Baylor
Big 12 Championships
TF: Nero Anchors DMR to Big 12 Win
2/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Feb. 25, 2011
Complete Friday Results | Saturday Heat Sheets
LINCOLN, Neb. - Sophomore Gavyn Nero led a Baylor comeback to win the men's distance medley relay Big 12 indoor title for the second year in a row at the 2011 Big 12 Indoor Championships at the Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb.
"Overall, it was a really good day that ended up on a great note with those guys defending the DMR title," head coach Todd Harbour said. "Our sprinters had a really good day, too. We put ourselves in position to get some big points tomorrow. Tiffani (McReynolds) and Tiffany (Townsend) had great performances to have at the Big 12 meet. Tiffani sets a new best about every time she steps on the track."
Nero turned in a mile split of 4:04.62 to bring Baylor from fourth place to the top of the awards stand. The team turned in a time of 9:48.67. Zac Flowers led off the race on the 1,200-meter leg, followed by a 400-meter carry from Zwede Hewitt and 800 meters from James Gilreath. The crew out-dueled Kansas State and Oklahoma down the stretch for the win.
Individually, Baylor qualified seven runners on the men's side and five on the women's side for the finals on Saturday.
Baylor's pair of namesakes, Tiffany Townsend and Tiffani McReynolds, led the way for the Baylor women in the qualifying rounds. Townsend, already qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200 meters, added to that with an automatic time in the 60 meters. She qualified for tomorrow's final with the day's second-fastest time of 7.24. Her time also ranks fourth in the NCAA this season. Townsend also qualified for Saturday's final round in the 200 meters, placing fifth overall with a time of 23.49.
McReynolds, on the other hand, qualified in both the 60 meters and 60-meter hurdles for Saturday's finals. In the hurdles, the freshman broke her own school record for the fifth time this season with the second-fastest qualifying time of 8.23. In the 60 meters, McReynolds ran a personal best of 7.37 to qualify seventh overall.
For the men, newcomer Woodrow Randall earned a spot in the 60-meter final with the fifth-best time in qualifying at 6.67. Randall was second in his heat with the career-best time. In the 200 meters, Whitney Prevost joined Randall in the qualifying rounds as both men earned a spot in the final. Prevost was third overall with a time of 21.17, while Randall was fifth at 21.36.
In the men's 400 meters, Marcus Boyd ran a veteran-type of race, hanging back on the first lap and then smartly passing all three runners in his heat to cruise to the final in a time of 47.21, the third-best overall. Teammate Drew Seale did much the same in the 600 yards, finishing second in his heat and seventh overall with a time of 1:11.61.
Also in the mid-distance races, defending Big 12 Indoor champion James Gilreath earned his way into the finals in the last qualifying spot, placing eighth overall at 1:51.78. Sophomore Brittney OgunMokun earned her own qualifying spot in the women's 600 yards with a time of 1:22.67 to qualify sixth.
The first day was also filled with some near-misses in the qualifying heats. The closest of these goes to Diamond Richardson, who missed making the women's 400-meter final by five one-thousandths of a second, finishing ninth overall. Leigh Ann Ganzar was ninth in the 1,000 meters, missing the final by .58 seconds, while Lizzy Whitney and Zwede Hewitt were each under a second from earning a spot in the 600-yard finals.
The Baylor track and field team will conclude the Big 12 Indoor Championships tomorrow right back in the Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb. Multi events will start the day at 11:30 a.m., while field events begin at 1:30 p.m. and running events start at 2:30 p.m.
DAY ONE QUALIFIERS FOR SATURDAY'S FINAL ROUNDS
WOMEN (5)
60m - Tiffany Townsend, Tiffani McReynolds
200m - Tiffany Townsend
600y - Brittany OgunMokun
60mH - Tiffani McReynolds
MEN (7)
60m - Woodrow Randall
200m - Whitney Prevost, Woodrow Randall
400m - Marcus Boyd
600y - Drew Seale
800m - James Gilreath
1,000m - Gavyn Nero
COMPLETE BAYLOR RESULTS
Women's 60 Meters - Semifinals
2. Tiffany Townsend (SR), 7.24Q (4th in NCAA)
7. Tiffani McReynolds (FR), 7.37q
15. Brittany Carr (SR), 7.56
18. Idia Omogiate (SO), 7.71
19. Justine Charbonnet (FR), 7.71
Men's 60 Meters - Semifinals
5. Woodrow Randall (JR), 6.67q
10. Whitney Prevost (SR), 6.78
Women's 200 Meters - Prelims
5. Tiffany Townsend (SR), 23.49q
12. Tiffani McReynolds (FR), 23.89
16. Brittany Bruce (SR), 24.14
19. Brittany Carr (JR), 24.58
20. Katy Cranfill (FR), 25.03
21. Idia Omogiate (SO), 25.04
3. Justine Charbonnet (FR), 25.53
Men's 200 Meters - Prelims
3. Whitney Prevost (SR), 21.17q
5. Woodrow Randall (JR), 21.36q
Women's 400 Meters - Prelims
9. Diamond Richardson (JR), 54.24
14. Lynette Atkinson (SO), 56.50
15. Katy Cranfill (FR), 56.61
Men's 400 Meters - Prelims
3. Marcus Boyd (SR), 47.21Q
13. Joe Barb (SO), 49.09
15. Dennis Scruggs (JR), 49.32
Women's 600 Yards - Prelims
6. Brittney OgunMokun (SO), 1:22.47q
10. Lizzy Whitney (SO), 1:23.62
15. Michelle Nwachukwu (FR), 1:26.39
Men's 600 Yards - Prelims
7. Drew Seale (SO), 1:11.61q
13. Zwede Hewitt (JR), 1:11.98
17. Gabriel El Hanbli (FR), 1:12.46
20. Chad Rozean (FR), 1:13.42
Men's 800 Meters - Prelims
8. James Gilreath (JR), 1:51.78q
14. Philip Raaf (JR), 1:56.52
Women's 1,000 Meters - Prelims
9. Leigh Ann Ganzar (SR), 2:52.63
Men's 1,000 Meters - Prelims
2. Gavyn Nero (SO), 2:29.64Q
Men's Mile - Prelims
14. Zac Flowers (JR), 4:15.79
Women's 60m Hurdle - Semifinals
2. Tiffani McReynolds (FR), 8.23Q (BU school record, 16th in NCAA)
Women's Distance Medley Relay
9. Leigh Ann Ganzar, Lizzy Whitney, Brittney OgunMokun, Robyn Bennett - 11:44.90
Men's Distance Medley Relay
1. Zac Flowers, Zwede Hewitt, James Gilreath, Gavyn Nero - 9:48.67
Women's Long Jump
16. Justine Charbonnet (FR), 18-0.25
Heptathlon (Through 4 of 7 events)
15. Hunter Brook (FR), 2645 pts.
16. Henry Vildosola (FR), 2635 pts.
Pentathlon (Complete)
14. Jessica Shadley (FR), 3235 pts.
17. Lauren Rover (FR), 3068 pts.
Players Mentioned
