Track and Field Wins Five Big 12 Titles

Track & Field 3/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

March 1, 2008

LINCOLN, Neb. -

The Baylor track and field teams won five Big 12 titles on Friday and Saturday at the 2008 Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championships in Lincoln, Neb. In all, Baylor athletes earned 30 All-Big 12 honors.

The Baylor men finished in ninth place overall with 38 points, while the women's team took sixth place overall with 68.25 points. The Texas men and Texas A&M women each won team titles.

"We are pleased with our effort today," said head coach Todd Harbour. "We had a lot of individual performances that were very impressive. Our course we would have liked to finished higher, but our men were pretty shorthanded all weekend and our women didn't get quite as many qualified as we wanted. But I thought Nichole (Jones), Danielle (Bradley) and Lauren (Hagans) all ran really well, and Trey (Harts) and the men's 4x400-meter relay were pretty impressive."

The Baylor men's 4x400-meter relay won with a time of 3:06.96, its second-fastest time of the season. The Bears were without anchor Quentin Iglehart-Summers who missed the meet with an injury. The time also ranks as the second-fastest time in the world this season, behind Baylor's clocking of 3:06.89 two weeks ago at the Tyson Invitational.

Trey Harts led off for Baylor and came through 200 meters in second place behind Texas A&M, but made his move on the back straightaway, handing off the baton in first place with a split of 46.3 seconds. Marcus Boyd extended the Bears' lead with a 46.8 split on the second leg. Justin Boyd split 47.2 with no competitors within 20 meters. LeJerald Betters, Baylor's usual third leg, split 46.3 on the anchor leg to claim the victory for Baylor, winning the race by almost two seconds.

"It's a great feeling, taking first," said Harts. "This is my first time being on the Big 12 Championship 4x4. I've been looking forward to this for a year, and actually getting it is a dream come true."

The 4x400-meter win is the 20^th-straight for Baylor dating back to the beginning of the 2007 indoor season. The last time the Bears did not win a 4x400-meter relay final came at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

The Bears win their 11^th-straight Big 12 indoor title in the 4x400-meter relay, and the 25^th overall conference championship.

Harts won gold in the men's 200 meters with a season-best time of 20.90. The time ranks as the third-fastest in the nation this season, and is a personal best for Harts on a 200-meter track. Last season, Harts finished second overall with a career-fastest time of 20.89 in Ames, Iowa. Baylor wins its third-straight 200 meter conference title, with Reggie Witherspoon winning in 2006 and 2007. Courtney Thomas, who recorded the second-best qualifying time, clocked 21.21 to finish fifth overall.

"Coming in this year and winning was great after my second-place finish last year," said Harts. "Placing this high in my collegiate career just makes me hungrier."

Betters won his second-straight conference title in the men's 400 meters. Betters, who only competed in one meet prior to the conference championships, clocked 46.67 to win the quarter-mile. Betters, who won the 2007 outdoor 400 meter title, now holds the fourth-fastest time in the nation.

"It feels like a great accomplishment knowing that I won a Big 12 outdoor championship last year and indoor really isn't my best race," said Betters. "I feel like I am progressing instead of being someone who did good last year and not as good this year. It feels good."

Nichole Jones won the Big 12 title in the women's 1,000 meters for the second-straight year with a time of 2:46.57. Jones, who set a Baylor and Big 12 meet record in the 1,000 meters last season, now holds the two fastest times in the event in Baylor history. Jones also finished third overall in the women's 3,000 meters to earn All-Big 12 honors. Her time of 9:40.70 was her fastest clocking of the season.

"This year I was much more confident and it was much easier," said Jones. "Last year as a freshman I wasn't sure what to expect coming in."

Danielle Bradley earned two all-conference honors on Saturday, placing third in the women's mile with a personal best time of 4:43.27. Just 45 minutes later, Bradley finished second in the women's 1,000 meters with a personal best time of 2:47.80.

Lauren Hagans took second in the women's mile with a time of 4:42.97. Earlier this season Hagans set a school record time of 4:41.67 in the mile, and has since recorded two times that would have been school records entering the 2008 season.

The women's 4x400-meter relay finished fifth overall with a time of 3:42.14, its second-fastest time of the season. Katrina Taylor led off with a 55.0 split out of the blocks. Carla Grace split 54.5 on the second leg, while Brittany Carr clocked a 55.2 split on the third leg. Brittany Bruce split 57.0 on the anchor leg for the Lady Bears.

Harts also earned all-conference honors in the men's 60 meters, clocking 6.80 to finish in seventh place. Justin Boyd took seventh in the men's 600 yards with a time of 1:10.98, while Taylor finished seventh in the women's 600 yards in 1:24.69.

Tiffany Townsend finished sixth in the women's 200 meter finals with a time of 23.64, her fastest time of the year and her third NCAA provisional qualifying time of the season. Carla Grace took sixth in the women's 400 meters in 55.82.

Loren Hodges, Kathryn Benvegnu and Leigh Ann Ganzar each earned all-conference honors in the women's 800 meters. Hodges took sixth in 2:14.30, while Benvegnu (2:16.75) and Ganzar (2:23.47) placed seventh and eighth, respectively.

The Baylor men's and women's track and field teams will return to action in two weeks as the Bears make their fourth trip to Fayetteville, Ark. for the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 14-15.

Big 12 Champions

LeJerald Betters (400m)

Nichole Jones (1,000m)

Trey Harts (200m)

Trey Harts, Marcus Boyd, Justin Boyd, LeJerald Betters (4x400-meter relay)

Nichole Jones, Brittany Bruce, Leigh Ann Ganzar, Lauren Hagans (DMR)*

All-Big 12 Performers

Trey Harts (60m)

Lauren Hagans (Mile)

Danielle Bradley (Mile)

Katrina Taylor (600y)

Justin Boyd (600y)