May 28, 2003
NCAA MIDWEST TRACK & FIELD REGIONAL
May 30-31
Ed Weir Track Stadium
Lincoln, Neb
Friday, May 30
Field Events: 10 a.m.
Running Events: 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 31
Field Events: 10 a.m.
Running Events: 4 p.m.
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Outdoor Track and Field Changes to Regional Format
Friday and Saturday the Bears will compete in NCAA Regional competition for the first time. Four two-day regionals are being held across the country with the top five individuals and the top three relays advancing to nationals. At large bids, expected to be around six for individual events and five for relays, will then be selected based on the descending order lists compiled throughout the season and the conference championships. The participants in the multi events, heptathlon and decathlon, and the 10,000-meter run are still determined by the traditional format of automatic and provisional qualifying marks. The move to regional qualifying will increase the number of NCAA competitors to nearly 1,100 participants.
Freshman, men's 4x400 Enter Meet with Top Rankings
Freshman Angela Marvin and Jeremy Wariner as well as the men's 4x400 relay team enter this weekend's regional meet as the top-ranked athletes in their events. Marvin paces the 3,000-meter steeplechasers with a season-best time of 10:23.73. She won her first Big 12 title last time out at the conference meet beating her nearest competitor to the finish line by nearly 20 seconds. After only the second steeplechase of her running career, she became the school recordholder in the event.
Wariner leads the nation after clocking 45.13 in the first outdoor open 400-meter race of his collegiate career. He finished third in the event at the Big 12 Championships. Wariner also is a member of the region-leading 4x400 relay team. Arizona State has the only foursome to beat the Bears this season. The Bears (3:02.82) and Sundevils (3:02.81) raced to a photo-finish at the Drake Relays with Arizona State emerginig victorious by merely .01 seconds. The Baylor squad is undefeated within the region, recording a come-from-behind victory at the Big 12 Championships (3:03.90).
Bears Successfully Defend Conference Titles
Two individuals and one relay entered the Big 12 meet with the hopes of defening their 2002 outdoor conference titles. All three were successful. Senior Debbie Thornhill captured her second-straight 10,000-meter crown with a time of 35:43.14. She was the fourth Baylor women's champion in the event in the seven-year history of the conference. Darold Williamson and the men's 4x400 successfully defended their titles. For the second-straight year, Williamson won the open 400 (45.76) before anchoring the relay to victory (3:03.90). Bears have taken the last three gold medals in the individual 400 as well as claiming five of the seven conference titles in the event. The 4x400 relay earned its third consecutive victory and its fourth overall crown. Two new Bears stood at the top of the awards stand as freshman Angela Marvin claimed the gold medal in the 3,000-meter seeplechase (10:27.90) and senior Jordan Lewis claimed the conference crown in the 400 intermediate hurdles (51.33).
Marvin Sets School Record in the Steeplechase ... Again
After a plethora of school records fell during the indoor campaign, it took four meets before a new name was added to the outdoor record book. Freshman Angela Marvin was the first Bear to accomplish the feat this spring, clocking a 10:30.56 to set a new Baylor standard in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Running the race for only the second time in her career, the cross country standout recorded the fastest time in the Big 12. She proceeded to break her record with a stellar race at the Drake Relays. In just the third steeplechase race of her career, the freshman set a meet record and broke her own school record, clocking a 10:23.73 to win one of four Drake titles for the Bears.
Thornhill Runs Stellar 10K at Stanford
Senior Debbie Thornhill traveled to Cobb Track and Angell Field March 28 to compete in the 10,000-meter race at the Stanford Invitational. She had an incredible race clocking an automatic NCAA qualifying time of 33:34.85. It was the second-fastest 10K ever by a Baylor female as well as being the fastest women's time clocked at a meet other than the national championships. Thorhill has only competed in the event one other time this season, successfully defending her Big 12 title last time out.
Willmann Shines in Heptathlon
After breaking the indoor school record in the pentathlon at the Big 12 Championships, junior Jordan Willmann easily made the transition to the heptathlon for the outdoor campaign. At the College Station Multi Event Festival and Relays, Willmann took fourth with a provisional qualifying total of 5,102 points. In the process, she cleared a regional-qualifying height of 1.73m (5-8) in the high jump. She matched that high jump mark at the Texas relays en route to finishing second in the heptathlon, bettering her provisional mark to 5,152. The third time was a charm for the Llano, Texas, native as she broke the school record the third time she competed in all seven events. At the Big 12 Championships she recorded personal-best marks in five of the seven events to tally a school-recordbreaking total of 5,499 points, just one point shy of the NCAA automatic qualifying standard.
Wariner Garners a Trio of Honors After Incredible Meet
Freshman Jeremy Wariner ran the first outdoor open 400 race of his career April 12 at the Sun Angel Classic, blowing away the competition with a nation-leading time of 45.13. In winning the race, he defeated World Champion Avard Moncur. Wariner clocked the fastest open 400 time of any Baylor athlete since Brandon Couts clocked a 44.79 in May of 2000. He came back to record a blazing split of 43.72 in the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay, leading the Bears to a second-place finish with a time of 3:04.68. Both the open time and the relay time easily exceeded the regional qualifying standards. For his outstanding performances, Wariner garnered Athlete of the Week honors from the Big 12, Trackshark and Mondo.
Bears Earn Trackwire and Dandy Dozen Rankings
The Baylor men have returned to the Trackwire rankings after a one-week hiatus. They are tied for 23rd. Several Baylor athletes are among those listed on the Trackwire Dandy Dozen as well. The men's 4x400 relay has moved into second in the latest rankings while relay mainstays Jeremy Wariner (9th) and Darold Williamson (6th) are ranked individually in the 400. Lakadron Ivery is pulling double duty on the women's side, carrying rankings of ninth in the 200 and 12th in 100. The highest ranking among the Baylor females is Jordan Willmann who holds the sixth spot in the heptathlon. Debbie Thornhill has raced herself into a 10th-place ranking in the 10,000-meters.
Wariner Garners All-America Accolades
Freshman Jeremy Wariner clocked a season-best time of 46.12 to finish second in his heat and fourth in the prelims of the 400-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships at the University of Arkansas' Randall Tyson Track Center. He proceeded to the finals where he finished seventh with a time of 46.21 to earn his first career All-America honor.
Hart Leads Baylor for 40th Season
Clyde Hart celebrates his 40th season as the head coach of Baylor's track and field program this season. 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 446 All-America awards (148 individual/298 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 400-meters at the Games of the 26th Olympiad in Atlanta, Ga. Hart also was 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 a quarter-mile powerhouse after producing 13 4x400 relay national champions and four individual 400-meter national champions.
Drake Relays Recap
The Bears had one of their most successful trips to Drake Relays in recent history. On the opening night of the event, senior Debbie Thornhill took the crown in the 5,000-meter run, bettering her regional-qualifying time to 16:24.45. Thornhill was Baylor's first individual women's champion at Drake since 1999. Ironically, 1999 was the last time the women's team had multiple individual winners, taking three titles. The same held true this year as two more Bears took individual titles. Freshman Angela Marvin broke her own school record as well as the Relays record, winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:23.73. The third title came from sophomore Lakadron Ivery in the 100. She clocked an 11:57 to take the title in a photo-finish. The men also claimed a title as the 4x800 relay team of Jon Capron, Wil Fitts, Brian McDonald and Nick Devenport clocked a world-best time of 7:23.23. Along with the four titles, the Bears had many other strong performances. The men's 4x400 relay team took second in a photo-finish clocking the second-fastest time in the world so far this year (3:02.82). The women's 4x400 and the men's DMR also brought home second-place finishes. On the individual side, Jordan Lewis ran a personal best time of 51.62 to take second in the 400 hurdles.
NCAA Indoor Championships Recap
Four individuals and the men's 1,600 relay made the trip to Fayetteville, Ark. for the 2003 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. For the women, sophomore Lakadron Ivery and senior Debbie Thornhill each qualified for the first time. Ivery competed in both the 60 and 200-meter dashes, taking 20th place in the 60 (7.47) and 18th in the 200 (23.96). Thornhill exceeded the provisional mark in the 5,000-meter run. With a time of 16:26.36, she finished 14th.
On the men's side, junior Kyle King and freshman Jeremy Wariner qualified as individuals. King clocked a 14:28.60 to finish 15th in the 5,000-meter run. Wariner earned his first All-America honor, taking seventh in the 400-meter dash. Sophomore Darold Williamson had also met the automatic standard in the 400 but was unable to compete due to injury. The men's 1,600 relay made its 19th-consecutive trip to the indoor national championships, but was unable to run because of injuries to Williamson and Wariner. Overall, the men tied for 54th place with a total of two points.
