Track To Host Michael Johnson/Southwestern Bell Invitational

April 17, 2002

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Schedule
Friday
Field Events: 3:30 p.m.
Running Events: 8 p.m.

Saturday
Field Events: 9 a.m.
Running Events: noon

Participating Teams:
Baylor, Memphis (women only), New Mexico State (women only), Oklahoma, Sam Houston State, Seton Hall, Southwest Texas, Texas (women only), UT-Arlington, UT-Pam American, UT San Antonio, Texas Tech, Tulsa

Bears to host Michael Johnson/Southwestern Bell Invitational - After a two week hiatus the Baylor track and field team returns to action this weekend, hosting the Michael Johnson/Southwestern Bell Invitational Fri.-Sat., April 19-20 at the Hart/Patterson Track Complex. The field will consist of 13 teams on the women's side, 10 teams on the men's side and several invitational and open competitors. First-day action will begin Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. with the men's and women's pole vault and hammer throw. The only two running events of the day, the men's and women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, will start at 8 p.m. Saturday's festivities will begin at 9 a.m. with the remaining field events, while prelims for the running events are scheduled to kick off at noon and will continue throughout the afternoon on a rolling schedule. Finals in the running events will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the preliminary rounds or at 6 p.m.

Baylor men drop to 20th in Trackwire poll - After ranking a season-high ninth in last week's Trackwire Top 25 poll, Baylor's men's team dropped into a five-way tie for 20th in the latest rankings released March 16th. The Bears are tied with UCLA, TCU, Idaho and BYU with 13 total points, Tennessee tops this week's chart with 95 points. Baylor's No. 20 ranking is its lowest since it first entered the poll just prior to the NCAA Indoor Championships at the No. 25 spot. Week by week national rankings for the Baylor Bears can be viewed on the page two sidebar.

Bears among the nation's elite - Baylor's men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams as well as seniors Michael Smith and Barbara Petrahn and freshman Darold Williamson and April Holliness are listed among the nation's elite in the latest "Dandy Dozen" rankings compiled by Trackwire. Below is a complete list of Baylor athletes represented in the nation's top-12 this week:

Athlete(s)                    Event         Nat'l Ranking   Top TimeMichael Smith                   400 Hurdles   6th         50.56Darold Williamson           400           4th         45.74Smith, Ruff, Quiroga, Williamson  4x400 relay   3rd         3:06.62April Holliness                   Long Jump     8th         20-5Barbara Petrahn                   400           12th            53.29Wise, Demart, Myricks, Petrahn    4x400 relay   10th            3:36.03

Last Year at the Michael Johnson/Southwestern Bell Invitational - Barbara Petrahn hit the nail right on the head, running the 400 meters in 52.40, the exact NCAA automatic qualifying mark, to win the women's invitational event. Petrahn's performance was only one of a flurry of strong Baylor performances on the day. Chava Demart reached NCAA provisional standards with a school-record time of 58.93 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. Lanie Millar missed reaching the provisional threshold in the 800 meters by 14 hundredths of a second, but her first-place time of 2:07.64 was then the fifth-fastest in school history.

In all, Baylor won 11 events - five on the women's side and six on the men's side. Adding to the women's team title count was Ssereta Lafayette with a 24.03 mark in the 200 meters. Baylor also won both the 4x100-meter relay (44.57) and the 4x440-yard relay (3:36.74).

On the men's side, the day was highlighted by pole vaulter Jim Autenreith. In just his second meet of the outdoor season, Autenreith was the top collegiate finisher in the event with an NCAA provisional clearance of 17-6 ?. Also shining for Baylor's seventh-ranked men's team was Michael Smith, who entered the weekend ranked 17th in the world and second in the nation in the 400-meter hurdles. Smith, who had already posted three provisional marks that year in the event, captured the invitational title with another provisional time of 50.31 seconds.

Joel Martin finished first in the collegiate division of the 400 meters with a time of 47.22 seconds. In the invitational 400 meters, Brandon Couts reached provisional standards in his first 400-meter race of the outdoor season. Couts, who had seen only relay action prior to the open 400 race, finished second with a 45.86-second clocking. The man who beat Couts was none other than Nike team member Greg Haughton, who won the bronze medal at the Games of the 27th Olympiad in Sydney, Australia the year before. Floyd Thompson captured the 800-meter title with a season-best mark of 1:49.31, and Ferenc Bekesi won the 1,500 meters in a time of 3:49.53. Baylor also won the mile relay in 3:05.50.

Men's 4x1,500 Relay Establishes New School Record - The Baylor quartet of Kyle King, Jon Capron, Matt Chance and Ferenc Bekesi combined for an impressive 15:35.74 mark in the 4x1,500-meter relay at the Texas Relays to establish a new Baylor record in the event. The foursomes time was nearly five seconds faster then the previous school record mark (15:40.08) set last year at the Texas Relays and was good enough for a third-place finishbehind 15-time meet champion Arkansas and runner-up Arkansas-Little Rock.

Holliness, Thornhill Take Top Honors at Texas Relays - The duo of April Holliness and Debbie Thornhill turned in their best performances of the season at the highly competitive Texas Relays two weeks ago, as both walked away with individual event gold. Holliness outdistanced the competition in the long jump recording a mark of 20-5. The freshman from Duncanville, Texas not only provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with the mark, but became the first Baylor athlete to win the women's long jump competition in the 75-year history of the Texas Relays. Thornhill easily won the women's 5,000 meter run with a PR time of 16:40.73. Her mark set a new Mike A. Myers stadium record and also provisionally qualified her into the NCAA Championships, a first-time feat in Thornhill's career.

Lady Bears set four meet records at Tom Tellez Invitational - Knocking off defending national champions and then-No. 1 LSU 155.50 points to 144 points, the Lady Bears dominated the competition at the Tom Tellez Invitational March 30. Senior Chava Demart posted her first provisional mark of the season in the 400-meter hurdles on the way to setting a meet record with a blistering time of 58.82 in the event. Demart's time was nearly four seconds faster then her previous season-best mark set two weeks earlier at the UTSA Relays. Demart later combined with fellow senior Barbara Petrahn, sophomore Tiffany Wise and freshman Danielle Myricks to set another meet record in the 4x400-meter relay with a then season-best 3:36.59 clocking. Freshman April Holliness had a fantastic weekend in the field events setting a meet record while taking top honors in the triple jump with a PR mark of 41-11 1/4, a distance that was just three-quarters of an inch shy of provisional qualifying standards. Rounding out the field of meet record breaking performances was junior Erin Dixon's 17:57.56 mark in the 5,000 meters.

Youth, who needs it? Baylor does! - Freshman Darold Williamson has lead a pack of phenomenal freshman performers that have joined the Baylor ranks this season. The quarter-miler has already established himself as the Bears' top 400 runner having anchored the men's 4x400-meter relay team to Baylor's 12th national championship in the event during the indoor season. In the open 400, the San Antonio native has finished no lower then third in all but one 400 meter race (NCAA Indoor Championships) during his freshman campaign. He won the Big 12 indoor title (47.01) in Lincoln, Neb. and followed that performance with a indoor season-best showing of 46.46 at the Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa. Williamson narrowly missed All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships finishing 11th overall with a time of 46.61. In his most recent 400 meter race, Williamson provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a PR time of 45.74 at the Tom Tellez Invitational. His time finished second only to defending national champion and current collegiate record holder Alleyne Francique (45.61) of LSU. In all, Williamson has won four 400-meter titles (Big 12 Indoor Championships, LSU Purple Tiger Invitational, Houston Invitational, Dr Pepper Invitational) and earned runner-up honors in four additional races (Tyson Invitational, Last Chance Meet, Oklahoma All-Comers, Tom Tellez Invitational).

Jumping for joy - Freshman jumper April Holliness has already set the stage for an outstanding career during her first season as a Bear. The Duncanville, Texas native set a school record and earned All-American honors in the long jump during her inaugural indoor campaign. Holliness' distance of 20-6 3/4 at the Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa eclipsed the school record mark by nearly two inches and marks her best effort to date. Holliness went on to earn All-American status at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing eighth overall with a jump of 20-5. Most recently, Holliness became the first Baylor women in the 75-year history of the Texas Relays to win the meets long jump crown. Holliness' meet-best distance of 20-5 tied her outdoor season-best mark and provisionally qualified her into the NCAA Outdoor Championships. A versatile athlete, Holliness has also won the triple jump competition at three meets this season (Southwest Indoor Classic [40-1 1/4], Dr Pepper Invitational [41-0 1/4] and Tom Tellez Invitational [41-11 1/4]), and serves as the second-leg on the Bears' 4x100-meter relay team.

Bears capture fifth indoor 4x400-meter relay national title - Baylor's men's 4x400-meter relay team captured its fifth indoor national title March 9th at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The gold-medal winning team comprised of seniors Zsolt Szeglet and Michael Smith, junior Charles Sterling and freshman Darold Williamson combined for a season-best time of 3:05.54, a mark that ranked as the second-fastest indoor time in the nation this year. The Bears' win capped off a three-meet winning streak that included first-place finishes at the Big 12 Championships (3:08.15), the Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa (3:05.77) and the NCAA Indoor Championships (3:05.54).

Petrahn ties Baylor conference title record - Winning both the 200 meters and the 600 yards at the Big 12 Indoor Championships, senior Barbara Petrahn is now tied with three other Baylor athletes for the women's school record for most overall conference titles (5). Four of Petrahn's conference titles have come in individual events (200 meters - 2002, 400 meters - 2000, 2001, 600 yards - 200 meters), while the fifth came as a member of the 2000 4x400 meter relay team. Her four individual event conference titles tie her with two former BU athletes (current Baylor assistant coach Stacey Bowers and Lisa Stone) for second all-time on Baylor's individual conference title list.

Lady Bears watch school records fall - During the 2002 indoor season Baylor's women's team saw four of its school records fall by the wayside. Senior Rachal Roessler started off the year breaking her own school record mark in the weight throw recording a distance of 52-9 1/2 at the LSU Purple Tiger Invitational. Her distance was nearly a full foot better then the previous mark (51-9 3/4) she set at the 2001 Big 12 Championships. Sophomore Katherine Duncan then went on to set a school record in the 1,000 meters at this year's indoor conference meet. Duncan's time of 2:54.96 was over a second faster then the previous mark (2:55.99) set by Janet Dollins in 1992. In Ames, Iowa two more records fell as senior Lanie Millar shattered the indoor 800 meter record and freshman April Holliness topped the long jump mark. Millar's time of 2:06.34 in the 800 earned her an automatic bid into the NCAA Championships and broke the previous school record mark (2:07.42) held by Jill Chertudi since 1994. Holliness' jump of 20-6 3/4 bested the previous distance of 20-5 set by Yulanda Nelson in 1997.

Szeglet's career concludes at NCAA Indoor Championships - Running out of eligibility, senior Zsolt Szeglet concluded his phenomenal career at Baylor at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Championships. Szeglet went out in style running the lead-leg on the Bears' national championship 4x400 relay team. In all, Szeglet earned All-American honors four times, all of which were achieved as a part of Baylor's 4x400 relay teams. Szeglet was also a member of two Big 12 4x400 championship relay teams (2000 indoor and 2001 indoor) and was the 2001 Big 12 Conference champion in the 400 meters.

Bears finish tied for 25th in Trackwire poll - Baylor's men's team concluded the indoor season tied for 25th with five other teams (Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Notre Dame, SMU) in the Trackwire Top 25 poll. Despite the ranking the Bears finished tied for 15th at the NCAA Indoor Championships, earning ten points for their first-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay.

Hart begins 39th season at the helm - Clyde Hart is in his 39th season as the head coach of Baylor's track and field program. In his tenure at BU, Hart has firmly established the Bear program as one of the best in the nation. Hart has coached athletes to 24 national championships (11 individual/13 relay) and 431 All-American awards (144 individual/287 relay). Named the men's assistant coach for Team USA at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, Hart has coached athletes to ten world record performances. In 1996, he was named the Coach of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee. That year he coached Michael Johnson to gold medals in the 200 meters and the 400 meters at the Games of the 26th Olympiad in Atlanta, Ga. Hart was also named the NCAA Indoor Coach of the Year in 1996 after garnering such honors in 1989. A four-time Southwest Conference Indoor Coach of the Year, Hart has established Baylor as "Quarter Mile University," after producing 13 4x400 relay national champions and four 400 meter national champions.

Track To Host Michael Johnson/Southwestern Bell Invitational

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