June 9, 2010
Complete Results | Championship Info
EUGENE, Ore. - Freshman Skylar White battled through the intermittent rain and cool weather to earn All-America honors in the discus with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
White turned in the performance of the day in the women's discus, vaulting from ninth to fourth on her fifth throw to earn her first career All-America accolade. The newcomer unleashed a throw of 177 feet, five inches, her career-best by nearly nine feet. White became the first female and second thrower in Baylor history to earn All-America honors in a throwing event, along with Marvin Lewis' third-place finish in the men's shot put in 1987 . White's throw is the second-best all-time at Baylor, behind only Brittney Devereaux's toss of 178-06 in 2007.
"What a great day for Skylar, just a huge performance," head coach Todd Harbour said. "It was just amazing to see her perform like that on such a big stage as a freshman. To be the last qualifier in for finals and pop a big throw like that is incredible."
In the men's 800 meters, two-time All-American Chris Gowell placed second in his heat and sixth overall with a time of 1:49.69. The senior cruised along in the rain just behind the leaders before sprinting to the front with 200 meters to go. From there, Gowell and Oregon's Andrew Wheating made the charge home to grab the two automatic qualifying spots in the heat.
"It was good to see Chris run a really good race to get into the finals," Harbour said. "He did a great job in his race, especially with the tough conditions."
Baylor women's 4x100-meter relay raced into the finals with a seventh-place qualifying time of 44.24. With their third different team in the last three weeks, the women's sprint relay ran its second consecutive season-best time, shaving another .26 seconds off its 2010 best. This time, new starter Brittany Bruce, Tiffany Townsend, Diamond Richardson and Brittany Carr combined to finish third in their heat.
"The women's 4x100 had a great day, another season-best," Harbour said. "With two new runners on that relay in Diamond and Brittany [Bruce], they just did a great job with Tiffany and Brittany [Carr] to get into the finals."
Two near-miss, ninth-place finishes prevented Baylor from two more qualifiers for the finals. In the women's 100 meters, Townsend, a returning All-American in the event, was .03 seconds from qualifying, finishing in ninth place. In the 400 meters, the Bears' Zwede Hewitt also had a close call, finishing ninth overall, missing the eighth and final qualifying spot by .18 seconds with his time of 45.92. Also in the race, junior Marcus Boyd was not able to finish due to an injury.
The Baylor men's 4x100-meter relay, despite a great season, couldn't overcome a late season injury to keep their hopes alive. Without the services of nine-time All-American sprinter Trey Harts, the squad of Marcus Boyd, Whitney Prevost, Courtney Thomas, and J.T. Scheuerman finished 11th overall. The crew placed fourth in their heat with a time of 39.98, needing a time of better than 39.75 to qualify.
Thomas, a senior who also competed in the 100 meters, was seventh in his heat and 19th overall with a time of 10.51. Meanwhile, in the 400-meter hurdles, fellow senior Thaddeus Gordon finished 21st overall with a time of 53.11.
Freshman Christina Holland also competed in the 400-meter hurdles on the women's side, finishing in 22nd place overall and seventh in her heat with time of 1:00.04. Also for the women, Diamond Richardson finished sixth in her heat of the 400 meters, and 19th overall at 54.71.
Baylor will be back in action tomorrow with the final day of semifinals before the finals begin on Friday and run through Saturday on the campus of the University of Oregon at Hayward Field. On Thursday, the Bears will have Jessica Ubanyionwu in the triple jump at 4 p.m., Tiffany Townsend, Whitney Prevost, and Courtney Thomas in the 200 meters beginning at 4:15 p.m., and the men's 4x400-meter relay at 6:45 p.m.
