May 25, 2002
WACO, Texas -
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May 29-June 1, 2002
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Bernie Moore Track Stadium * Baton Rouge, La.
Schedule
Wednesday: 4 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.
Thursday: 3 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.
Friday: 4 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Saturday: 2:30 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.
For a complete schedule please visit the LSU athletics website at www.lsusports.com.
Bears heads to Louisiana for NCAA Outdoor Championships - Baylor's track and field team will head to Baton Rouge, La., May 29-June 1, for the NCAA Outdoor Championships hosted by the LSU at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium. This will be the Baylor's second trip to Baton Rouge this year as the Bears ran at the Purple Tiger Invitational, Jan. 26. Athletes slated to compete for the Bears include Darold Williamson in the 400 meters, Michael Smith and Dwight Ruff in the 400-meter hurdles, Jim Autenreith in the pole vault and Joel Martin will join Ruff, Smith and Williamson in the 4x400-meter relay on the men's side. Representing the Baylor women will be April Holliness in the long jump, Lanie Millar in the 800 meters, Barbara Petrahn in the 400 meters, Danielle Myricks and Chava Demart in the 400-meter hurdles, while Tiffany Wise will team with Demart, Myricks and Petrahn in the 4x400-meter relay.
Bears among the nation's elite - Baylor's men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams as well as five other Bear athletes 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 1/2Michael Smith 400 Hurdles 7th 50.12Darold Williamson 400 meters 5th 45.28Ruff, Martin, Smith, Williamson 4x400 relay 4th 3:04.59Danielle Myricks 400 Hurdles 6th 57.31Barbara Petrahn 400 meters 11th 52.73Wise, Demart, Myricks, Petrahn 4x400 relay 8th 3:34.69
Baylor men drop out of Trackwire poll - For the first time since entering the Trackwire Top-25 poll during the week of March 5, the Baylor men's team is unranked this season. The Bears have been ranked as high as ninth this year (April 9) and were tied at the No. 20 spot last week before dropping off the charts this week. Week by week national rankings for the Baylor Bears can be viewed on the page six sidebar.
Last Year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships - Behind two individual national championships the Baylor men's team tied its best ever finish at an NCAA Championships finishing third overall with 36.50 points, while the women's team tied for 21st with 13 total points. Claiming Baylor's 12th national championship in the event, the men's 4x400-meter relay team brought home gold with a time of 3:03.89. Bayano Kamani and Michael Smith became the first teammates in NCAA history to finish first and second in the 400-meter hurdles as Kamani lead the field with a time 48.99 and Smith followed at 49.34. Also scoring for the men was Floyd Thompson, who finished fifth in the 800 meters (1:47.77), Jim Autenreith in the pole vault (6th, 17-4 1/2) and Brandon Couts in the 400 meters (7th. 46.27). On the women's side Barbara Petrahn and Chava Demart were the Bears' only individual scorers, finishing fifth in the 400 (53.59) and fifth in the 400-meter hurdles (57.52), respectively. The 4x400-meter relay also combined for fourth placing showing, clocking 3:34.36.
Baylor's men's NCAA Outdoor Championship history - Since 1984 the Bears have finished 21st or better at 17 of 18 championships... The Bears best finish on the men's side was last year's third-place showing with 36.50 points; the placing was equalled by the 1990 and 1985 teams, who also took home team bronze with 34 and 37 points, respectively... The Bears have finished 10th or better seven times... Baylor athletes have earned NCAA All-American honors 85 times since Kevin Delorey earned the first such honor in 1975.
Baylor's women's NCAA Outdoor Championship history - Baylor's women's team made its first NCAA Outdoor Championships appearance at the 1989 meet, where Lisa Stone finished eighth overall in the 5,000 meters... The Lady Bears best finish came in 1998 when they finished 10th overall, scoring 25 points... Baylor matched that 10th-place finish a year later when former athlete and current assistant coach Stacey Bowers, leap 45-10 for the school's first and only women's individual national title... The Baylor women have earned NCAA All-American honors 29 times.
Petrahn sets sights on Baylor's All-America record - An eight-time All-American, senior Barbara Petrahn currently sits third on the Lady Bears' all-time All-American honors list. She sits one honor shy of former Baylor standouts Yulanda Nelson and Jennifer Jordan who each own nine All-American titles. Petrahn also ranks second on Baylor's all-time relay All-American honors list with six. Jordan tops the chart as a seven-time relay All-American.
Williamson tops the Bears' freshmen class - Leading a pack of phenomenal freshmen performers for the Bears this season, Darold Williamson has emerged as Baylor's next great 400 meter runner. The San Antonio, Texas native anchored Baylor's 4x400-meter relay team to its 12th national championship in the event at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Championships (3:05.54), and has also anchored the Bears to both the indoor and outdoor Big 12 titles in the 4x400 relay this season. In the open 400 meters, Williamson sweep the 2002 Big 12 Conference honors in the event, winning both the indoor and outdoor crowns with time of 47.01 and 45.88, respectively. Williamson enters this week's championship with the nation's fourth-fastest time in the event (45.28).
Holliness jumping for joy - All-American long jumper April Holliness matched her feat from the indoor season, setting a school record in the event at the Michael Johnson Invitational 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. She enters the NCAA Outdoor Championships with the nation's sixth best distance this year.
In awe of Autenreith - Pole vaulter Jim Autenreith recorded his best clearance since the 2000 season 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 ties him with three other athletes for the fifth-best mark in the nation this season.
Petrahn named Big 12 Athlete of the Week - Senior Barbara Petrahn was honored as the Big 12 Athlete of the Week (May 14) for winning both the 100- and 200-meter titles at the Texas A&M All-Comers meet. The senior provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in both events with times of 11.44 in the 100 and 23.47 in the 200. Petrahn was the first Baylor track athlete to receive Big 12 Athlete of the Week honors this season.
Millar breaks her own 800-meter school record - Lanie Millar, a former walk-on, broke her own school record in the 800 meters at the Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. Her time of 2:06.08, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, was good enough for a seventh place finish and improved upon her previous school record by .58 seconds, set last year.
Lady Bears set four meet records at Tom Tellez Invitational - Knocking off defending national champion 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 time in the event. 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.
10 Baylor athletes selected to Big 12 all-Academic teams - Baylor had 10 student-athletes selected to academic all-Big 12 teams it was announced by the conference office. The Bears had eight women earn first-team accolades, while the men had two student-athletes honored on the second-team. Sophomore Megan McCoin was just one of ten female student-athletes recognized for maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average. A complete list of honorees is as follows: (first-team) Jordan Willmann, Kara Newton, Lanie Millar, Stephanie Bennett, Erin Dixon, Katherine Duncan, Leah Marbach and Megan McCoin; (second-team) Jon Capron and Zsolt Szeglet.
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 an indoor 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).
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.
