(This is the eighth part in a series profiling this year's inductees for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame and Wall of Honor, which will be posted every week at baylorbears.com.)
 
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Baylor's "Quarter-Miler U" label was definitely earned, with Olympic gold medalists in Michael Johnson, Jeremy Wariner, Darold Williamson and Reggie Witherspoon and national champions dating back to Willie Caldwell and his crew in 1985. 

            But, none of those Hall of Fame greats anchored arguably the most dominant 4x400-meter relays in the history of college track and field. In a three-year run, Quentin Iglehart-Summers was the anchor of four NCAA national championship relays and all but a handful of races in Baylor's incredible 42-meet winning streak. 

            "When I was running, I wanted to be like Darold Williamson. I wanted to run times like Deon Minor. I didn't, they ran faster," said Iglehart-Summers, who will be inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame on Nov. 18, "but a lot of the relay success helps, for sure. We had the most dominant relay to come through Baylor, which is hard to believe with some of the names that have come through there and the tradition Baylor has in the 4x400 relay."

            Losing Wariner and Williamson in back-to-back years, Baylor could have had an expected dip in the 4x400 relay after sweeping the national indoor and outdoor titles in 2004 and winning a combined 14 national championships in the event. 

            Instead, Iglehart-Summers anchored in all but two meets as a freshman in 2006 and helped the Bears win four of their five-straight national championships. 

            "On my recruiting visit, I actually told Coach (Clyde) Hart that I wanted to come anchor this relay for Baylor," said Iglehart-Summers, who was second in the Class 5A 400 meters and 4x400 relay in his senior year at San Antonio Madison High School. "That was a big dream of mine.

            "I was thankful that they even trusted me with that, that they saw some potential in this freshman that didn't really know what he was doing. But, I think they liked that I actually wanted to, I didn't shy away from it. I felt like I always did better under pressure, and that's not the case for everybody. If someone had to deal with it, I would like it to be instead of someone trying to run uncomfortable out there."

            Thrust into the anchor role as a freshman, Iglehart-Summers anchored the first two of six Big 12 championship 4x400 relays and earned his first All-America honor, running the leadoff leg on the 4x400 relay that placed third at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championship. 

            "I knew all about Michael Johnson, Brandon Couts, Raymond Pierre, Tony Miller, (Michael) Ford. And I knew Coach Hart was the head of all that," Iglehart-Summers said. "Once I got there, I was eager to learn. I wanted to do everything I could try to be even half of what those guys were, at least in my eyes at the time. I remember Coach Hart showing us the wall of NCAA champions and telling us, 'If you listen to me, you might get your name on there, too. We know the blueprint.'''

            Iglehart-Summers' sophomore season might have been his best. Coming off a summer that saw him win the 400 meters at the U.S. Junior Track & Field Championships and anchor the USA 4x400 relay to gold at the World Junior Championships, he finished third in the open 400 at the NCAA Indoor om 46.07 and anchored the 4x400 relays to national titles and school records, including an outdoor mark of 3:00.04 that still stands. 

            "We were obsessed with that collegiate record," Iglehart-Summers said of the 2:59.59 that LSU ran in 2006. "We believed Baylor should have that. If we truly are Quarter-miler U, need to get that record. Unfortunately, we fell short. 

"But, we were dominant that year with Reggie and (Kevin) Mutai as great seniors, I was coming into my own and LeJerald (Betters) was rolling. We had a squad. Even the ones that weren't on the relay, JT (Scheuerman) was rolling, Trey Harts was rolling. Honestly, my sophomore year, some of our practices were more competitive than the meets early on."

After missing the 2008 indoor season, Iglehart-Summers came back to anchor at the NCAA Outdoor Championship, with the relay squad of Marcus Boyd, Justin Boyd, Betters and Iglehart-Summers winning in a time of 3:00.22 that ranks No. 2 all-time. 

            That summer, he posted the second-fastest qualifying time in the 400-meter quarterfinals at the USA Olympic Trials, but narrowly missed the finals by less than three-tenths of a second. Wariner was the Olympic silver medalist in the 400 and also anchored the 4x400 relay to a gold medal with a pool of runners that also included Witherspoon. 

            "I think if I would have made a better decision or two, I could have made the '08 team," Iglehart-Summers said. "I always wanted more individual success. I wanted to do better and represent Baylor not just in the relay, I wanted to do it in the open as well."

            Baylor's mind-boggling 4x400 streak ended in Iglehart-Summers' last collegiate race. Despite being hampered by a calf injury, Iglehart-Summers won his fourth national championship at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championship with Harts, Marcus Boyd and Betters. 

            But, without Harts and Betters by the end of the season, a makeshift crew with Scheuerman and freshman Zwede Hewitt placed third behind Florida State and Texas A&M despite a sizzling split of 44.2 by Iglehart-Summers on the anchor leg. 

            "The thing that stings is us not having our full team," he said. "If we had the team that we should have had, all four legs on the track, we probably would have set the collegiate record that year because Florida State won it with a 2:59, and we beat them indoors right after I tore my calf muscle and I think LeJerald had hurt his hamstring. If we did it then, I just trusted my guys. I believe in the people I ran with. We ran our fastest time of the year with a freshman leadoff."

            An emotional Clyde Hart came up to the team after that final race and expressed how proud he was, "just because of all the adversity we fought through that year," Iglehart-Summers said. "Hearing that from him, after the amazing relays he's coached and all the greats that have come through there, that meant a lot. It was very bittersweet to say the least."

            Before retiring from racing in 2014, Iglehart-Summers won a gold medal in the 4x400 relay at the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, and had a pair of top-8 finishes in the 400 at the USA Indoor Championships. 

            Returning to his San Antonio roots, he is now in his sixth year as the girls' track and cross country coach at Madison High School. 
            "I needed to find something besides just being at a desk 9-to-5. That wasn't going to work for me," said Iglehart-Summers, who lives in San Antonio with his wife, Alyssa. "The teaching and coaching thing is crazy, but seeing a kid get it and seeing a kid PR, stuff like that, it makes it worthwhile, for sure."

Joining Iglehart-Summers in the 2022 Hall of Fame class are Doak Field and Robert Griffin III (football), Jeremy Alcorn (men's golf), Tweety Carter (men's basketball), Josh Ludy (baseball), Gary Kafer (track and field) and Taylor Barnes Fallon (volleyball). 

            The Hall of Fame banquet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, in the Cashion Building Banquet Room on the Baylor University campus. Tickets are $50 per person, with table sponsorships also available at the green ($600) and gold ($800) levels and can be purchased by contacting the "B" Association at 254-710-3045 or by email at tammy_hardin@baylor.edu.