June 8, 2005
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Baylor senior April Holliness (Duncanville, Texas) and junior Chris Gillis (Pennsauken, N.J.) each qualified for the finals in the long jump to highlight the Bears first day at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Wednesday at a soggy Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex on the campus of Sacramento State.
Holliness posted a mark of 6.29 meters (20-7 ¾) for the fifth-best women's qualifying mark of the day. Holliness will compete in the finals at 9 p.m. PDT Thursday.
Gillis leaped 7.40 meters (24-3) for the seventh-longest jump in qualifying. Gillis will jump in the finals at 7 p.m. PDT Thursday.
Senior Darold Williamson (San Antonio, Texas) ran through a chilly, steady downpour to post a time of 45.71 to win his heat in the 400 meters. Williamson moves on to the semifinals Friday at 7:25 p.m. PDT.
Junior Wil Fitts (Desoto, Texas) ran a 1:48.40 to qualify for the semifinals in the 800 meters, which will take place Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Senior Lakadron Ivery (Tyler, Texas) ran an 11.64 in the opening round of the 100 meters, but her time of 11.77 in the semifinals was not enough to advance to the finals as she finished 18th overall. Senior Elizabeth Wilson (Duncanville, Texas) ran an 11.71 in the first round to finish 20th. Junior Jerome Miller (Houston, Texas) posted a 14.33 in the 110-meter hurdles to finish 27th. With footing on a wet surface a problem for all competitors, freshman Brittany Devereaux (Denton, Texas) had a mark of 38.80 (127-3) to finish 28th in the discus. The women's 4x100-meter relay suffered a heartbreaker as the team was disqualified for an illegal handoff outside of the passing zone. The team would have posted a time of 44.32, which would have been good enough to move on to the finals.
The action continues for the Bears Thursday, beginning with Ivery, Wilson and freshman Carla Grace (San Antonio, Texas) in the women's 200 meters at 5:30 p.m. PDT. The men's 4x400-meter relay will begin qualifying at 8:40 p.m. PDT, while the women follow at 9:00 p.m. PDT. Sophomore Brittany Brockman (Houston, Texas) will run in the finals of the 10,000 meters in the final event of the night at 10:00 p.m. PDT. The championships continue through Saturday.
