Track & Field Heads to College Station for Aggie Invitational

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Baylor track and field set the bar extremely high with a season-opening meet at Lubbock last weekend that included KC Lightfoot setting the collegiate record in the pole vault, Aaliyah Miller breaking a 14-year-old school record in the 1,000 meters and the Bears sweeping the 4x400 relays.
            "I'm an old history guy, so I try to go back and look at the archives and see if there's anything that can compare to it. And I kind of stopped looking after a while because I couldn't find any," Baylor head coach Todd Harbour said. "We've had some maybe in some areas, but this was overall a great meet for both. I was really proud of them, because I could see all fall that our athletes were putting in the time."
            Continuing a busy schedule that will see Baylor compete in four indoor meets in the first month of the season, the Bears make the short trek down Highway 6 to College Station to compete in the Texas A&M Invitational at the Gilliam Indoor Track & Field Stadium. The first field events start at 11 a.m., with running  prelims starting at 3 p.m.
            Joining Baylor and host A&M for the one-day meet are Houston, TCU, UTSA and the Utah women.
            Lightfoot had a day to remember at last Saturday's Corky Classic, shattering his own indoor school record by 4.25 inches and breaking Chris Nilsen's NCAA mark with a vault of 5.94 meters (19-5 ¾). He had three attempts at 6.00 meters (19-8 ¼), which would have been a quarter-inch short of Sam Kendricks' American record.
            "I had some good jumps at six meters," Lightfoot said. "People ask me, 'You blew up (5.94), what happened at six meters?' My only response is, 'Man, it's just a really high bar.' It wasn't a bad jump, (the bar) just didn't stay up there on that day. Six meters is the next big goal, and hopefully after that go for the American record indoors. Sam has it at 6.01 right now. It's not completely out of the question."
            Harbour, maybe a little tongue in cheek, said "the sky's the limit for KC."
            "He's already made a World Championship team. Watching him have the opportunity to make an Olympic team this summer, I know he's got his sights set on that," Harbour said. "Getting to see him jump in Tokyo (at the 2021 Olympics) would be awesome. Just a lot of good fortune and praying that the Lord keeps you healthy. All that goes into making that team. We're looking forward to seeing what the future holds for KC."
            At this point in the season, Baylor has arguably the best pole vaulting crew in the country. Senior Tuesdi Tidwell set the facility record and ranks second nationally with a mark of 15-5 ½, while freshmen Ben Conacher and Alex Kubicek had runner-up finishes in Lubbock and are both ranked 11^th.
            "We're known as more of a 400 (meters) school," Lightfoot said. "Hopefully now, we can get the 400 and the pole vault going. . . . It's definitely big for Baylor, because we get out our name out there."
            Miller, who ran unattached in just one indoor meet last season, also made a big splash on the opening weekend. Blowing away Nichole Jones' 1,000-meter school record (2:45.68), which was set at the 2007 Big 12 Indoor Championships, Miller won with a school- and meet-record time of 2:44.66.
            Dropping down to the 600 meters this week, Miller will go up against A&M freshman half-miler Athing Mu, who clocked a world-leading time of 2:01.07 in the 800 meters that also set the American U20 and Gilliam facility records.
            "Aaliyah opened up with a 2:02 last year," Harbour said. "A&M got the top girl in the country. They're going to drop down and run a 600 this weekend, so it will be a great race down there at A&M, and then we'll open up with an 800 in Lubbock next week."
            All told, Baylor had a total of 14 marks that are ranked in the top 16 in the country. The men's 4x400 relay of Dillon Bedell, Hasani Barr, Chris DuPree and Matthew Moorer clocked a national-best time of 3:08.87, while freshman Lily Williams made up nearly a half-second deficit and defeated Texas with a strong anchor leg to lead the women's 4x4 relay to a winning and meet-record time of 3:35.94.

WACO, Texas – Baylor track & field returns to action this weekend as the Bears travel to College Station, Texas, for the Aggie Invitational.

"We're just trying to build on the success that we had at Tech," head coach Todd Harbour said. "It was a great meet for us. We got a lot of good things started. We just have to build on that. We have to continue to get better every week and not be satisfied. We had a good meet, but we want to get better. We've had a good week of work, so we're looking forward to going down there to get a few more things accomplished."

Baylor will be competing against Texas A&M, Houston, TCU, Utah (W) and UTSA at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium. The Bears have 14 athletes (men & women) currently ranked in the NCAA top 16, and all of them will be in action this weekend.

The pole vault crew of KC Lightfoot, Ben Conacher, Tuesdi Tidwell and Alex Kubicek hold four of those spots, including Lightfoot (world lead and collegiate record holder) at No. 1 in the men's rankings and Tidwell at No. 2 in the women's rankings.

Live results from the Aggie Invitational can be found at https://www.flashresults.com/2021_Meets/Indoor/01-23_AggieInvitational/. The meet will be streamed live on the SEC Network+ at https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=b3dfd865-4fd5-4b92-a051-87a522304b64.

There will be no rest for the Bears as the Texas Tech Invitational is a week away (Jan. 29-30) back in Lubbock.

"We're just putting in work," Harbour said. "Some are going to run different events this weekend. We're in our work period where we can't just back off for every meet. By the time we get to mid-February, we'll be ready to roll."

For continued updates on the Baylor Track & Field team, follow the team's social media accounts all season long: @BaylorTrack.

Baylor Individuals in NCAA Top 16
Men
4x400-Meter Relay
1. Dillon Bedell, Hasani Barr, Chris DuPree, Matthew Moorer – 3:08.87

Pole Vault
1. KC Lightfoot – 19-5.75 (5.94m)
11. Ben Conacher – 17-4.25 (5.29m)

Women
60 Meters
13. Sydney Washington – 7.40

200 Meters
5. Arria Minor – 23.39

60-Meter Hurdles
5. Ackera Nugent – 8.24
10. Kennedy Bailey – 8.35

4x400-Meter Relay
3. Arria Minor, Sydney Washington, Aaliyah Miller, Lily Williams – 3:35.94

Pole Vault
2. Tuesdi Tidwell – 14-5.5 (4.41m)
11. Alex Kubicek – 13-7.75 (4.16m)

Track & Field Heads to College Station for Aggie Invitational

Players Mentioned

Kennedy Bailey

Hasani Barr

Dillon Bedell

Ben Conacher

Chris DuPree

Alex Kubicek

KC Lightfoot

Aaliyah Miller

Arria Minor

Matthew Moorer

Ackera Nugent

Tuesdi Tidwell

Sydney Washington

Lily Williams

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