June 9, 2016
THE RUNDOWN
EUGENE, Ore. - On the second day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the Baylor women's track and field team had five entries in competition at Hayward Field Thursday.
In a light rain, Annie Rhodes opened the day by tying for 11th in the pole vault competition with a top clearance of 13-3.5 [4.20m]. The Waco, Texas, product needed only one attempt to clear that opening bar, but was unable to make the next height. The junior missed on all three vaults at 13-9.25 [4.20m].
To close out the night, the 4x400-meter relay of Taylor Bennett, Kiana Hawn, Ashley Fields and Olicia Williams placed fifth in its heat and 15th overall with a time of 3:34.93. Running out of lane one, Bennett split 53.07 to have the Bears in the lead pack of six runners. Hawn ran a 54.53 and Fields went 54.04, but that duo was unable to keep up with top-two finishers USC and South Carolina. Williams closed with a 53.07 split to remain in fifth in the heat.
Before running the anchor for the 4x400-meter relay, Williams finished 13th in the 800 meters with a time of 2:05.19. In her final individual collegiate race, the senior moved from sixth to second 300 meters into her heat and maintained that position for the majority of the event. After dropping to third with 250 meters left, Williams rallied to take the lead for a brief moment with 150 meters to go. She faded down the stretch to finish fifth in her heat.
In the shot put event, Cion Hicks carded a throw of 50-2 [15.29m] on her second attempt of the day to place 22nd overall. The junior fouled on her first and third attempts.
Prior to running on the relay, Hawn concluded her individual season by placing 24th in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.36. The sophomore held her place through 200 meters, but didn't close strong to take eighth in her heat.
With Thursday's results, the BU women will not score in the meet. It marks just the fifth time in the last 28 years that the women will not score.
TOP QUOTE #1 "Overall, it was a very disappointing day. The ladies competed hard in the 4x400-meter relay, but it just wasn't good enough. Olicia didn't run a bad race, but she just wasn't quite good enough today. She just didn't quite execute. I think the rain probably bothered Annie and Cion a little bit. It threw them off just enough to make a difference. Kiana just didn't have a good race in the 400-meter hurdles. When you put all of that together, it just wasn't a good day. We will regroup and the good thing is that we have some young ones and we will be ready to go the next time we come up here." - head coach Todd Harbour on the second day of competition
WHAT'S NEXT Baylor's final men's competitor, Felix Obi, will take part in the triple jump event Friday at 5:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. CT).
To stay current on all things Baylor Track, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorTrack.
COMPLETE BAYLOR RESULTS
800 Meters
Women
13. Olicia Williams (SR) - 2:05.19 (sixth in school history)
400 Hurdles
Women
24. Kiana Hawn (SO) - 1:02.36
4x400-Meter Relay
Women
15. Baylor (Bennett, Hawn, Fields, Williams) - 3:34.93
Pole Vault
Women
t11th. Annie Rhodes (JR) - 13-3.5 [4.05m]
Shot Put
Women
22. Cion Hicks (JR) - 50-2 [15.29m]
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
EUGENE, Ore. - With a pair of indoor All-Americans going Thursday, the Baylor women expected to get some points on the board at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
But it turned out to be another frustrating day, with junior pole vaulter Annie Rhodes clearing her lowest height of the season and Olicia Williams losing her lead in the final stretch and failing to advance to Saturday's 800-meter finals.
"When you put it all together, it just adds up to not really a good day," coach Todd Harbour said. "I know the ladies are disappointed. It just didn't happen today. We've got to regroup and get ready. The good thing is we've got some young ones, and they'll be ready to go, so we'll bring a pretty good bunch back up here next year."
Cion Hicks (shot put) and Kiana Hawn (400 hurdles) also had disappointing performances, finishing 22nd and 24th, respectively, while the 4x400 relay of Taylor Bennett, Hawn, Ashley Fields and Williams placed fifth in their heat and 15th overall in 3:34.93.
For just the fifth time in 28 years, the Baylor women failed to score a point at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Last year, Rachel Johnson placed sixth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as the Bears tied for 51st with just three points.
"You can't be off at all," Harbour said. "You can be prepared, you can be physically ready, you can be mentally ready, but if you just don't execute all the way . . . I thought Olicia was ready to go, I thought Annie was ready to go. Both of those young ladies have had great seasons, and they were both ready to go. But up here, a lot of good people don't make the finals just because they're a little off. It always gets magnified up here."
After clearing the opening height of 13-3 ½ on her first attempt, Rhodes failed to clear 13-9 ¼, a mark that would have ultimately got her in the top eight. Other than the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds, where the competition ended at 13-10, Rhodes' previous low of the year was a first-place mark of 13-11 ¼ at the season-opening TCU Invitational.
Arkansas freshman Alexis Weeks won the event at 14-9, with only four other vaulters getting over the bar at 14-1 ¼.
"I know Annie's extremely disappointed," Harbour said of Rhodes, who tied for 11th after a 10th-place showing a year ago. "The rain started up right when she was getting ready to go after her second bar. I just think it got to her a little bit, but you've still got to jump it. . . . There were a lot of good vaulters that didn't make many good bars today. Arkansas' girl, Weeks, obviously jumped great. But after that, it was pretty average. I think the rain came and it got to them a little bit."
Running in her final individual collegiate race, Williams moved up from sixth to second going into the final lap of the 800. She dropped to third with about 250 meters and then took a brief lead 150 meters out before fading down the stretch and finishing fifth in her heat and 13th overall at 2:05.19.
That third heat produced three of the five fastest times, but Washington's Baylee Mires got in with the final qualifying time of 2:04.35.
"It just wasn't fast enough," Harbour said. "Her 600 (time) was 1:31.5, and she was at 1:29 at conference. That's what our game plan was all along was to be at 1:29. And when you do that, you take some of the kick out of some of those kickers. If she runs the 2:04 flat like she did all by herself at conference, she's in the finals. So, that was a tough one."
Coming nowhere near her career-best mark of 56-1, Hicks fouled twice and only got in one legal throw in the prelims, finishing 10th in her heat and 22nd overall at 50-2. After a solid first 200 meters, Hawn faded down the stretch and placed 24th in the 400 hurdles at 1:02.36, her second-slowest time of the season.
In the closing event of the night, Baylor got solid leadoff and anchor legs from Taylor Bennett and Williams (both had 53.07 splits). But the middle two legs by Hawn and Fields weren't enough to keep the Bears in the hunt for one of the qualifying times.
Bennett and fellow sprinter Kiana Horton will join men's quarter-miler Wil London and high jumper Blaine Listach for the USA Junior Championships June 24-26 in Clovis, Calif., while Williams has recorded a qualifying time in the 800 for the USA Olympic Trials.
Closing out the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Baylor senior Felix Obi will compete in the men's triple jump at 7:30 p.m. CDT Friday. He has the sixth-best jump in the nation coming in at 53-9 ¾ and won the 2014 NCAA Indoor title, but is still looking for his first outdoor All-America honor.
Live results are available at www.ncaa.com, with ESPN providing coverage from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. CDT and video streaming online from 3:30-11 p.m. at ESPN3.
