March 12, 2016 Complete Results
THE RUNDOWN
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Four Baylor track and field athletes earned a total of five All-America honors on the final day of the NCAA Indoor Championships Saturday at Birmingham CrossPlex.
The men's 4x400-meter relay of Wil London, Brandon Moore, Caleb Dickson and George Caddick secured four of those All-America accolades by placing third in a time of 3:05.23. London led off with a 46.594 split to give BU the early lead in the race. However, the Bears were unable to hold that advantage and Caddick got the baton trailing by almost 10 meters. The junior proceeded to run the fastest split by a British athlete indoors at 44.886 to pull the Bears up to third place.
Baylor has now earned indoor All-America honors in the 4x400-meter relay in 27 of the last 32 years. The third-place finish in the event is BU's highest since being second in 2011.
Earlier in the day, London had finished eighth in the final of the 400 meters with a time of 46.88 to tally the first All-America honors of his career. The freshman was second at the halfway point of the race, but faded down the back stretch to finish fourth in his heat. London is Baylor's first freshman to earn All-America accolades in the quartermile since Jeremy Wariner accomplished the feat in 2003. All-time, the Waco, Texas, product is BU's 22nd-athlete to earn All-America honors in the event at the indoor meet and the first since LeJerald Betters in 2009.
Combining the points from the men's relay (6) and London's 400-meter finish (1), the Bears produced a total of seven points and tied for 34th-place in the team standings. Baylor's men have now scored in every NCAA indoor meet since 1981, 36 straight years.
In the final race of the night, Baylor's women's 4x400-meter relay of Taylor Bennett, Kiana Hawn, Kiana Horton and Olicia Williams was disqualified for not completing the race with possession of the baton. As she crossed the finish line, Williams had the baton knocked out of her grasp. The quartet's time of 3:32.73 would have been second-fastest in school history and would have placed the group eighth in the competition.
All three of Baylor's competitors in the field events finished in 10th-place in each of their respective events. For Cion Hicks in the shot put and Felix Obi in the triple jump that placing prevented them from earning the three extra attempts afforded to the top-nine competitors in each event.
Opening up with a throw of 55-1.5 [16.80m] in the shot put event, Hicks failed to improve on her next two attempts to keep her out of the nine-person final by just 2.5 inches [0.04m]. The junior's best throw was still the seventh-longest in school history.
In the pole vault competition, Annie Rhodes had entered the competition with the sixth-best jump in the country and then cleared her opening two bars on first attempts. However, the junior was unable to get over the third bar at 14-1.25 [4.30m] and ended up finishing tied for 10th with a best clearance of 13-9.25 [4.20m]. The Waco, Texas, native, who was eighth at the event a year ago, still carded the eighth-best clearance in school history.
To open Baylor's day, triple jumper Felix Obi finished 10th with a best leap of 52-1.75 [15.89m]. The El Paso, Texas native set that mark on his first attempt of the day and then was unable to improve in his two ensuing jumps. Although it was the ninth-best jump in school history and for Obi, it left the 2014 NCAA indoor triple jump champion just 2.25 inches [0.06m] short of earning three more jumps. The senior was competing in a triple jump competition for just the second time in 2016, after battling through a hamstring injury.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Wil London earned Baylor's 22nd All-America honor in the 400 meters and the first since LeJerald Betters did so in 2009.
- The men's 4x400-meter relay team carded All-America honors for the first time since 2013 and BU's 27th quartet to earn the honor.
TOP QUOTE #1
"Overall, it was a rough weekend for us. We had some men and women that preformed really well and battled hard. We just came up a little bit short in several events. Our men finishing third in the 4x400 relay was the highlight for us. This is not where we wanted to finish as a team on either side. We will be better in the outdoor season. We don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We will put it behind us and get started with the outdoor season next week." - head coach Todd Harbour on meet
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor begins its outdoor season Thursday at the TCU Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas.
To stay current on all things Baylor Track, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorTrack.
ALL-AMERICANS
Men (4 competitors; 5 honors)
George Caddick (3rd, 4x4), Caleb Dickson (3rd, 4x4), Wil London (8th, 400 meters & 3rd, 4x4), Brandon Moore (3rd, 4x4)
COMPLETE BAYLOR RESULTS
400 Meters - Final
Men
8. Wil London (FR) - 46.88 (first indoor All-America honor)
4x400-Meter Relay - Final
Women
--. Baylor (Taylor Bennett, Kiana Hawn, Kiana Horton, Olicia Williams) - DQ
Men
3. Baylor (Wil London, Brandon Moore, Caleb Dickson, George Caddick) - 3:05.23
Pole Vault - Final
Women
t10. Annie Rhodes (JR) - 13-9.25 [4.20m] (tied eighth-best in school history)
Triple Jump - Final
Men
10. Felix Obi (SR) - 52-1.75 [15.89m] (ninth-best in school history)
Shot Put - Final
Women
10. Cion Hicks (JR) - 55-1.5 [16.80m] (seventh-best in school history)