April 21, 2007

Complete Results | Photo Gallery

WACO, Texas - Courtney Thomas won the men's 100 meters and 200 meters and helped lead Baylor to a win in the men's 4x100-meter relay at the Michael Johnson Classic on Saturday at the Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex.

Baylor recorded 20 regional qualifying marks, the second time this season that the Bears set reached 20 qualifying marks in a single meet.

"We really needed this meet," said head coach Todd Harbour. "With the weather that we have had in the past couple of weeks, we needed a meet that had nice weather and good running conditions. I think that we accomplished a lot, and had a really good weekend overall.

"We had a lot of regional marks, and a lot of personal bests," said Harbour. "Courtney (Thomas) had an outstanding meet with wins in the 100 and 200. I thought Carla (Grace) ran really well. Both of our 4x100 relays did well. Nichole Jones had two wins, and then the 4x400 relays were good too. It was a really good weekend all around."

Thomas (Kilgore, Texas) started the day with a 10.51, the second-fastest time in the 100 meter preliminaries. He then ran the third leg on the men's 4x100-meter relay team that dropped its season-lowest time to 39.68, the seventh-fastest time in the nation.

The sophomore then won the men's 100-meter finals with a blistering 10.31, the fastest time in the conference, and the eighth-fastest in the nation. Thomas then claimed another event victory, racing to a 20.63 in the men's 200 meters and the third-best time in the country.

"I think that my strength has been showing in the past two weeks," said Thomas. "My turnover has been good, and my races are starting to come together. I've had a couple of good races in a row and I think that I can keep running faster and faster."

The most excitement of the night came during Baylor's signature event, the mile relay. Baylor, the reigning NCAA Indoor National Champions in the event, entered the race with the second-fastest time in the nation, behind LSU's time of 3:04.64.

The main competition on the night came from the Waco All-Stars, an elite team of quartermilers with three Olympic participants and three Olympic gold medals to its credit.

LeJerald Betters (Waco, Texas) ran the leadoff leg for the Bears against Jamaican-national Sanjay Ayre. Betters got the best of the Olympian, with a 45.79 split. J.T. Scheuerman (Littleton, Colo.) held the lead through the first 200 meters, but two-time Olympic gold medalist and current world leader Jeremy Wariner ran a split of 44.90, giving the lead back to the All-Stars.

Joe Shelton, a four-time SWAC champion, held off Kevin Mutai (Round Rock, Texas) over the first 250 meters, but the senior kicked down the homestretch to run a 45.90 split and give Baylor the slight advantage heading into the anchor leg.

Quentin Iglehart-Summers (San Antonio, Texas) and Darold Williamson, former Baylor national champion and anchor leg on the 2004 Olympic gold medal relay team, battled through the final turn, but Williamson was able to out-kick Iglehart-Summers to the tape for a 45.2 split and a winning time of 3:05.14.

Baylor claimed second-place in the event with a time of 3:05.30. The time, run during a 4x440-yard relay, converts to 3:04.10 for a 4x400-meter relay, giving the Bears the top time in the nation.

Trey Harts (Lake Charles, La.) took second place in the men's 100 meters and 200 meters. His time of 10.46 in the 100 meters was a new personal best and was a regional qualifying mark. In the 200 meters, Harts posted another season-best time of 20.91, the second-fastest time in the Mid-West Region. Harts also ran the anchor-leg on the 4x100-meter relay.

Reggie Witherspoon ran the second-leg of the 4x100-meter relay, and also took part in an elite heat of the 200 meters. Witherspoon recorded a season-best time of 21.02, just behind Wariner at 20.81.

Carla Grace (San Antonio) took first in the women's 100 meters and 200 meters. Her preliminary time of 11.76 was the fastest of the early session, and Grace bettered that time in the finals with a time of 11.54. That time, a regional qualifying mark, ranks as the seventh-fastest in the Big 12 and the sixth-fastest in the Mid-West Region. Grace also won the 200 meters with a season-fastest time of 23.50, the fifth-fastest time in the Mid-West Region.

Iglehart-Summers won the open 400 meters with a season-best time of 45.89, while Betters placed second with a time of 45.94. The times are personal-best for each, and rank third and fourth, respectively, in the nation. Scheuerman placed fourth with a regional qualifying time of 46.87.

Nichole Jones (Spring, Texas) won the women's 800 meters and 1,500 meters. Her time of 2:06.96 was a personal-best, as well as a regional qualifying mark. The time was the fifth-fastest in the Mid-West Region, and third-fastest in the Big 12.

The freshman then won the 1,500 meters later in the evening with a time of 4:26.00, a regional qualifying mark, though not her best of the season.

Erin Bedell, competing unattached in the womens' 800 meters finished with a time of 2:11.61. Lauren Hagans (Little Rock, Ark.) placed third in the 800 meters (2:13.77), while Kathryn Benvegnu took fifth with a time of 2:15.90. Mallory Craig took sixth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:26.08.

Ruth Waller (Manchester, England) placed second in the 1,500 meters with a clocking of 4:27.94. Danielle Bradley (West Palm Beach, Fla.) took fourth (4:31.59), while Lyndsy Bedell (Plano, Texas) placed fifth in 4:32.66. Hagans (4:37.61) finished sixth, while Jessi Barnes (Bentonville, Ark.) took seventh and Renae Van Whye (Collierville, Tenn.) placed eighth.

The women's 4x100-meter relay team won with a time of 45.17, just off its season-best time of 45.16 at the Dr Pepper Invitational. The women's mile relay team clocked 3:37.71, winning the event by nearly ten seconds.

Mutai placed second in the men's 800 meters with a time of 1:51.01. John Robertson (Greensboro, N.C.) took fifth and Hunter Garner (Keller, Texas) sixth with times of 1:57.21 and 1:57.29, respectively.

Monique Ortega (El Paso, Texas) placed fourth and Brittany McGuire (Humble, Texas) took fifth in the women's 5,000 meters with times of 18:08.55 and 18:44.35, respectively.

Mitch Sanders (Katy, Texas) won the men's 1,500 meters with a time of 3:48.83, while Bo Price (Atlanta, Texas) placed third in 3:50.32. Jordan Hiller (Yoakum, Texas) clocked 4:06.63 to finish eighth.

Jessica Gregory (Richmond, Texas) took second in the women's 100 meters (11.93) and second in the 200 meters (25.21). Stasia Kelly-Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.) placed fourth in the 200 meters in 26.27.

Rena Napolean (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won the women's collegiate 400 meters in 56.13, while Janet Jones (Houston, Texas) placed sixth with a time of 58.75.

Jacob Jones (Willis, Texas) placed third in the men's 5,000 meters with a time of 15:12.50, while John Wenhold (Corpus Christi, Texas) took seventh in 15:47.49.

Kelly-Taylor took first place in the women's triple jump with a jump of 12.33m (40-05.50).

Kim Brown (Waco, Texas) placed third in the women's 100-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 14.35. Brown also won the women's long jump with a leap of 5.58m (18-03.75), while Craig finished sixth with a jump of 4.81m (15-09.50)

Jeremy Taylor (Carrollton, Texas) won the men's high jump with a season-best clearance of 2.00m (6-06.75).

Josh Camp took second in the men's triple jump with a leap of 13.55m (44-05.50), and placed fifth in the long jump with a best of 6.11m (20-00.50).

Lauren Tillman (Lawrenceville, Ga.) won the women's 400-meter hurdles in 1:00.01, while Katrina Taylor (Baton Rouge, La.) took second with a time of 1:00.02. Rachael Long (Houston, Texas) placed sixth in 1:04.16.

Sterling Farmer (Houston, Texas) finished third in the men's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.65.

Kayla Smith (Arlington, Texas) placed third in the women's high jump with a clearance of 1.60m (5-03). Kaleigh Teel (Friendswood, Texas), Katie Stoever (Tulsa, Okla.), and Ashley Korol (Wheaton, Ill.) each cleared 3.65m (11-11.75) in the women's pole vault.

Michael Stevic (Bulverde, Texas) placed sixth in the men's discus with a throw of 33.93m (111-04). Chris Cardwell (Abilene, Texas) won the men's hammer throw with a toss of 51.56m (169-02). Stevic placed fourth with a throw of 39.02m (128-0).