Feb. 28, 2015 Complete Results
THE RUNDOWN
AMES, Iowa - Headlined by six event champions, the Baylor track and field team closed out the Big 12 Championships with the women placing third and the men taking seventh at the Lied Recreation Center Saturday.
Baylor's six Saturday event champions paired with the 5,000-meter title that Rachel Johnson won Friday set a new school record for event champions at the Big 12 indoor meet, surpassing the six titles won in 2013.
For the second-straight year, the Baylor women's team tallied a school record by racking up 105 team points over the two days of competition. That mark passed the 102 points that the Lady Bears scored while taking second last year. Overall, the women's squad had four event champions, which tied a program record. BU also had four women's title winners in 1998. In total, Baylor's women had 13 athletes claim 22 All-Big 12 honors.
Meanwhile on the men's side, the Bears used three event champions and 12 athletes, who carded 18 All-Big 12 accolades, to produce 69 points.
Individually, 10 student-athletes helped produce the seven event titles. On the women's side, Johnson followed up her win in the 5,000-meters to take top honors in the 3,000-meter race. Mariah Kelly won the mile and Brianna Richardson captured the triple jump crown. For the men, junior Felix Obi secured his third straight Big 12 title in the triple jump. Sophomore Trayvon Bromell captured the 200-meter crown and the men's 4x400-meter relay squad of Richard Gary, Brandon Moore, Kevin Harris and George Caddick ended the night on a high note with a victory in that event.
After becoming the first BU female to win the 5,000-meter race on Friday, Johnson won the 3,000 meters Saturday in a Big 12 meet and school record time of 9:06.42. The mark gave the senior the fifth All-Big 12 indoor honor of her career and is currently the 10th-fastest in the country. Johnson joins Erin Bedell (2006) as the only Bears to have won the 3,000-meter race. She is now also one of only two BU female athletes to win two Big 12 individual event titles at the same conference indoor meet, joining Barbara Petrahn (2002, 200m & 600y).
Kelly, a senior, was close to pulling off two individual event titles as well. She earned Baylor's first-ever win in the mile race with a time of 4:42.17, which is sixth-best in school history. The win came just a year after Kelly finished as the runner-up in the event. Just over an hour later, Kelly finished as the runner-up in the 1,000-meters with a time of 2:46.91, to earn her seventh All-Big 12 indoor honor. In the triple jump, Richardson led from beginning to end, but tallied her best jump on her final attempt. The junior jumped over a foot farther than any competitor in the field to win with a mark of 42-11.75 [13.10m]. Richardson joins her coach, Stacey Smith, as the only BU females to win indoor triple jump title.
On the men's side, Obi gave BU a clean sweep of the triple jump event as he claimed his third straight Big 12 indoor crown. The junior also led the event from start to finish as his nearest competitor was over two feet away. Obi's top attempt came on his second jump when he produced a leap of 52-0 [15.85m]. He becomes the first BU male athlete to win the same event for three consecutive years at the Big 12 indoor meet.
Bromell added to his list of accomplishments by turning in the top time in the 200-meter dash. Running out of lane four and after having finished third in the 60-meter dash (6.60), the sophomore torched the field with a time of 20.71. The win for Bromell continued a long line of success for BU in the event as a Bear has now won it at the meet seven times with the last victory coming from Blake Heriot in 2013.
The Bears saved their best for last as the 4x400-meter relay crew of Richard Gary, Brandon Moore, Kevin Harris and George Caddick powered to a title in the final event of the day. Despite running in third for much of the race, the Bears used a split of 46.69 from Harris to draw nearly even with Texas and Texas Tech going into the final exchange. With an anchor split of 46.68, Caddick made sure the Bears returned to the top of the podium at the meet for the 14th time in the last 19 years.
Besides Kelly's runner-up finish in the 1,000-meters, BU also three other near misses on Saturday. Junior Olicia Williams couldn't hold off a late charge in the 800 meters as she finished as the runner-up in 2:07.45. On the men's side in that event, Moore went stride-for-stride with defending champion Edward Kemboi of Iowa State, but finished second in a personal-best time of 1:49.75. Finally, sophomore Maggie Montoya stayed with Kelly throughout the mile race, but placed second in 4:42.60.
A multitude of other women's athletes performed at a high level to help the Lady Bears tally the 105 points. Raena Rhone was third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.75. She then helped anchor the 4x400-meter relay team of Kiana Hawn, Williams and Kehri Jones to a season-best time of 3:38.29 for a third-place showing. In the middle distances, Jessica Purtell nabbed the first All-Big 12 honor of her career by taking seventh in the 800 meters in a time of 2:15.02.
Junior Taije Jordan opened BU's day on the track by placing eighth in the 60-hurdles with a time of 8.58. It was her second-straight year to tally an All-Big 12 accolade. In the field events, Lauren Cook was seventh in the high jump with a mark of 5-7.25 [1.71m] to earn her second-straight All-Big 12 honor in the event.
The Bears had a pair of All-Big 12 performers in the 60-meter hurdles with Bryce Grace (7.95) Rhys Phillips (8.10) placing third and sixth, respectively.
Harris and fellow freshman Malik Wilson also provided points on the men's side. Harris was fourth in the 200-meter dash in a personal-best time of 21.00, while Wilson was eighth at the 60-meter distance in 6.89. George Caddick supplied his first All-Big 12 honor of the day with a time of 46.94 to be fourth in the 400-meter dash.
HIGHLIGHTS
? The Baylor women have now finished top-four at the indoor meet for four straight years. The longest such streak since being top-four from 1990-1995 in the Southwestern Conference.
? Baylor has won a combined 16 event titles in the last three Big 12 Indoor Championships held in Ames, Iowa (2013, 2014, 2014). BU only won 14 event title in the first four years that the meet was held in Ames (1998, 2000, 2007, 2010).
? The Baylor women finished 27.5 points behind second place Kansas State (132.50) and 28 points ahead of fourth place Oklahoma State (77). Texas won the team title with 139 points.
? The Baylor men finished 11.5 points behind sixth place Kansas (80.50) and 20 points ahead of eighth-place TCU (49). Texas won the team title with 140 points.
TOP QUOTE #1
"We always compete to win a championship and especially on the women's side we wanted to go after that. We just weren't quite good enough. We didn't have a bad meet. We really had a great meet, but Texas and K-State were just a little better than us. I think we got about all we could get out of them. On the men's side, we finished about where we did last year, but we had a number of outstanding performances. Overall it was one of our best Big 12 indoor meets ever with the number of event championships won and the number of outstanding performances." - head coach Todd Harbour on the meet
STAT OF THE DAY
7 - the number of Big 12 event titles that Baylor won over two days of competition in Iowa. It is more event wins than Baylor has ever recorded in a Big 12 meet.
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor currently has 11 entries into the NCAA Indoor Championships. Raena Rhone (400m), Olicia Williams (800m), Mariah Kelly (mile), Rachel Johnson (3K & 5K), Maggie Montoya (3K), Kelly, Kiana Hawn, Williams and Montoya (DMR), Annie Rhodes (pole vault) and Briana Richardson (triple jump) are scheduled to represent the women on the national stage, while Trayvon Bromell (60 meter and 200 meter) is currently the lone BU male in the NCAA field. The NCAA Indoor Championships are scheduled for March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Ark.
To stay current on all things Baylor Track, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorTrack.
All-Conference Performers (25 competitors; 40 honors)
Women (13 competitors; 22 honors)
Lauren Cook (HJ), Kiana Hawn (4x4, DMR), Rachel Johnson (3K, 5K), Kehri Jones (4x4), Taije Jordan (60h), Mariah Kelley (mile, 1K), Maggie Montoya (DMR, mile), Jenna Pfeiffer (Pentathlon), Jessica Purtell (800m, DMR), Annie Rhodes (PV), Raena Rhone (400m, 4x4), Brianna Richardson (LJ, TJ), Olicia Williams (800m, DMR, 4x4)
Men (12 competitors; 18 honors)
Josh Bethany (DMR), Trayvon Bromell (60m, 200m), George Caddick (400m, 4x4), Richard Gary (4x4, DMR), Bryce Grace (60h), Derwin Graham (DMR), Kevin Harris (200m, 4x4), Brandon Moore (800m, 4x4), Felix Obi (LJ, TJ), Rhys Phillips (60h), Jonathan Tijerina (DMR), Malik Wilson (60m)
COMPLETE BAYLOR RESULTS (*Earned All-Big 12 honors)
60-Meters - Finals
Men
3. Trayvon Bromell (SO), 6.60* (third All-Big 12 indoor honor)
8. Malik Wilson (FR), 6.89* (first All-Big 12 indoor honor)
200 Meters - Finals
Men
1. Trayvon Bromell (SO), 20.71* (first Big 12 indoor title, fourth All-Big 12 indoor honor, tied sixth-best in school history)
4. Kevin Harris (FR), 21.00* (personal best, first All-Big 12 indoor honor)
400 Meters - Finals
Women
3. Raena Rhone (SR), 52.75* (sixth All-Big 12 indoor honor, third-best in school history)
Men
4. George Caddick (SO), 46.94* (first All-Big 12 indoor honor)
800 Meters - Finals
Women
2. Olicia Williams (JR), 2:07.45* (sixth All-Big 12 indoor honor, ninth-best in school history)
7. Jessica Purtell (SO), 2:15.02* (first All-Big 12 indoor honor)
Men
2. Brandon Moore (SO), 1:49.75* (personal best, first All-Big 12 indoor honor)
1,000 Meters - Finals
Women
2. Mariah Kelly (SR), 2:46.91* (seventh All-Big 12 indoor honor and fifth-best in school history)
Mile - Finals
Women
1. Mariah Kelly (SR), 4:42.17* (sixth All-Big 12 indoor honor, sixth-best in school history)
2. Maggie Montoya (SO), 4:42.60* (fourth All-Big 12 indoor honor, eight-best in school history)
3,000 Meters - Finals
Women
1. Rachel Johnson (SR), 9:06.42* (school record, fifth All-Big 12 indoor honor, currently 10th in NCAA)
26. Sofia Pitouli (FR), 9:57.59 (personal best)
27. Ann-Marie Dunlap (FR), 9:59.77 (personal best)
Men
22. Matt League (JR), 8:41.42
24. Derwin Graham (SR), 8:44.36
60 Hurdles - Finals
Women
8. Taije Jordan (JR), 8.58* (second All-Big 12 indoor honor)
Men
3. Bryce Grace (JR), 7.95* (second All-Big 12 indoor honor)
6. Rhys Phillips (SO), 8.10* (personal best, first All-Big 12 honor)
4x400-Meter Relay - Finals
Women
3. Baylor (Kiana Hawn, Olicia Williams, Kehri Jones, Raena Rhone), 3:38.29* (season best)
Men
1. Baylor (Richard Gary, Brandon Moore, Kevin Harris, George Caddick), 3:07.47* (season best, currently 13th-best in NCAA)
High Jump
Women
7. Lauren Cook (SR), 5-7.25 [1.71m]* (second All-Big 12 honor)
11. Jenna Pfeiffer (JR), 5-7.25 [1.71m]
15. Kaylyn Schultz (JR), 5-5.25 [1.66m]
Triple Jump
Women
1. Brianna Richardson (JR), 42-11.75 [13.10m]* (first Big 12 title, third All-Big 12 indoor honor, currently ninth in NCAA)
Men
1. Felix Obi (JR), 52-0 [15.85m]* (third straight Big 12 title, sixth All-Big 12 indoor honor)
Shot Put
Women
9. Cion Hicks (SO), 49-10 [15.19m]
