April 19, 2007

WACO, Texas -

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The Baylor men's track and field team signed Logan Roberts (Raleigh, N.C.) to a national letter of intent head coach Todd Harbour announced on Thursday.

"We are very excited about Logan joining our program," said Harbour. "He really stood out to us during his visit last fall. He is a natural leader and an outstanding young man."

Roberts, a senior at Broughton High School, is a middle-distance runner who has also excelled during cross country season.

"Logan is an excellent addition to our program," said assistant coach Jon Capron. "He is a solid distance runner, but he also possesses a good amount of footspeed. He will be a very versatile runner for us with a wide range of events to compete in."

Roberts has already clocked a time of 1:57.00 in the 800 meters this season, good for the fourth-best time in North Carolina. He joins the group of 12 fall signees that looks to be among the best signing classes in Baylor track and field history.

Headlining the group is Tiffany Townsend (Killeen, Texas) who won National Scholastic Indoor Championship in the 60 meters (7.32) and 200 meters (23.34). This month, Townsend has won district titles in the 100 meters (11.41), 200 meters (24.68), and 400 meters (59.64). At the Texas Relays two weeks ago, Townsend clocked a blistering 11.26 in the girls 100 meters, setting Texas high school, meet, and stadium records in the event. Her time in the 100 meters, as well as her top time in the 200 meters of 23.32 both rank No. 1 in the nation among high school girls. The 23.32 in the 200 meters ranks as the fifth-fastest time ever in Texas history. Townsend's season-best 54.84 in the open 400 meters ranks sixth in the country.

Also performing well this season is Marcus Boyd (Fort Worth, Texas), who won the NSIC national title in the 400 meters with a time of 47.54. He won the district titles in the 200 meters in 21.50 and the 400 meters in 47.03. Boyd was also the anchor leg for the North Crowley team that won the event by more than four seconds at the district meet. Boyd's top time in the 400 meters of 46.97 is tops in Texas and ranks sixth in the nation.

Whitney Prevost III (Texas City, Texas) won district titles in the long jump (22-04) and the 200 meters (21.45), and took second place in the 100 meters in 10.37 (hand timed). His top time in the 100 meters this season is 10.55 (fully automatic), ranking him fifth in the state. Last year, Prevost ran 10.41 to post the top time in Texas. He ranks second in the state in the long jump with a season best of 23-06, but owns a personal best leap of 24-04 in 2006.

Joe Farley (Aledo, Texas) will hope to earn much-needed field points for the Bears in coming years. The senior pole vaulter cleared 16-03 to win the district meet. His season-best height of 16-06 ranks second in Texas and fourth nationally.

Brittany Carr (Colleyville, Texas) has battled injury much of the outdoor season, but won her district meet in the 100 meters with at time of 12.07. Lauren Simpson (Canyon, Texas) has posted a top time of 2:15.84 in the girls 800 meters, which ranks eighth in the state.

Signees from outside of Texas have also had outstanding performances during the outdoor season. Kristen McGlynn (Bailey, Colo.) has impressed with her times of 10:24.57 in the girls 3,200 meters and 10:28.66 in the girls 2 mile run, with both times ranking as the best in Colorado. McGlynn's times are third best in the country, but first among graduating seniors. She has also recorded a time of 17:36.60 in the girls 5,000 meters to finish second at the Nike National Championships.

Leigh Ann Ganzar (Littleton, Colo.) has posted a time of 2:12.66 in the girls 800 meter run, the best time in the state. Her time ranks 23rd best in the country, but ninth overall among high school seniors. In 2006 she posted a personal-best time of 2:10.81 in the 800 meters.

James Gilreath (Bartlett, Tenn.) owns times of 1:51.39 in the 800 meters and 47.43 in the 400 meters, both are the fastest times in Tennessee this season. His 800 meters time ranks fifth in the country, while the 400 meters time is ninth overall in the nation.

Brittany Bruce (Lee's Summit, Mo.) has also had productive indoor and outdoor seasons. During indoor, she recorded a season fastest time of 7.52 in the 60 meters, ranking her among the national leaders. In the outdoor season, Bruce has already posted personal-best times in the 100 meters (11.97), 200 meters (23.96), and 400 meters (55.02). Her 400 meters time ranks as the seventh-best in the nation.

Nick Lyons (Waitsburg, Wash.) should also score points in field events for the Bears, as his top javelin throw this season of 198-11 ranks first in the state of Washington. The throw ranks fourth in the nation overall, but third among high school seniors.

Robert Knorr (Livermore, Calif.) won his heat and finished ninth overall in the mile at the Stanford Invitational with at time of 4:20.55. He won the Division 5 California State Cross Country Championship with a time of 15:49 on the 5K course.

"All of our kids have had outstanding springs," said Harbour. "You have to start with Tiffany (Townsend) winning two national titles in the 60 (meters) and the 200 (meters), and Marcus (Boyd) winning the national title in the quarter-mile.

"We have also had some honors for our other runners, like Kristen McGlynn being named a Foot Locker Finalist. Lauren Simpson will be competing for her 12th state championship this spring. She just finished leading her basketball team to the state title as the starting point guard. She has a chance to be one of the most decorated athletes in Texas history.

"But all of our recruits are doing really well, and we are extremely excited to get them on campus and see what they can do."

Baylor will be back in action this weekend as the Bears host the 2007 Michael Johnson Classic on April 21 at the Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex. Field events will begin on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m., with running event preliminaries scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Event finals will begin on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. Ticket prices are $6 for adults and $4 for children.