May 28, 2010
Complete Results | Saturday Heat Sheets
AUSTIN, Texas - Baylor's track and field team put together a spectacular day, with nine national qualifiers on Friday at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Austin, Texas.
The first year of the new regional format allowed the top 48 in each event in two regions to converge in one of two sites, Austin for the West, and Greensboro, N.C., for the East. From there in the 100-1,500 meters, including the hurdles, the NCAA First Round will eliminate half the field, leaving in each event earning a spot in the next round, which is the NCAA Quarterfinal. The top 12 in the quarterfinals of each event from each region will then earn a spot in their respective event for the NCAA Semifinal Round held in Eugene, Ore., on June 9-12. For the distance running and field events, competition will feature an NCAA Semifinal Round at the regional, with the top 12 moving on to the championship final in Eugene.
The Bears showed once again showed their strength in the 400 meters, as well as the 400-meter hurdles. On the men's side Zwede Hewitt sped to his third straight race with a personal best, while Marcus Boyd will join him in Eugene in the 400 meters. Hewitt clocked a career-best of 45.70 to place fourth in his heat and 10th overall, while Boyd ran a 45.92 to qualify eighth by taking one of the three automatic qualifier spots in his heat. Senior Thaddeus Gordon ran his second personal best in two days at the meet to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.42.
For the women, sophomore Diamond Richardson held off two runners to place third in her heat and eighth overall, while freshman Christina Holland neared her personal-best of 57.94 with a time of 57.99 to earn a spot at the national championships, placing third in her heat and eighth overall.
Along with Holland, another freshman punched her ticket to the NCAAs in Skylar White. The freshman neared her personal best in the discus throw with a toss of 167-08 to place eighth overall and advance.
Baylor also had a great day in the short sprints on both sides. For the men, Courtney Thomas punched his ticket to Eugene in the 100 meters and got one step closer to doing the same in the 200 meters. In the 100, Thomas placed fifth in his heat, but more importantly, 11th overall to earn a spot in the national championship field. In the weekend's opening round of the 200, Thomas cruised past the runners in heat to win and advance to the quarterfinal round tomorrow with a time of 20.78, his season best. One heat earlier, sophomore Whitney Prevost won his heat of the 200 to advance to the quarterfinals with a time 20.88.
On the women's side, Tiffany Townsend will have a chance to build on her list of 10 All-America certificates in the 100 meters, advancing to Eugene with a sixth-place time of 11.43. She will have a chance to qualify for the national championships in the 200 meters tomorrow, after flying through to win her heat on Saturday with a time of 23.19, the fourth fastest overall.
Senior All-American Chris Gowell also kept his season alive with a seventh-place finish in the 800 meters to advance to the NCAA Championships. Gowell placed third in his heat, outsprinting Missouri's Aaron Dixon for the third automatic spot out of the heat with a time of 1:47.38, a season best.
Like Thursday, a couple near-misses prevented Baylor's list of qualifiers from increasing. Senior Erin Bedell was the closest, finishing 13th, one spot out of advancing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:26.12. Senior Michael Liggins finished one spot out of qualifying in the 400 meters in 13th with a time of 46.11. His time was just .14 out of 12th, while freshman Chance Casey turned in a solid time of 51.02 to finish 15th in the 400-meter hurdles.
The NCAA West Preliminary Rounds will conclude on Sunday at the University of Texas. Field events will begin at Noon, while running events will start at 6:30 p.m. Live results can be found at www.BaylorBears.com.
