May 29, 2002

BATON ROUGE, La. - Seniors Chava Demart and Michael Smith got the Baylor track team off to a solid start as each advanced to the finals in the 400-meter hurdles in first-day action at the NCAA Championships from LSU's Bernie Moore Track Stadium.

Demart finished second in her heat and eighth overall with a time of 57.72 to advance to the nine athlete final set for Friday. Demart's time marked a season-best outing and ranks as the third best 400 hurdle mark in school history.

Smith qualified into second-day action in the men's 400-meter hurdles with his second fastest time of the season, 50.25 seconds. His time placed him ninth overall and third in his heat.

Dipping their feet into NCAA Championship competition for the first times in their careers, freshmen Dwight Ruff and Danielle Myricks also saw action in the 400-meter hurdles. Ruff turned in his second-best time of the season (50.65) to finish 12th overall, while Myricks 1:01.64 showing placed her 20th.

Facing an extremely competitive field, senior Lanie Millar concluded her outstanding career at Baylor running the third fastest 800 meter time in school history (2:06.66). Her time was good enough for a fifth-place finish in her heat, but fell short of advancing her into the final round of competition.

The Baylor track and field team will continue competition at the NCAA Championships tomorrow, May 30, when the men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams and individuals Barbara Petrahn (400 meters), Darold Williamson (400 meters) and April Holliness (long jump) take to the track for the Bears.