T&F Women Win Six All-America Honors on Final Day of NCAA Championships

Wednesday, June 8

Eugene, Ore.

All Day

Baylor

NCAA Outdoor Championships

T&F Women Win Six All-America Honors on Final Day of NCAA Championships

6/11/2022 8:18:00 PM | Track & Field

4x400 squad finishes as All-Americans for the 15th time in program history

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            EUGENE, Ore. – When he gets a chance to look back at the season as a whole, first-year Baylor head coach Michael Ford knows, "I'll be happy,"
            But, there was at least a momentary disappointment when the women's 4x400-meter relay closed out the NCAA Championships on Saturday with an eighth-place finish that left the Bears tied for 37^th with just six points.
            "As we were driving back from the track, I was kind of contemplating, I thought the women would finish higher based on coming into regionals," Ford said. "But, I think losing Ackera (Nugent) hurt, because she was on the 4x100 relay and the (100-meter) hurdles race. So, definitely was counting on some points there. I thought we did well. I think we competed hard."
            Even without Nugent and pole vaulter Tuesdi Tidwell, who scored all but one of the team's 12.5 points at last year's meet, Baylor still earned seven All-America honors and scored in four events. And if the relay had finished in the top four, the Bears would have recorded their second-straight top-25 finish.
            Returning just two of the four runners off last year's 4x400 relay, "when we were sitting in the stands," the quartet of Mariah Ayers, Kavia Francis, Gontse Morake and Imaobong Uko placed eighth with a time of 3:28.89 that ranks as the third-fastest in program history. That same group also won a Big 12 title and holds all of the top three times.
            "We've never run under 3:30 multiple times in a season, so I was pleased with that," Ford said. "For them to make the finals without (Aaliyah Miller and Arria Minor) . . . I thought the ladies stepped up and did what they wanted to do. That was one of their goals was to be All-American outdoors."
            Sixth after the first two legs by Ayers and Francis, the Bears dropped to seventh with a 53.03-second split by Morake on the third leg. Uko went out "harder than she normally does" on the anchor leg and couldn't hold it down the stretch, getting passed by Howard and UCLA.
            "Coming into the meet, I thought we could go anywhere from eighth to maybe fifth," Ford said. "I just think we were a little bit off. I would say everyone was probably about half a second off how they normally run. But, I thought they competed well."
            Running out of Lane 1 in the 400-meter finals, Francis never made up the stagger and also finished eighth in 52.16, giving her two All-America honors for the day and four in her career. She is Baylor's first top-eight finisher in the 400 since Barbara Petrahn placed fifth in 2001.
            "I thought Kavia did an awesome job, first time making the (national championships) in an open race and getting eighth place," Ford said. "Actually, she was my first 400-meter All-American outdoor on the ladies' side. So, that was definitely a special moment."
            Miller, the 2021 NCAA indoor champion in the 800 meters, came through the first lap in a sizzling 57.62 seconds and still had the lead with about 100 meters left. But, she ran out of gas in the final stretch and dropped back to seventh in 2:03.05, with Boise State's Kristie Schoffield winning the race with a career-best 2:01.09.
            "Aaliyah went for it, kind of how she did indoors when she won," Ford said. "I was happy that she held on to get a couple points for us, but I think she went out a little bit quicker than she needed to. You're always going to pay for it early or late, and she paid for it late. . . . (The other runners) had a little bit more left in the tank, because they didn't go out as fast."
            In Baylor's only other event of the day, junior Koi Johnson moved up six spots on her final attempt in the triple jump and placed 13^th overall with a mark of 42-9 ¾, missing the finals by less than seven inches.
            "She jumped well after those first two (attempts)," Ford said. "She got back in her groove, but the triple jump was absolutely loaded. For her first time being here, I thought she performed really well."
            While the NCAA Championships end the collegiate track season, Baylor will send 10 athletes to the USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships that begin June 23 back at Hayward Field in Eugene. Additionally, Uko, Nathaniel Ezekiel and Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi will compete in the Nigerian championships and Francis will go to the World Championship qualifier in Jamaica.

EUGENE, Ore. – The Baylor track and field team officially wrapped up the 2022 season on Saturday, with the women completing the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field. The team finished in 37^th place with six points.

Kavia Francis secured her first-ever individual All-American honor on Saturday, finishing eighth place in the 400 meters after a 52.16-second race. Shortly after, Aaliyah Miller won her fifth and final honor, crossing the finish line in seventh for the 800 meters.

Francis returned to the track with Mariah Ayers, Gontse Morake and Imaobong Uko to record an eighth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. The group put up the third-fastest time in school history with a 3:28.89 mark.

The triple jump pit saw the only field event for the Bears on Saturday, with Koi Johnson finishing 13^th in the competition, maxing out with a leap of 42-9¾.

For the latest news on the Baylor track and field team all season long, follow its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorTrack.

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