By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

All through middle school and high school, Yulanda Nelson got real good at making herself scarce right before the 4x400-meter relay.

"I ran from the 400," she said. "You really have to have the mental capacity to run that race. My middle school coach tried to put me in the relay, and I was like, `NO!' In high school, I used to go hide from my coach. I would hide and they couldn't find me."

But once she came to Baylor in the fall of 1995, she couldn't hide from Clyde Hart.

"Coach Hart, he ran me down," said Nelson, who is part of this year's induction class for the Baylor Hall of Fame. "Like everybody says, once you go to Baylor, you know you're going to convert. You know you're going to get turned into a quarter-miler. And I was like, `That's not going to happen to me. He's not going to convert me.' Yes, he did."

Nelson, who still owns the Baylor school records for the 400 meters - 52.39 indoors and 51.42 outdoors - earned eight of her nine All-America honors running that same distance that she swore she would never run.

"Whenever you go to a track meet, there are at least three mile relay teams," she said. "And I think I started off on the `C' or `D' relay team. Even the pole-vaulters had a mile relay. At Baylor, everybody runs the mile relay."

In 1995, Nelson was part of an outstanding class of recruits that included Stacey Bowers from La Vega and Brandi Harris from Wills Point. All three ran the 100 and 200 meters and ranked among the best in the long jump and triple jump as well.

"It was kind of like his triple threat," Nelson said. "All three of us did the exact same thing. When he brought us in, it was amazing. So, we made up most of the relays and did all of our individual events."

At Beaumont Westbrook, Nelson caught the recruiters' attention as a junior, finishing second in the 200 meters (24.4) and fourth in the long jump (19-1). The next year, she placed third in both the long jump (38-10 ½) and triple jump (39-8 ¾) and fourth in the 200 (24.5).

"The story is that Coach Hart came to (Westbrook) to see Marlon (Ramsey)," Nelson said. "He saw me and asked my coach about me, and she was like, `No, you can't talk to her now.' And he said he would be back. He actually came back for me. I didn't expect him to."

By her sophomore season, Nelson had worked her way onto the "A" 4x400 relay team, finishing sixth at the NCAA Indoor Championships with Bowers, Melissia Roland and Jennifer Jordan.

"It was amazing (being on the relays)," Nelson said. "Coach Hart is like a conductor with an orchestra. He knows exactly what to do, when to do it and who he wants to do it at the right time. But I always say that Jennifer Jordan, Alayah Cooper and Angelique Banket are the ones that really took me under their wings and showed me how to run this race."

Running with that trio, Nelson helped Baylor win its first national championship on the women's side. The 4x400-meter relay team won the 1998 NCAA Indoor Championship title with a time of 3:33.93 that stood as the school record for seven years and still ranks in the top five.

That same year, Hart came to Nelson before an outdoor meet in Arlington, Texas, and asked her, "Do you want to have some fun today?"

"He said let's try the open quarter, and I was like, `Sure, let's see what we can do,''' Nelson said.

As it turned out, she could do a lot. She posted an NCAA Championship qualifying time at that meet, finished third at the Big 12 Championships and was the runner-up at the national meet.

"Even after we won nationals (in the relay), I still wouldn't touch it individually," she said. "I was still scared of it individually, because I only knew how to run it on the relay. And then my senior year, that was my bread and butter right there. I was truly converted."

Tied for the school record with nine All-Americans when she left, Nelson is still tied for second with former teammates Bowers, Jordan and Barbara Petrahn. Her senior year proved to be her best,

During the indoor season, Nelson won the Big 12 title and was runner-up in the 400 meters at the national meet with a school-record time of 52.39. And with two of the top legs gone, the Bears failed to defend their title in the 4x400 relay, placing sixth.

Wrapping up her career, Nelson placed fifth in the 400, sixth in the 4x400 relay and added another All-America honor by placing eighth in the 4x100 relay at the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Her outdoor record in the 400 of 51.42 came in winning the Drake Relays that year.

"There are people that when they're competing, they talk about going pro or `I want all these accolades,''' Nelson said. "I was just running to get my education paid for."

Graduating with a bachelor's in education degree in December 1999, Nelson earned a certification in special education and has been teaching children with special needs for the last 10 years. She currently serves as the department chair at Taylor High School in Alief.

"A couple years ago, I was working with kids with severe autism," she said. "And I had one student that was non-verbal. I was teaching him the sign for thank you. So, while I was signing thank you, I'm signing it and saying thank you verbally. And he mimicked me and said, `Thank you.' That was the crowning moment that made all the work and getting my education worth it. At that moment, I felt like I could call myself a teacher."

Yulanda will be joined by her 8-year-old son, Jayden Wallace, for the Hall of Fame weekend. The class will be inducted at the Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, Oct. 31, and also be recognized at the Homecoming parade and football game the next day.

"When I told him, he was so excited," Nelson said. "And now he says, `I want to go to Baylor and be a part of your legacy.' I was like, `Oh my gosh, I have a legacy. Are you serious?' He wants to be a Baylor Bear."

Recognized along with Nelson will be football's Adrian Robinson and Richard Stevens, baseball's Jon Topolski and Ted Uhlaender and fellow track All-American Jeremy Wariner.

Tickets for the Hall of Fame Banquet, which will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, at the Ferrell Center, costs $50 per person. Table sponsorships are also available at $750 (individual) and $1,000 (corporate). Contact Tammy Hardin in the "B" Association office at 254-710-3045 or tammy_hardin@baylor.edu.