Jan. 31, 2007
The Baylor men's track and field team is ranked eighth in the Jan. 30 U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association indoor poll. All-told, three Big 12 teams rank among the nation's top 20 teams.
Arkansas is again ranked No. 1 by the coaches, followed by Florida State, Auburn, Wisconsin, Texas, Oregon, Florida, Baylor, Nebraska and Washington. The second 10 includes No. 11 Stanford, UTEP, Clemson, Louisville, Tennessee, Arizona State, LSU, UCLA, Idaho and South Alabama. Thirty-five coaches, including one representative from each Division I conference, vote in the USTFCCCA Division I poll. Weekly coaches polls will be released leading up to the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships, March 9-10.
Baylor senior sprinter Reggie Witherspoon owns the nation's fastest time in the 200-meter dash (20.85), while the Bears' 4 x 400-meter relay team of Witherspoon, freshman J.T. Scheuerman, senior Kevin Mutai and sophomore Quentin Iglehart-Summers holds down the nation's fastest clocking at 3:05.82. Southeast Missouri State senior Miles Smith owns the only other sub-21-second 200 of the indoor season to-date, while LSU owns the second-best 4 x 400-meter relay time at 3:07.39, while Baylor's 4 x 400-meter relay team of freshman R.J. Anderson, Iglehart-Summers, Mutai and freshman LeJerald Betters rank No. 3 nationally with its 3:07.77 performance last weekend in Seattle.
In the 400-meter dash, Baylor student-athletes own four of the nation's top six times with Scheuerman and Betters tied for the second-fastest time at 46.80. Witherspoon has posted the country's fourth-fastest mark (46.85) and Mutai's 47.04 ranks No. 6. Washington's Alex Harcourt owns the nation's fastest 400 (46.43) while Nebraska's Lukas Hulett is No. 5.
The Baylor women's distance medley relay team of freshman Nichole Jones, senior Lauren Tillman, junior Lauren Hagans and sophomore Erin Bedell has posted the nation's top time of the indoor season at 11:10.71. Junior Lyndsy Bedell is ranked No. 6 in the 5,000-meter run (16:37.96), Erin Bedell is No. 7 in the 3,000 meters (9:20.43) and Jones stands 15th in the mile (4:47.32).
The Baylor track teams return to action Feb. 9-10 at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
