Oct. 9, 2002

WACO, Texas - The Baylor Bear track and field squads will once again face tough competition in 2003. In head coach Clyde Hart's 40th season at Baylor, the Bears will host the Dr Pepper Intercollegiate on March 22 to open the spring season. They also will host some of the nation's top athletes at the Michael Johnson/Southwestern Bell Invitational April 18-19 at the Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex. The annual Texas (Apr. 3-5) and Drake (Apr. 24-26) Relays will also be tight competitions for the Baylor Bears.

The indoor season opens Jan. 17-18 at the Houston Indoor Invitational. The Bears will also travel to the Red Raider Classic, Mountain T's Invitational and the Tyson Invitational before heading to Nebraska Feb. 28-Mar. 1 for the Big 12 Indoor Championships. Baylor closes out the indoor campaign at the NCAA Indoor Championships Mar. 14-15 in Fayetteville, Ark.

Along with traveling to the Texas and Drake Relays during the outdoor campaign, the Bears also will compete at the Tom Tellez Invitational, Sun Devil Invitational and Texas Invitational. The 2003 Big 12 Outdoor Championships will take place in Austin on May 16-19. The NCAA Championships are slated for June 11-14 in Sacramento, Calif.

During the 2002 season, the men's squad took 18th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as three individuals earned All-America honors. The men's 4x400 relay team of Zsolt Szelet, Michael Smith, Charles Sterling and Darold Williamson took the indoor national title.

On the women's side, newcomer April Holliness earned All-America accolades in the long jump at the Indoor Championships while senior Chava Demart finished 7th in the 400 hurdles to earn her second-straight All-America honor in the event at the Outdoor Championships. The Lady Bears also took fourth at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships behind a 10,000-meter conference title by Debbie Thornhill.