March 2, 2005

WACO, Texas - Baylor head track and field coach Clyde Hart was named the 2005 Big 12 Conference Women's Indoor Coach of the Year the league office announced Wednesday.

"This really is a surprise," Hart said. "Our women competed hard, finishing third on the very last event of the meet. They've improved so much, and I guess I'm getting rewarded for all of the hard work they've put in."

The award is Hart's fifth indoor conference coach of the year honor, but is his first since Big 12 competition began in 1997. Hart, who is in his 42nd year as head coach at Baylor, earned Southwest Conference indoor honors in 1981, 1984, 1989 and 1996.

The Baylor women's team finished third at the Big 12 Indoor Championships this past weekend in Lincoln, Neb., tying for their highest finish in Big 12 competition (1999). The Bears were led by senior Elizabeth Wilson (Duncanville, Texas), who won the 200 meters and set a new school record.

The distance medley relay of sophomore Monique Ortega (El Paso, Texas), junior Angel Perkins (Cerritos, Calif.), freshman Lauren Hagans (Little Rock, Ark.) and senior Jessa Chance (Southlake, Texas) finished second, setting a new school record by nearly eight seconds. Chance earned all-conference honors in the 3,000, while sophomore Brittany Brockman (Houston, Texas) was an All-Big 12 performer in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters.

The women's 4x400-meter relay squad of freshman Carla Grace (San Antonio, Texas), senior Danielle Myricks (Willingboro, N.J.), senior Lakadron Ivery (Tyler, Texas) and Perkins finished second to Texas by only three-tenths of a second and broke a third-place tie with Texas Tech on the final event in the women's competition.

Hart is a member of both the Baylor and United States Track & Field Coaches Association Halls of Fame. He was also selected as the United States Olympic Committee Coach of the Year in 1996 and the Nike Coach of the Year last year.

The other conference awards were also handed out with Nebraska's Gary Pepin named the men's coach of the year. Colorado distance runners Brent Vaughn and Renee Metivier were named the men's and women's indoor performers of the year, respectively. Texas' Leonel Manzano was named men's freshman of the year, while Missouri's Trisa Nickoley was named women's freshman of the year.