June 24, 2009

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

Some things never end.

Less than two weeks after finishing the collegiate season at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., Baylor's back at it again.

Fifteen current and former Baylor athletes will compete at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and another three in the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships, with the meets running simultaneously and beginning Thursday at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Not surprisingly, "Quartermiler U." will be well represented in its traditionally strongest event. While 2004 gold medalist and '08 silver medalist Jeremy Wariner gets a bye to the World Championships later this summer in Berlin, Germany, as the defending world champion, the 400 field includes junior Marcus Boyd, 2009 senior Quentin Iglehart-Summers and former Baylor runners Reggie Witherspoon, Darold Williamson and LeJerald Betters.

Most of the former athletes still train in Waco, but coach Todd Harbour's long-range plan is to develop a training center that will give the professional athletes a chance to continue their careers, "because I know how tough it is when you get out there to try to still make it and compete when you're where they are right now."

"There are very few places in the country where professional athletes can go and train and still feel like they're part of the family there," Harbour said. "Anytime you've got that many around you that you can look at and say, `Hey, they were right here where I am and look at where they are now. And I know if I work hard, I can make things happen as well.' So many of them just want to continue another year or two, and that may be all that they do."

Betters (44.75), Witherspoon (44.99) and Williamson (45.16) are all ranked in the top eight based on their qualifying times. But Harbour is hoping that Boyd (45.53) and Iglehart-Summers (46.41) can both finish with good performances.

Iglehart-Summers failed to make the NCAA Championships in the 400 meters after advancing to the semifinals at last summer's Olympic Trials, while Boyd is coming off an injury-plagued sophomore season after winning the World Junior Championship in '08.

"For Q, it's probably a gut check," Harbour said. "He's got to know, `If I'm going to run professionally, I've got to do something.' The NCAA season is over, and he doesn't have that 4x4 gorilla hanging around his neck, knowing that I've got to anchor that thing. It's all about him now. He realizes, `I've got to go up there and do something, or there's no contract, no shoe contract, there's nothing.' He just ran a 44.2 split at (the NCAA Championships), so why can't he run sub-45 (seconds) right now. There's no reason he can't. It's there. It's whether he'll do it or not."

Senior Trey Harts (20.29) and Wariner (20.30) are both seeded in the top 10 in the 200 meters, while Harts is also running in the 100 meters (10.30).

After winning the NCAA Indoor championship and going in with the fastest time, Harts finished seventh in the 200 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

"Track's an individual sport, and there's different purposes for some of them going up there," Harbour said. "The experience factor for some of those guys is huge. We've got to make a few changes next year - and Trey and I actually visited about it yesterday - so that he can finish season a little stronger. But you never know. I made some pretty good comebacks in Europe. I hit the tank about (the NCAA Championships) and I'd be just about done. And then all of a sudden I'd come back and run some really fast times in Europe. I did that almost every summer. So maybe there's still something there."

Also competing on the men's side are former Baylor athletes Jerome Miller and Justin Boyd in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles, respectively. Miller is seeded ninth going in with a 13.27-second time, but Harbour said he "could be one of the big surprises up there."

Junior-to-be Tiffany Townsend will try to cap off another outstanding season, competing in both the 100 (11.13) and 200 meters (22.63). Seniors Erin Bedell (9:56.19) and Danielle Bradley (10:10.17) are both entered in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and DeAna Carson will try to build off the momentum of a fifth-place finish in the long jump (6.52 meters) at the NCAA Championships.

Former Baylor athletes competing are Angel Perkins in the 400-meter hurdles (56.08) and Lauren Hagans in the 1,500 meters (4:09.86). Olympic silver medalist Sanya Richards, who trains in Waco under legendary Baylor track coach Clyde Hart, is ranked No. 1 in the 400 at 49.86.

In the Junior Championships, sophomores Diamond Richardson and Jessica Unbanionwu are among the favorites in the 400 meters (53.84) and triple jump (12.92 meters), respectively, while incoming freshman Stephanie Morgan is ranked No. 1 in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:31.32.

Morgan also qualified and was ranked among the top five in the 800 and 1,500, but she withdrew from the other two events to focus on the 3,000.

"Jessica and Diamond both have a chance to do something, and they've got a shot to make the (USA) Junior team to the Pan-Am Championships," Harbour said. "And anytime you can get on one of those USA teams, that's just a huge deal. Lauren made her first one last year, and that gave her some great experience. Those are some of the plusses you get out of going to the USA meet versus just sitting at home and saying, `Hey, I'm going to shut it down.' Because what's another two weeks, right?"

On Thursday, events involving Baylor athletes are the first round of the men's and women's 100 and 400 meters and the women's 400-meter hurdles.

Here is the link for video web streaming for the USA Outdoor Championships.