T&F: Nugent, Tidwell and Brackins Win Most Outstanding Honors at Larry Wieczorek Invitational

Friday, January 21

Iowa City, Iowa

All Day

Baylor

Larry Wieczorek Invitational

Meet Results

Ackera Nugent, Johnny Brackins and Tuesdi Tidwell MVP

T&F: Nugent, Tidwell and Brackins Win Most Outstanding Honors at Larry Wieczorek Invitational

1/22/2022 8:39:00 PM | Track & Field

Nugent breaks Iowa meet record twice on Day Two.

THE RUNDOWN
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Baylor track and field wrapped up Day Two of the Larry Wieczorek Invitational on Saturday, winning three of the four MVP awards given at the conclusion of the meet.

In the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles, Ackera Nugent set a new meet record of 8.11 seconds, which was temporary at best. In the finals, Nugent ran the event in 7.9 seconds. That time works for a new track, facility and meet record while also beating out her previous PR set at nationals in 2021 by one tenth of a second. She also moves to the 11^th spot all-time in collegiate indoor track competition and the No. 1 U20 spot. Kennedy Bailey also advanced to the finals and finished in second-place with a time of 8.3 seconds.

Johnny Brackins competed in his first collegiate triple jump event and won it all with a 51-5 ¾ jump. Once again, this new PR moves Brackins onto the all-time list at the school in the No. 3 slot.

Tuesdi Tidwell won another gold in the pole vault with an ending height of 14-3 ¼. Alex Kubicek finished in 10^th-place in the event after clearing 11-11 ¾, while Rylie Smith followed in 12^th.

Freshman Imaobong Uko earned a gold medal Saturday with a win in the premier 400-meter dash, finishing in 54.6 seconds.

Nate Butler had a career night in the vault, clearing the bar at 4.45, 4.6, 4.75 and 4.9 all on his first attempts. It landed him a silver medal and a new PR in the event, only in his second meet.

Caira Pettway walked away with a bronze medal in the 60-meter dash, with a 7.35-second mark. Sydney Washington, Michaela Francois and Bria Bullard all qualified for the final round as well.

Elijah Morris finished in fifth-place overall for the 60m hurdle prelims and sixth in the finals, running a 7.94-second race in both rounds.

Isaiah Cunningham and Kamden Jackson both advanced to the final round of the men's 60-meter dash. Cunningham finished in fifth with Jackson in eighth, running 6.72 and 6.79, respectively.

Preston York picked up a new personal-best in the men's edition of the 400-meter dash with a 49.83 finish. That mark was good enough to land the freshman a sixth-place finish in the event.

The 4x400-meter relay had the Bears taking second and fourth-place in both the men's and women's competition. The women's A squad of Kavia Francis, Mariah Ayers, Aaliyah Miller and Gontse Morake finished with a silver medal and a time of 3:40.87. The B group, comprised of Jasmine Gryne, Briana Garcia, Demitra Carter and Cierra Wash, finished fourth after running 3:51.75.

On the men's side, Matthew Moorer, Dillon Bedell, Nathaniel Ezekiel and Trey Fields finished second with 3:08.81, with Preston York, Jayson Baldridge, Isaiah Cunningham and Chris DuPree fourth in 3:15.24.

The squad now looks to next week's competition in Lexington, Ky., which begins on Friday.

HIGHLIGHTS

Johnny Brackins won the triple jump for the first time with 51-5 ¾, a new personal-best.
Tuesdi Tidwell improved over the week to a 14-3 ¼ finish in pole vault.
Imaobong Uko competed in, and won, her first-ever indoor quarter-mile race.

STAT OF THE DAY
7.9 – Record-setting finish by sophomore Ackera Nugent, which moves her to No. 11 on the all-time collegiate list and to the current U20 No. 1 spot in the 60-meter hurdles.

TOP QUOTE
Michael Ford on the team's performance…
"I thought the meet today was another solid meet for us. I thought the relays did well. We were a little short-handed on the ladies' side, but I thought they competed well and that's all that we were asking for. Now, we will get back to work on Monday and Tuesday to get ready for Kentucky."

www.BaylorBears.com