Track Totals 16 National Qualifiers

Track & Field 5/29/2010 12:00:00 AM

May 29, 2010

AUSTIN, Texas - Baylor's track and field team added to its already lengthy list of national qualifiers, bringing the total to 16 at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.

The first year of the new regional format allowed the top 48 in each event in two regions to converge in one of two sites, Austin for the West, and Greensboro, N.C., for the East. In the 100-1,500 meters, including the both hurdle events, the NCAA First Round will eliminate half the field, leaving 24 in each event to earn a spot in the next round, which is the NCAA Quarterfinal. The top 12 in the quarterfinals of each event from each region will then earn a spot in their respective event for the NCAA Semifinal and possible Final Round held in Eugene, Ore., on June 9-12. For the distance running and field events, competition will feature an NCAA Semifinal Round at the regional, with the top 12 moving on to the championship final in Eugene.

The Baylor sprinters continued to impress in both the individual events and the relays, despite replacing a leg in each of the four relays with an alternate. With six-time All-American Trey Harts out for this meet with a leg injury, Baylor's J.T. Scheuerman replaced him on the final leg of the 4x100-meter relay, and James Gilreath replaced him on the third leg of the 4x400-meter relay. On the women's side, Tiana Hood was replaced by Diamond Richardson on the 4x100 relay, and Christina Holland on the 4x400 relay. Each of the four relays ran well enough to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships.

"We had a very good weekend, and came close to having a perfect weekend," head coach Todd Harbour said. "We are very happy to have 16 get through to Eugene. Like every track meet, you are going to go through some ups and downs, but we qualified a lot of people this weekend."

In the 4x400, the Baylor men cruised to a victory, with the anchor Boyd running down Iowa's Steven Willey to win the heat in a time of 3:04.15. The BU crew of Michael Liggins, Zwede Hewitt, Gilreath and Boyd qualified fourth overall. For the women, it was a near-miss, finishing 14th overall to miss qualifying by .28 seconds. BU's team of Holland, Brittany Bruce, Tiffany Townsend and Diamond Richardson clocked a time of 3:37.57 to place fifth in their heat.

In the men's 4x100, the Bears raced the baton around the track in a solid time of 39.55 to place second in their heat. The crew of Marcus Boyd, Whitney Prevost, Courtney Thomas and Scheuerman had the third fastest time overall. The women also had a solid qualifying result in their sprint relay with a third-place heat finish in a time of 44.50. The relay of DeAna Carson, Tiffany Townsend, Diamond Richardson, and Brittany Carr ran a season-best time to finish seventh overall.

In the only individual sprint race of the day, the 200 meters, Baylor earned three national qualifications. For the women, Townsend looked smooth with a comfortable win in her heat as she eased up over the finish line in a time of 23.20. For the men, Prevost and Thomas each qualified automatically with third-place finishes in their heats. Prevost bettered his career best by .01 seconds with a time of 20.72, while Thomas, who also qualified for nationals in the 100 meters, ran a season best of 20.69.

Sophomore jumper Jessica Ubanyionwu became the second Baylor qualifier in the field events along with freshman Skylar White in the discus. Ubanyionwu leaped an outdoor career best of 42-11.5 on her first jump of the day to finish fourth overall. White qualified for her first outdoor championships yesterday with a toss of 167-08 to place eighth overall.

"We had some big PRs on the weekend with Thaddeus [Gordon] in the hurdles, Zwede [Hewitt] in the 400," head coach Todd Harbour said. "Our 200s today were outstanding with Courtney [Thomas], Whitney [Prevost] and Tiffany [Townsend]. I am really proud of the way we came out this weekend and competed."

Baylor's 16 entries will compete in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in less than two weeks at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The meet, held on the campus of the University of Oregon, will run from June 9-12.

Baylor Men's National Qualifiers (Nine entries)
Marcus Boyd - 400 meters
Thaddeus Gordon - 400-meter Hurdles
Chris Gowell - 800 meters
Zwede Hewitt - 400 meters
Whitney Prevost - 200 meters
Courtney Thomas - 100 meters, 200 meters
4x100-meter Relay - Marcus Boyd, Whitney Prevost, Courtney Thomas, J.T. Scheuerman (Trey Harts)
4x400-meter Relay - Michael Liggins, Zwede Hewitt, James Gilreath, Marcus Boyd (Trey Harts)