Another Historic Weekend at Drake Relays

Track & Field 4/26/2008 12:00:00 AM

April 26, 2008

DES MOINES, Iowa -

The Baylor men's and women's track and field teams made history for the second-straight year at the Drake Relays, winning seven relays titles on the weekend.

Last year, the Baylor men's team won all four sprint relays (4x100-, 4x200-, 4x400-meter relays and the sprint medley), becoming the first school to accomplish the feat since Illinois in 1944.

"This weekend was just awesome," said head coach Todd Harbour. "Making history at the Drake Relays is really something special. We made some history last year, but I think that we might have topped it this year."

This season, Baylor competed in eight relays, coming away with seven relay titles. The seven combined relay titles set a new Drake Relays record, topping the previous record of five relay titles set by Illinois in 1943.

The Baylor women's team won four relay titles, breaking the single-meet record for a women's team. Nebraska won three relay titles in 1992 and Alabama won three titles in 1993. The Lady Bears also became the most decorated women's team in Drake Relays history, with 18 relay titles all-time. Lincoln held the previous lead with 17 relay championships.

"We won seven of the eight relays that we entered, and we really had a great chance in the eighth," said Harbour. "We are very thankful and humble after this weekend. All our athletes did a super job and hopefully this weekend can carry over into the Big 12 meet."

With temperatures much higher than Friday afternoon's, the Baylor women's team opened the day with a record breaking performance in the 4x1,600-meter relay. The Lady Bears clocked a time of 19:05.80 which broke the school record by nearly a full minute. Baylor's school record time of 20:03.94 was set two years ago at the Drake Relays.

"It feels amazing to break the Drake Relays record," said anchor leg Lauren Hagans. "I could feel the Minnesota anchor coming strong on the last lap so I just tried to hold her off. I could hear my teammates cheering for me and it really pulled me through the last lap."

The time also broke the Drake Relays and Drake Stadium record of 19:07.75 set last year by Minnesota. Baylor's time is the collegiate leader this year, and ranks as the top time in the United States in 2008.

The battle through the first three legs was between Baylor, Minnesota and Iowa, with each school in the lead throughout. Nichole Jones led off for the Lady Bears with a 4:42 split, handing off the baton in third place. Danielle Bradley quickly took the lead on the second leg, running a 4:55 split. Bradley was passed with strong kicks from Iowa and Minnesota down the homestretch.

Erin Bedell split 4:49 on the third leg, making up ground on the leaders, and bringing Baylor back to within striking distance. Hagans caught the leaders and moved into first place after 800 meters, and widened the gap during the third lap. Hagans clocked 66 seconds on the final lap and held off a late charge from Minnesota, splitting 4:38 to claim the victory.

"We love coming to Drake Relays," said Bedell. "The crowd is always so great and very encouraging. We never really run individual races, so it's a lot of fun to compete with your teammates."

Last season, Minnesota won the women's distance medley and 4x800-meter relay titles in Drake Relay record time, both times edging Baylor at the finish line. The Lady Bears set school records in both events, but failed to claim the Drake Relays title.

"Last year we ran the DMR and the 4x800 against Minnesota and we both broke records in the races, but they beat us both times," said Bradley. "This year is a role reversal and it feels good to be on the winning side."

The men's and women's teams came away with its second relay sweep in as many days, claiming both 4x100-meter relays in the afternoon session. Both teams entered the finals with the fastest preliminary times, and held to form with the victories.

"We knew that we still had to run our race," said Tiffany Townsend. "We knew that UTEP could really give us a run for our money because their anchor is so good. We just had to get out and run."

Brittany Bruce started out for the Lady Bears passing the baton in second place at the first exchange behind Arizona State. Carla Grace made up ground on the back stretch and passed to Brittany Carr. The freshman made up the stagger on the curve and passed to Townsend on the anchor. The freshman All-American pulled away from the field to clock a time of 44.24, the fastest time of the season.

"I saw Carla pick up some ground during the second leg, and then Brittany made up the stagger on the third leg and I knew it was over," said Townsend. "I knew that all I had to do was hold on and finish strong."

The Baylor men made it a green and gold sweep of the sprint relay, clocking a time of 40.11 for the win. Marcus Boyd got out of the blocks quickly and passed to J.T. Scheuerman on the back straightaway. Scheuerman made up ground on the backstretch, but a hamstring cramp at the 50-meter mark slowed the All-American coming into the second exchange. Courtney Thomas got Baylor back into the race on the curve and passed to Trey Harts in third place. Harts caught the leaders and pulled away over the last 20 meters to secure the win.

"We knew that we had the fastest time coming in and we wanted to prove it in the finals," said Harts. "We had the fastest time and we expected to win. We wanted to come in No. 1 and leave No. 1."

"We have a lot of pride at Baylor," said Scheuerman. "After sweeping the 4x200-meter relay last night, and then seeing the girls win the 4x100 we knew that we wanted to win as well. We ran hard and came away with the sweep."

The Baylor men's 4x400-meter relay won its 26^th-straight race, clocking 3:04.13 to win by more than three seconds. The relay title is the fourth-straight for Baylor at the Drake Relays. The Bears have claimed 18 of the last 24 4x400-meter relays at Drake Relays, and have won 19 mile relay titles all-time.

Justin Boyd opened up for the Bears with a 46.8 seconds split out of the blocks, passing to Trey Harts near the lead. Harts broke to the rail in third place behind Kentucky and Arizona State. Harts made his move starting at the 200-meter mark, pulling away from the field to give Baylor a 10-meter lead with a 45.8 seconds split.

LeJerald Betters extended the lead to as many as 30 meters over the field with a 45.2 seconds split, handing off to Quentin Iglehart-Summers for the anchor leg. Iglehart-Summers split 45.6 seconds by himself to lead Baylor to the win.

"Being the anchor leg for Baylor, I have to run out in front a lot," said Iglehart-Summers. "I still try to run as hard as I can because I don't want to let my teammates down. If I didn't run hard then it would make their race mean nothing."

Baylor's bid for eight relay titles ended with the women's 4x400-meter relay, but not before the Lady Bears made the quest for eight championships interesting. Baylor held the sixth-fastest qualifying time from the preliminary heats and led off with Katrina Taylor, who split 54.8 seconds out of the blocks. Carr was in fifth place at the break to the rail, but made a late kick, splitting 54.5 seconds to pass the baton in third place.

Tiffany Townsend made her move with 150 meters remaining on the third leg, and split 54.1 seconds to catch Arizona State for first place at the exchange zone. As the Lady Bears were making the pass of the stick, Townsend and Grace mishandled the baton, dropping it to the ground and taking Baylor out of contention. Grace picked up the baton and finished the race, but was never close to the leaders.

Boyd and Robert Griffin finished second and third, respectively, in the men's 400-meter hurdles. Georgia's Justin Gaymon, the defending NCAA Champion, won with a time of 49.26, a new collegiate leading time. Boyd clocked 50.05, his second-fastest time of the season, while Griffin, who was competing in just his second meet of the season following the completion of spring football practice, finished in 50.92.

Baylor returns to action on Friday night as the Bears make their fifth trip of the season to Fayetteville, Ark. to compete in the Arkansas Twilight meet.

SATURDAY RESULTS

Women's Events

4x100-Meter Relay

1. Bruce, Grace, Carr, Townsend (Baylor) - 44.24

4x400-Meter Relay

1. Durham, Benjamin, Maloy, Elcock (Arizona State) - 3:36.88#

6. Taylor, Carr, Townsend, Grace (Baylor) - 3:43.66

4x1,600-Meter Relay

1. Jones, Bradley, E. Bedell, Hagans (Baylor) - 19:05.80 * $ ^ !

Long Jump

1. Brittney Reese (Mississippi) - 6.57m (21-06 ¾)#

18. DeAna Carson (Baylor) - 5.68m (18-07 ¾)