Complete Results

All three of BU's entries, George Caddick (400m), Wil London (400m) and the men's 4x400-meter relay, were in semifinal races on the track, looking to finish first or second in a heat or as one of the next two fastest times overall to qualify for event finals on Friday.

For only the third time in the last 37 years, Baylor's 4x400-meter relay did not advance to the finals of the NCAA Outdoor Championships as the quartet of Caleb Dickson, Wil London, Brandon Moore and George Caddick finished fourth in its heat with a time of 3:05.17. That mark ended of being the seventh-fastest on the day and just .01 seconds too slow as the second and final mark to qualify on time was Mississippi State's 3:05.16.

Dickson, running with an apparent foot injury for the final 125 meters of the race, opened with a split of 47.53, which left the Bears near the back of the pack at the first exchange. London ran a 45.16 split and got the Bears up to third as he handed the baton to Moore. That third leg split of 46.97 dropped the Bears to fifth as Caddick prepared to anchor the crew. The junior Bear ran 45.37 to move BU up to fourth and just out of qualifying.

Prior to running on the relay, both Caddick and London missed out on qualifying for the final of the 400 meters finishing 14th and 19th, respectively.

In the opening heat, London got off to a slow start and was sixth with 100 meters to go. He tried to close strong, but only moved up to fourth in with a time of 46.08.

Caddick, running out of lane one in the second of three heats, was near the back of the pack as he rounded the final curve and was unable to make up much ground down the stretch as he took seventh in his heat in 46.63.

OTHER NOTABLES
- Baylor's men's 4x400-meter relay time was faster than the two automatically qualifying times out of the third and final heat - Purdue (3:05.95) and Ohio State (3:05.99).

TOP QUOTE #1
"It was not the way we had written it up today. Wil is a freshman and missed on his first 200 meters a little bit. He then just had too much to make up. He can kick with the best of them, but when guys get out on you that far it becomes tough. George got a tough draw by being in lane one. I thought he executed better, but it was just a little too much to make up." - head coach Todd Harbour on the individual races

TOP QUOTE #2
"To miss the 4x4 by a hundredth of a second is a heartbreaker and knowing that we ran faster than both times that came out of the last heat was tough. It looks like Caleb injured his foot. It took a lot of courage for him to finish the race and give those other guys a shot." - Harbour on the relay

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor's women's athletes will be in action Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. BU's first event will be the pole vault with Annie Rhodes starting at 5 p.m. (7 p.m. CT). Four more entries, Olicia Williams (800m), Kiana Hawn (400h), Cion Hicks (shot put) and the 4x400-meter relay of Taylor Bennett, Ashley Fields, Hawn and Williams will be in action later in the evening.

To stay current on all things Baylor Track, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorTrack.

COMPLETE BAYLOR RESULTS
400 Meters
Men
14. Wil London (FR) - 46.08
19. George Caddick (JR) - 46.63

4x400-Meter Relay
Men
9. Baylor (Dickson, London, Moore, Caddick) - 3:05.17

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

EUGENE, Ore. - Todd Harbour knows how it feels. He missed qualifying for the Olympics by three hundredths of a second.

The Baylor men's 4x400-meter relay was even closer on Wednesday, getting nudged out of the finals at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships by one hundredth of a second. With the Bears finishing fourth in their heat at 3:05.17, Mississippi State claimed the eighth and final qualifying spot with a time of 3:05.16.

"You can't even measure that, it's so fast," said junior George Caddick, who ran a 45.37 anchor leg in passing Arkansas and moving the Bears up to fourth behind Florida (3:02.78), Nebraska (3:03.31) and Texas A&M (3:03.59) in a heat that produced the three fastest times and five of the top nine.

"It's so close, you can't even fathom it," Harbour said. "To miss it by one hundredth of a second, that's a heartbreaker, knowing the last heat was slower than what we ran."

With Caddick and freshman quarter-miler Wil London also failing to advance out of the 400-meter semifinals, senior triple jumper Felix Obi is the Bears' last chance at keeping alive a streak of scoring in 38 consecutive NCAA Outdoor Championships and 43 of the last 44 meets.

"It was not the way we had written it up," Harbour said. "We thought Wil had a really good shot to get in. We knew George was going to have to run a pretty good race out of Lane 1. Wil's a freshman and he just missed the first 200, just didn't execute the way Coach wanted him to, and a result he had too much to make up. Wil can kick with the best of them, but when those guys get that far out on you, it's really tough."

London overcame a slow opening 200 meters to finish fourth in his heat in 46.08. But USC sophomore Ricky Morgan Jr. took the final qualifying spot at 45.67, with London and Caddick (46.43) recording the 14th- and 19th-best times, respectively.

"It was just a bad time to have a bad race," said London, who came in with a personal-best time of 45.28. "But I always say you've got to lose to win. That was a good experience for me, and I've got more races coming up this summer. So, I've just got to keep my head up and use that to fuel the fire."

After a two-week break, London will compete at the USA Junior Outdoor Championships June 24-26 in Clovis, Calif., trying to earn a spot for the IAAF World Junior Championships July 19-24 in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

"In the 400, even the great ones, it takes them a while to figure it out," Harbour said. "Look at Sanya Richards for how many years, and then she became a gold medalist. Wil will figure it out. But if you miss it by much, just a half-second, that's a big deal. That's where he's going to have to get comfortable knowing, `Hey, this is where Coach wants me to be, and this is where I've got to be.'''

The same weekend London is in California, Caddick will try to earn a spot on Great Britain's 4x400-meter relay team at the Olympic Trials.

"This was another race under my belt. I think I ran OK on the relay, so I think I'm in good shape, and hopefully I can run well there at the Trials," he said.

Injuries have plagued the 4x400 relay all year, and that problem flared up again when freshman Caleb Dickson suffered an apparent foot injury about two-third into his leadoff leg. At about 275 meters, he "felt something pop," and slowed down considerably in running a 47.53 mark that left the Bears at the back of the eight-team heat.

"It looks like Caleb may have fractured two of his metatarsals," Harbour said. "He ran with a sore foot and felt something pop at about 275. That's a lot of courage for him to finish the race and give those other guys a shot, but we were a pretty good ways back after his leadoff."

London ran a 45.16 split on the second leg to put the Bears back in position for a qualifying spot, but Brandon Moore's 46.97 time on the third leg left them back in fifth and well back of the lead group. Even with a solid anchor leg by Caddick, the Bears missed the finals for just the third time in the last 37 years.

"For the first time since I've been here, teams are starting to fear us and they expect us to be in the race every race," Caddick said. "We showed that indoors (third at NCAA Indoor Championships). Teams were sacred to run against us. It shows that we're in the right direction. . . . A lot of teams are losing a lot of their guys, and fortunately we have everyone back. Coach knows that we do great things next year."

With the women taking center stage on Thursday, pole vaulter Annie Rhodes kicks it off for the Bears at 7 p.m. CDT, followed by Olicia Williams in the 800 meters (8:14 p.m.), Kiana Hawn in the 400-meter hurdles and Cion Hicks in the shot put (8:30) and then the 4x400 relay at 9:48.

Live results are available at www.ncaa.com, with ESPNU providing live coverage from 7:30 to 8 and ESPN from 8 to 10:30.