Lady Bears in the field events, April Holliness set a meet record, while also taking top honors, in the triple jump with a leap of 41-11 1/4. Rounding out the field of meet record breaking performances was junior Erin Dixon's 17:57.56 mark in the 5,000 meters.
Youth, who needs it? Baylor does! - Freshman Darold Williamson has led a pack of phenomenal freshmen performers that have joined the Baylor ranks this season. The quarter-miler has established himself as the Bears' top 400 runner having anchored the men's 4x400-meter relay team to Baylor's 12th national championship in the event during the indoor season. In the open 400, the San Antonio native has finished no lower then third in all but one 400 meter race (NCAA Indoor Championships) this year. He won the Big 12 indoor title (47.01) in Lincoln, Neb. and followed that performance with a indoor season-best showing of 46.46 at the Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa. Williamson narrowly missed All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships finishing 11th overall with a time of 46.61. The outdoor season has seen Williamson only build upon his accomplishments for his indoor campaign. Williamson automatically qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the open 400 last weekend with a blistering, PR time of 45.28 seconds at the Michael Johnson/Southwestern Bell Invitational. His time, which currently ranks as the third fastest in the nation, was over a full second faster then runner-up Brandon Couts, a former collegiate record holder and NCAA Champion in the event.
Jumping for joy - Jumper April Holliness matched her feat from the indoor season at the Michael Johnson Invitational, setting an outdoor school record in the long jump with an NCAA automatic qualifying distance of 21-4 1/2. Holliness' distance blew away the previous record of 20-10 3/4 set by Brandi Harris during the 1997 season. Earlier this year the Duncanville, Texas native set a school record and earned All-American honors in the long jump during her inaugural indoor 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. Holliness went on to earn All-American status at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing eighth overall with a jump of 20-5. A versatile athlete, Holliness also runs a leg on the Bears' 4x100 and 4x200-meter relays and competes in the triple jump. The freshman has won four triple jump competitions this season and just last weekend posted a personal best 42-1 /14 mark at the Michael Johnson Invitational. Unfortunately her meet-winning jump was performed with an illegal wind reading, negating its NCAA provisional status.
In awe of Autenreith - Pole vaulter Jim Autenreith recorded his best clearance since the 2000 season last weekend at the Michael Johnson Invitational, topping 18-0 1/2. The senior from Houston, Texas became just the eighth athlete in Baylor history to reach the 18-0 1/2 plateau. Autenreith's clearance currently ranks fourth in the nation and second in the Big 12 Conference.
Bears capture fifth indoor 4x400-meter relay national title - Baylor's men's 4x400-meter relay team captured its fifth indoor national title March 9th at the 2002 NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The gold-medal winning team comprised of seniors Zsolt Szeglet and Michael Smith, junior Charles Sterling and freshman Darold Williamson combined for a season-best time of 3:05.54, a mark that ranked as the second-fastest indoor time in the nation this year. The Bears' win capped off a three-meet winning streak that included first-place finishes at the Big 12 Championships (3:08.15), the Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa (3:05.77) and the NCAA Indoor Championships (3:05.54).
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 conference title list.
Lady Bears watch indoor 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.
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.
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 poll. Despite the ranking the Bears finished tied for 15th at the NCAA Indoor Championships, earning ten points for their first-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay.
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.
