One For the Thumb

Track & Field 3/15/2009 12:00:00 AM

March 15, 2009

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Baylor men's 4x400-meter relay continued its dominance in the 4x400-meter relay, winning its fifth-straight NCAA title on Saturday night to conclude the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Baylor clocked a season-best time of 3:05.81, edging out Florida State who finished second with a time of 3:05.91. The Bears dropped their world-leading time by nearly a full second, and now own three of the four fastest times in the world this year.

Baylor tied for fifth in the overall team standings with 25 points, its third-highest finish in school history. The 1985 squad finished in third place, while the 1989 team finished in a tie for fourth overall. The 25 team points ties for the highest point total in Baylor history with the 1985 and 2006 squads. The Bears also tied with Nebraska as the highest finishers from the Big 12 Conference. The women's team finished in a tie for 51st place with three team points.

Baylor finished the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships with two NCAA titles, marking the first time since 2004 that the Bears won multiple national crowns. During the 2004 season, Baylor won the 4x400-meter relay and Jeremy Wariner claimed the open 400 meter title. The Bears also won multiple NCAA titles in 1992 (Deon Minor - 400m; 4x400-meter relay) and 1990 (Michael Johnson - 200m; 4x400-meter relay)

Trey Harts led off the relay for the Bears, with a split of 47.39 seconds. Harts, who won the open 200 meter title on Friday night, was first to the break, but fell to third place after the first lap. Harts closed the gap over the final 200 meters, handing off just behind Florida State and in a dead heat with South Carolina.

"I was still a little bit beaten up from last night (after winning the 200 meters)," said Harts. "But I knew that I had three guys counting on me, so I wanted to just go out and run hard and try and put them in a good spot."

Marcus Boyd took over on the second leg for the Bears, holding his position through the first 200 meters. On the backstretch of the second lap Boyd was tripped up and nearly fell, but was able to regain his balance and narrowed the lead, passing South Carolina down the stretch. He handed off just a half-second behind Florida State with a 46.04-second split.

"I was feeling really good after my first lap, but then I got tripped up on the second lap," said Boyd. "I tried hard to keep my composure and by the grace of God I was able to keep my balance and stay on my feet."

LeJerald Betters took the stick for Baylor and quickly moved in behind the FSU runner. On the home straightaway of the first lap, Betters passed into first place and lengthened his lead to almost a full second with a split of 45.60 seconds.

"Trey and Marcus really put me in a good position where I didn't have to push too hard," said Betters. "I saw the Florida State runner right in front of me when I got the stick, so I knew that it was my job to go get him. Once I passed him it gave me an extra spark and a little momentum."

Quentin Iglehart-Summers, who suffered a severe leg cramp in the finals of the 400 meters at the Big 12 Indoor Championships, set the pace on the anchor leg for the Bears. Iglehart-Summers kept a two-stride lead over Florida State through the first 300 meters, and outkicked the Seminole anchor to split 46.80 seconds to hold on for the win.

"It's a great feeling as an anchor to know that I have these three guys running before me," said Iglehart-Summers. "They put me in a great position and it really takes a lot of the pressure off of me. Once Marcus was able to come back at the end, I knew that I had to hold up my leg of the relay and get the win. We have a saying before every race that, `It's not gonna be my fault.' We all know that we are going to do whatever needs to be done to make sure we win the race. We know that all four of us are going to give it everything we have to make sure that we come away with the win."

Baylor wins its ninth indoor 4x400-meter relay title in school history. Including its 10 outdoor 4x400-meter relay titles, Baylor now owns 19 NCAA titles in the event. The Bears finished in the top three in the event for the 41st time, including both indoor and outdoor seasons.

Baylor has now won five straight 4x400-meter relay titles, claiming both the indoor and outdoor championships in 2007 and 2008 and now adding the 2009 indoor title. The streak ties the NCAA record for consecutive national titles in the event. Baylor also holds the other five-title streak, winning five straight championships from the 1990 indoor championships through the 1992 indoor title.

The victory in the 4x400-meter relay is the 35th-straight for Baylor against collegiate competition, dating back to the beginning of the 2007 indoor season. Baylor last lost to a collegiate team in the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships when the Bears finished third overall.

Beginning with its first 4x400-meter relay national championship in 1985, the Baylor men's team has dominated the event like no other. The Bears have claimed 10 outdoor national championships and eight indoor titles. Baylor's 18 total championships in the 4x400-meter relay rank first in collegiate history with Oklahoma and UCLA (10 titles) tied for second place.

Baylor now owns 14 of the 39 4x400-meter relays (35.9%) that have run faster than 3:06, with second-place LSU at eight races (20.5%). Of the 89 relays to run faster than 3:07, Baylor has recorded 28 of those occurrences (31.5%), while LSU ranks second with 13 all-time races (14.6%) under 3:07. In NCAA history, there have been 178 marks under 3:08 in the 4x400-meter relay, with Baylor leading the way with 41 of those marks (23.2%), with LSU second at 24 races (13.4%).

Chris Gowell finished fifth overall in the men's 800 meters, clocking a time of 1:48.78, to earn his first-ever All-America honor.

Betters finished eighth in the men's 400 meters with a time of 46.85, earning individual All-America honors for the fourth time in his career.

Erin Bedell finished 10th overall in the women's 3,000 meters, clocking 9:17.55. Bedell, who anchored Baylor's distance medley relay to a ninth-place finish on Friday night, just missed All-America honors for the second-straight day finishing as the ninth overall American-born competitor.

Baylor returns to action next weekend as the Bears open the outdoor season by hosting the Dr Pepper Invitational on Saturday morning at the Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex.

NCAA CHAMPIONS
Trey Harts - 200m
Trey Harts, Marcus Boyd, LeJerald Betters, Quentin Iglehart-Summers - 4x400

NCAA ALL-AMERICANS
LeJerald Betters - 400m
Chris Gowell - 800m
Trey Harts - 200m
Tiffany Townsend - 60m
Tiffany Townsend - 200m
Trey Harts, Marcus Boyd, LeJerald Betters, Quentin Iglehart-Summers - 4x400