June 11, 2009

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Erin Bedell set a school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and thundershowers caused a three-hour weather delay on the first day of competition at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Bedell set a time of 9:56.19 to finish fourth in her preliminary heat. She breaks her old school record of 9:58.46 set at the Stanford Invitational earlier this season. Bedell earns an automatic qualifying spot in the event finals on Friday night. Danielle Bradley ran 10:12.98 to finish 13th overall and earn a spot in Friday's event final.

Wednesday evening's events were interrupted by a three-hour weather delay after strong thunderstorms and lightning moved into the Fayetteville area.

Tiffany Townsend clocked 11.14 to win her heat of the 100 meters. The time is her second-best of the season, behind her school-record time of 11.13 set at the Texas Relays. Trey Harts finished sixth in his 100 meter heat with a time of 10.49 and will not advance to the semifinals.

Townsend then ran an 11.63 into a headwind of 1.1 meters per second in the semifinals to finish 11th overall. Townsend earns All-America honors as one of the top eight American-born finishers.

Chris Gowell won his heat of the 800 meter preliminaries with a time of 1:47.87 to edge Northern Iowa's Tyler Mulder at the line. Gowell's time was the third-fastest of the preliminaries and his third-fastest this season.

The women's 4x100-meter relay finished second in its heat and sixth overall in the preliminaries with a time of 44.04, the second-fastest time of the season. The Lady Bears clocked 43.85 to finish second at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships.

Katrina Taylor finished fourth in her preliminary heat of the 400 meters with a time of 53.97 and advanced to the semifinals as the 18th-fastest qualifier.

Baylor returns to action on Thursday morning for the second day of competition at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Live results can be found online at www.ArkansasRazorbacks.com.