Track Treks to Texas A&M Challenge
2/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Feb. 11, 2011
Heat Sheets | Meet Schedule | Meet Information
WACO, Texas - Baylor's track and field team will join forces with Texas A&M and Nebraska to take three teams each from the SEC, Pac-10 and Conference USA as part of the Texas A&M Conference Challenge on Saturday in College Station, Texas.
From the SEC, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi State will team up, while the Pac-10 will feature Arizona, Arizona State and USC. Houston, UTEP and Rice will represent Conference USA. Among the ranked teams, the Big 12 has the most with TAMU ranked 2nd on the women's side and 3rd on the mens, NU 14th and 13th, and Baylor's men's teams ranked 25th. Meanwhile, Arizona's women at 13th and the men are 17th, Arizona State's men are 24th and Tennessee's women are ranked fifth.
Last weekend, the Baylor men and women took on some of the best competition in the NCAA at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational. The women placed sixth overall as a team with 40 points, and the men were 10th with 25 points.
So far this season, the Baylor women have been breaking records and putting themselves in position for a top-level conference finish. With sophomore Skylar White shattering the shot put record the first week out with a throw of 55-8.25 and freshman Tiffani McReynolds breaking or tying the 60-meter hurdle record five times, senior All-American Tiffany Townsend followed suit last weekend at the New Balance Invitational. Townsend, who already owned three school records, added to her total with BU's top 60-meter mark of 7.27. The time broke Lakadron Ivery's 2004 mark of 7.31 set at the Big 12 meet.
The Baylor women also enter the weekend with a total of eight top 25 NCAA performances, including four in the top 10 nationally. Triple jumper Jessica Ubanyionwu ranks fourth with a season- and career-best of 43 feet, 2.25 inches, while Skylar White is sixth in the country with her school-record throw. In the sprints, the Tiff's, Townsend and McReynolds hold four top-25 spots, including two in the top 10. Townsend is ranked sixth in the 200 meters at 23.21 and seventh in the 60 meters, while McReynolds is 16th in the hurdles and 22nd in the 200 at 23.89.
For the BU men, junior transfer Woodrow Randall made the biggest leap in the rankings, moving from outside the top 50 to 23rd in the 60 meters by shaving .10 seconds off his best with a 6.69 run. Marcus Boyd and Whitney Prevost have also posted top times for the Bears in individual events as well as the relays. Prevost is eighth in the 200 meters at 20.88, while Boyd is 11th in the 400 meters (46.77) and 18th in the 200 meters (21.11).
The two also make up half of the fourth-ranked 4x400-meter relay along with Zwede Hewitt and James Gilreath. Baylor's men's and women's distance medley relay teams also hold down top-25 spots with the men sitting 16th at 9:52.39 and the women 19th at 11:30.20.
The final regular season meet for the Bears, the Texas A&M Conference Challenge is slated to begin at Noon with the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles on the track and the women's long jump and men's triple jump in the field.
Players Mentioned
