Photo by: Liz Parke
Track & Field: Lightfoot Earns All-America Honors
6/5/2019 9:39:00 PM | Track & Field
London, men’s 4x400-meter relay qualify for Friday’s finals.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
AUSTIN, Texas – Wil London ran one of those legendary anchor legs that will probably only get better in time.
Think Darold Williamson, Michael Johnson or Quentin Iglehart-Summers. It was that good.
Getting the baton for the fourth leg of the 4x400 relay in Wednesday's semifinals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium, the Baylor senior was in fourth place and at least 25 meters behind the leaders.
With a blistering 44.16-second leg, London brought the Bears all the way to a qualifying second place and just a step or two behind a Western Kentucky team that ended up getting disqualified anyway.
Baylor's season-best time of 3:02.54 was the fourth-fastest in the three semifinal heats and within striking distance of Texas A&M (3:01.26), Iowa (3:01.99) and North Carolina A&T (3:02: 45) going into Friday's final.
"That's just who Wil is," Baylor coach Todd Harbour said. "Wil's a competitor, he's a senior, you just knew he was going to do it. If he had to run 43 (seconds), he was going to run 43. He was going to run whatever it took."
The thing is, London almost didn't get that chance.
Baylor had the lead after a strong opening leg from freshman Michael Moorer, but sophomore Howard Fields III was visibly limping about halfway through the second leg and looked like he was going to pull up with a pulled hamstring as he dropped back to fourth.
"I really wanted to stop, but I knew we had a chance, so I just gave it my all," said Fields, who finished sixth in his heat and 15thoverall in the 400 meters earlier in the day with a 46.05 clocking.
When Harbour saw Fields starting to pull up at about the 200-meter mark, his thought was, "Oh gosh, this doesn't look good."
"Usually, when you see somebody do that, there's just no way they can run on it. it just doesn't happen," Harbour said. "For (Fields) to be able to still split 46.6 or 46.7 . . . and give Chris (Platt) a chance to get Wil in it. When he touched off, and Chris did a good job, just like he did at regionals, I knew that Wil would have a shot. You know that with him on the end of it, you always have a chance. To run 3:02 with a young man just running on a bad leg, I think that's pretty impressive."
London, who made the 400 final for the third consecutive year with a 45.32 clocking, said "you have to leave everything on the track" when you run the anchor leg. His 44.16 split was the fastest of the day.
"I knew those guys I was running against, I'd be able to catch them," he said. "They were more scored than I was. When you have a lead like that, it's tough mentally. I try to break down my opponents, one by one. That's what I did. Don't let them go out too hard, don't let them get away from you."
While London and the 4x400 relay put the cherry on top of "an outstanding first day," Harbour said, freshman pole vaulter KC Lightfoot put the first points on the board for the Baylor men with a fourth-place finish and a mark of 18-8 ¼ that was just a half-inch off his career best.
Lightfoot, earning his second All-American finish after placing eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships, was part of the "greatest vault competition in NCAA history," Harbour said.
Not only did South Dakota junior Chris Nilsen defend his title with a meet-record mark 19-6 ¼, beating world-leading freshman Mondo Duplantis of LSU (19-0 ¼), this was the first time in NCAA Championship history that seven vaulters cleared 5.70 meters (18-8 ¼).
Sam Houston's Clayton Fritsch stayed alive by going 18-8 ¼ on his final attempt and then moved up to third with a personal-best mark of 18-10 ¼. Lightfoot finished fourth, having only one miss before failing on all three attempts at 18-10 ¼, followed by Arkansas State's Michael Carr, Zach Bradford of Kansas and Texas Tech's Brandon Bray and Drew McMichael.
"I feel intimidation is there for some people. I'm going to be honest, it used to be there for me, too," Lightfoot said of the two 19-foot pole vaulters. "But, I've known (Duplantis) for a little bit, and I've competed with him multiple times. After a while, the intimidation factor goes away. It turns into competitiveness, so we're all trying to jump and compete against each other."
Harbour said the "sky is the limit" for Lightfoot, "and I can't wait to see what he does in his remaining years."
"I don't think anybody's ever seen a fault that deep when the world leader coming in didn't win the meet," Harbour said. "It was amazing to watch. At the end of it, there's only so many jumps you have in those legs, and he's jumping at all those high bars. I'm just really proud of KC. Coach (Brandon) Richards has done a great job with him this year. I'm proud of both of those guys."
With the five points from Lightfoot's fourth-place finish, Baylor is tied for 19th. That's more points than the men's team scored last year (three).
As for the plans for the relay in Friday's 9:51 p.m. final, Harbour indicated that senior Caleb Dickson may fill in for Fields on the second leg. Trainer Kevin Robinson will do everything he can to get Howard "back and ready," Harbour said, "but if he can't go, he can't go, and we still have to next man up."
"Caleb's been on it before. I'm guessing that's who Coach (Clyde) Hart will go to. I don't know that, but that's who I'm thinking he'll go to. And Caleb will be ready."
With Hart retiring after 56 years on staff as first head coach and now Director of Track & Field, the goal is to send him out with his 20thmen's 4x400 national championship and 11thoutdoors.
"We only want to win," said London, who will run out of Lane 6 in Friday's 400-meter final. "We all have the same goal, and that's to win one last one for Coach Hart. That's the idea we have in our head, and that's what we want to do. If we go out there and work hard, which we have been doing this whole year, and just keep on going, be consistent and all execute, there's no way we should have lose."
In Thursday's schedule, redshirt sophomore Aaliyah Miller will run in the women's 800-meter semifinals at 8:44 p.m. and the 4x400-meter relay at 10:18 p.m.
AUSTIN, Texas - KC Lightfoot earned All-America honors in the pole vault, clearing 18-8.25 to finish in fourth place Wednesday at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
"KC, to be in the greatest vault competition in NCAA history and to come out fourth as a freshman, that's amazing," head coach Todd Harbour said. "What can you say? Coach (Brandon) Richards has just done an incredible job with him. You're just so proud of him."
It was Lightfoot's second All-America accolade of 2019 as he pulled off the indoor/outdoor double as a freshman. The Lee's Summit, Mo., native is Baylor's first outdoor pole vault All-American since Jim Autenreith in 2002. Lightfoot's fourth-place finish is the highest finish by a Bear in the outdoor pole vault since Kurt Hanna's runner-up performance in 1997.
In the men's 400 meters, Wil London cruised to a time of 45.32 to take second in his heat (fourth overall) and earn an automatic spot in Friday's final. Howard Fields III concluded his season in the 400 with a time of 46.05, the 15th-best time.
"It was a good day for Wil in the open 400," Harbour said. "Howard ran well, also."
Baylor closed out the evening with a heroic effort in the 4x400-meter relay, finishing with a season-best time of 3:02.54 to earn a spot in Friday's final.
On the second leg, Fields fought through to get the baton to Chris Platt, who ran a 45.49 split to pass it off to London. London proceeded to split 44.16 and bring Baylor all the way back to second place, giving the Bears an automatic spot in Friday's final.
"I think it was an outstanding first day," Harbour said. "It ended with the 4x4 running our best time of the year with a young man that really had to dig down deep. I'm just proud of all four of those guys, Matthew and Chris and Howard and Wil, because that was an incredible effort by Howard to get them through that.
"Wil was back. But, you just knew, Wil's a competitor, he's a senior. You just knew he was going to do it. If he had to run 43, he was going to run 43. He was going to run whatever it took. That's just who Wil is. A lot of heart. I'm just proud of those guys. You can't be more proud of a group. It wasn't easy. You think about what we could have run if Howard hadn't had that issue with his leg. But to still get there, having to run like that, that's just impressive. I'm proud of them."
Baylor will continue action in Austin Thursday as Aaliyah Miller competes in the women's 800 meters (8:44 p.m. CT) and the women's 4x400-meter relay team takes the stage in the prelims (10:18 p.m. CT).
For continued updates on the Baylor Track & Field team, follow the team's social media accounts all season long: @BaylorTrack.
Baylor Bear Insider
AUSTIN, Texas – Wil London ran one of those legendary anchor legs that will probably only get better in time.
Think Darold Williamson, Michael Johnson or Quentin Iglehart-Summers. It was that good.
Getting the baton for the fourth leg of the 4x400 relay in Wednesday's semifinals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium, the Baylor senior was in fourth place and at least 25 meters behind the leaders.
With a blistering 44.16-second leg, London brought the Bears all the way to a qualifying second place and just a step or two behind a Western Kentucky team that ended up getting disqualified anyway.
Baylor's season-best time of 3:02.54 was the fourth-fastest in the three semifinal heats and within striking distance of Texas A&M (3:01.26), Iowa (3:01.99) and North Carolina A&T (3:02: 45) going into Friday's final.
"That's just who Wil is," Baylor coach Todd Harbour said. "Wil's a competitor, he's a senior, you just knew he was going to do it. If he had to run 43 (seconds), he was going to run 43. He was going to run whatever it took."
The thing is, London almost didn't get that chance.
Baylor had the lead after a strong opening leg from freshman Michael Moorer, but sophomore Howard Fields III was visibly limping about halfway through the second leg and looked like he was going to pull up with a pulled hamstring as he dropped back to fourth.
"I really wanted to stop, but I knew we had a chance, so I just gave it my all," said Fields, who finished sixth in his heat and 15thoverall in the 400 meters earlier in the day with a 46.05 clocking.
When Harbour saw Fields starting to pull up at about the 200-meter mark, his thought was, "Oh gosh, this doesn't look good."
"Usually, when you see somebody do that, there's just no way they can run on it. it just doesn't happen," Harbour said. "For (Fields) to be able to still split 46.6 or 46.7 . . . and give Chris (Platt) a chance to get Wil in it. When he touched off, and Chris did a good job, just like he did at regionals, I knew that Wil would have a shot. You know that with him on the end of it, you always have a chance. To run 3:02 with a young man just running on a bad leg, I think that's pretty impressive."
London, who made the 400 final for the third consecutive year with a 45.32 clocking, said "you have to leave everything on the track" when you run the anchor leg. His 44.16 split was the fastest of the day.
"I knew those guys I was running against, I'd be able to catch them," he said. "They were more scored than I was. When you have a lead like that, it's tough mentally. I try to break down my opponents, one by one. That's what I did. Don't let them go out too hard, don't let them get away from you."
While London and the 4x400 relay put the cherry on top of "an outstanding first day," Harbour said, freshman pole vaulter KC Lightfoot put the first points on the board for the Baylor men with a fourth-place finish and a mark of 18-8 ¼ that was just a half-inch off his career best.
Lightfoot, earning his second All-American finish after placing eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships, was part of the "greatest vault competition in NCAA history," Harbour said.
Not only did South Dakota junior Chris Nilsen defend his title with a meet-record mark 19-6 ¼, beating world-leading freshman Mondo Duplantis of LSU (19-0 ¼), this was the first time in NCAA Championship history that seven vaulters cleared 5.70 meters (18-8 ¼).
Sam Houston's Clayton Fritsch stayed alive by going 18-8 ¼ on his final attempt and then moved up to third with a personal-best mark of 18-10 ¼. Lightfoot finished fourth, having only one miss before failing on all three attempts at 18-10 ¼, followed by Arkansas State's Michael Carr, Zach Bradford of Kansas and Texas Tech's Brandon Bray and Drew McMichael.
"I feel intimidation is there for some people. I'm going to be honest, it used to be there for me, too," Lightfoot said of the two 19-foot pole vaulters. "But, I've known (Duplantis) for a little bit, and I've competed with him multiple times. After a while, the intimidation factor goes away. It turns into competitiveness, so we're all trying to jump and compete against each other."
Harbour said the "sky is the limit" for Lightfoot, "and I can't wait to see what he does in his remaining years."
"I don't think anybody's ever seen a fault that deep when the world leader coming in didn't win the meet," Harbour said. "It was amazing to watch. At the end of it, there's only so many jumps you have in those legs, and he's jumping at all those high bars. I'm just really proud of KC. Coach (Brandon) Richards has done a great job with him this year. I'm proud of both of those guys."
With the five points from Lightfoot's fourth-place finish, Baylor is tied for 19th. That's more points than the men's team scored last year (three).
As for the plans for the relay in Friday's 9:51 p.m. final, Harbour indicated that senior Caleb Dickson may fill in for Fields on the second leg. Trainer Kevin Robinson will do everything he can to get Howard "back and ready," Harbour said, "but if he can't go, he can't go, and we still have to next man up."
"Caleb's been on it before. I'm guessing that's who Coach (Clyde) Hart will go to. I don't know that, but that's who I'm thinking he'll go to. And Caleb will be ready."
With Hart retiring after 56 years on staff as first head coach and now Director of Track & Field, the goal is to send him out with his 20thmen's 4x400 national championship and 11thoutdoors.
"We only want to win," said London, who will run out of Lane 6 in Friday's 400-meter final. "We all have the same goal, and that's to win one last one for Coach Hart. That's the idea we have in our head, and that's what we want to do. If we go out there and work hard, which we have been doing this whole year, and just keep on going, be consistent and all execute, there's no way we should have lose."
In Thursday's schedule, redshirt sophomore Aaliyah Miller will run in the women's 800-meter semifinals at 8:44 p.m. and the 4x400-meter relay at 10:18 p.m.
AUSTIN, Texas - KC Lightfoot earned All-America honors in the pole vault, clearing 18-8.25 to finish in fourth place Wednesday at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
"KC, to be in the greatest vault competition in NCAA history and to come out fourth as a freshman, that's amazing," head coach Todd Harbour said. "What can you say? Coach (Brandon) Richards has just done an incredible job with him. You're just so proud of him."
It was Lightfoot's second All-America accolade of 2019 as he pulled off the indoor/outdoor double as a freshman. The Lee's Summit, Mo., native is Baylor's first outdoor pole vault All-American since Jim Autenreith in 2002. Lightfoot's fourth-place finish is the highest finish by a Bear in the outdoor pole vault since Kurt Hanna's runner-up performance in 1997.
In the men's 400 meters, Wil London cruised to a time of 45.32 to take second in his heat (fourth overall) and earn an automatic spot in Friday's final. Howard Fields III concluded his season in the 400 with a time of 46.05, the 15th-best time.
"It was a good day for Wil in the open 400," Harbour said. "Howard ran well, also."
Baylor closed out the evening with a heroic effort in the 4x400-meter relay, finishing with a season-best time of 3:02.54 to earn a spot in Friday's final.
On the second leg, Fields fought through to get the baton to Chris Platt, who ran a 45.49 split to pass it off to London. London proceeded to split 44.16 and bring Baylor all the way back to second place, giving the Bears an automatic spot in Friday's final.
"I think it was an outstanding first day," Harbour said. "It ended with the 4x4 running our best time of the year with a young man that really had to dig down deep. I'm just proud of all four of those guys, Matthew and Chris and Howard and Wil, because that was an incredible effort by Howard to get them through that.
"Wil was back. But, you just knew, Wil's a competitor, he's a senior. You just knew he was going to do it. If he had to run 43, he was going to run 43. He was going to run whatever it took. That's just who Wil is. A lot of heart. I'm just proud of those guys. You can't be more proud of a group. It wasn't easy. You think about what we could have run if Howard hadn't had that issue with his leg. But to still get there, having to run like that, that's just impressive. I'm proud of them."
Baylor will continue action in Austin Thursday as Aaliyah Miller competes in the women's 800 meters (8:44 p.m. CT) and the women's 4x400-meter relay team takes the stage in the prelims (10:18 p.m. CT).
For continued updates on the Baylor Track & Field team, follow the team's social media accounts all season long: @BaylorTrack.
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