Track Opens 2007 Indoor Season At Arkansas Invite

1/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field

Jan. 11, 2007

Baylor's men's and women's track and field teams open their 2007 indoor season on Friday, Jan. 12, when they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Arkansas Invitational in the Randal Tyson Track Center.

Field events begin at Noon with the running events slated to begin at 1 p.m. The finals of all running events and the championship heats of the running events will begin at 6 p.m. Admission to the meet is free.

In addition to Baylor and host-Arkansas, teams from Houston, Kansas State, Missouri Southern, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas-Arlington and Texas-San Antonio will compete at the meet. Host-Arkansas won the 2006 NCAA men's indoor championship while Baylor finished eighth, Kansas State 11th and Texas A&M 25th. Live results of the meet can be found on-line at www.hogwired.com or www.ladybacks.com.

The Bears return five All-Americans on the men's side--sophomore Quentin Iglehart-Summers (4 x 400-meter relay), senior Kevin Mutai (4 x 400-meter relay), sophomore Jacob Norman (2006 NCAA indoor 60 meter champion), senior Mark Teter (4 x 400-meter relay) and senior Reggie Witherspoon (200 meters and 4 x 400-meter relay) among their 15 returning lettermen.

The Baylor women's team, which returns 20 letterwinners all-told, also boasts five returning All-Americans in sophomore Erin Bedell (distance medley relay), senior Brittany Brockman (10,000 meters), junior Carla Grace (4 x 400-meter relay), junior Lauren Hagans (distance medley relay), sophomore Katrina Taylor (4 x 400-meter relay) and senior Ruth Waller (distance medley relay).

The Arkansas Invitational will also serve as the coming out party for the Baylor men's track and field 2006 signing class which was ranked No. 2 nationally by Track & Field News. BU's 2006 men's class includes freshmen sprinters Trey Harts, J.T. Scheuerman, LeJerald Betters and David Gettis and distance runners Ben Haby and Tyler Barnes.

The first United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll is scheduled to be released on Jan. 29, while the first Trackwire 25 poll will be released later in the month, too.