T&F Relays Sweep Corky Classic 4x400 Titles

Friday, January 13

Lubbock, Texas

All Day

Baylor

Corky Classic

Results

T&F Relays Sweep Corky Classic 4x400 Titles

1/14/2023 7:09:00 PM | Track & Field

Francis, Uko win individual collegiate golds

LUBBOCK, Texas – Baylor track and field wrapped up its first meet of the season on Saturday night, winning both 4x400 titles and 2 individual golds.

The Baylor men's 4x4 'A' squad found a spot on the program record list in just the first meet of the season. Crossing the line at 3:04.86, Hasani Barr, Demar Francis, Matthew Moorer and Nathaniel Ezekiel earn the No. 9 spot all-time in program history.

The women's 'A' relay squad of Kavia Francis, Mariah Ayers, Gontse Morake and Imaobong Uko clocked a 3:37.22 to beat the entire field by four seconds.

Francis hit 23.36 in the women's 200-meter final on Saturday to win the collegiate title in the event. Ayers followed just behind, finishing in 23.83 to take collegiate bronze.

It was a successful season opener on the men's front, as Demar Francis and Moorer clocked a 20.77 and 20.82 to finish fourth and fifth, respectively.

The last Bear to win a gold medal was Uko taking the title in the 400 meters after a 53.51 race.

The pole vault crew saw Ben Conacher breaking his previous personal-best in the event, as he finished second, passing 17-7 ¼ successfully. Tenly Kuhn got her career start in the vault, crossing 12-6 ¾ to finish sixth.

Keviah Ealy was welcomed to the green and gold with a silver medal in the B section of the long jump. On her fourth attempt, Ealy landed 19-2 ¾ to secure the podium position. Alexandra Rutenis just missed the cutoff point for finals, finishing tenth with an 18-2 ½ jump.

Gary Moore made another splash in the throws pit, finishing fourth in shot put with a throw of 56-2 ¾. Cole Hardan finished fifth with a 55-5 ¾ and Cooper Mack finished seventh with a 53-4 ¼. In the women's event, Makayla Long opened her collegiate shot put career, placing seventh with a 48-1 ¾.

The 3000 meters saw Drew Snyder and Ryan Hodge finishing back-to-back in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Snyder clocked an 8:34, which was his best time since high school, and Hodge an 8:40.

Elijah Morris timed a 7.95 on Saturday afternoon to finish as the fourth collegiate competitor in the 60-meter hurdles. On the women's side, Ballard opened her collegiate career with an 8.53 in the semifinals of the sprint hurdles. In the finals, she finished sixth in a race led by the new world leading from Texas Tech, Demisha Roswell's 7.99.

In the sprints, Bria Bullard and Alexis Brown finished top-16 in the qualifiers to advance to the semifinal round, where Bullard clocked a 7.48 to finish 11^th place and Brown clocked a 7.58 to finish 18^th. Michaela Francois, who automatically qualified for the semis, ran a 7.54 and finished 16^th.

Callis, who also automatically qualified for the 60-meter semifinals, finished 10^th in the event with a time of 6.71 seconds.

STAT OF THE MEET
8 – Combined seconds that the men's and women's 4x400 relay squads led the rest of the field.

QUOTABLE
Head coach Michael Ford
"It was another solid day for the Bears on day two of the Corky Classic. I am super pleased with how we competed across the board. Coach [Jeff] Chak's throw group did a good job in the shot put today and I am super proud of Ben [Conacher] in the pole vault. It is good to see him healthy and reaching new heights. Kavia Francis did a great job in the 200 and I loved how we closed out the meet winning both 4x4. Now time to rest up and train to prepare for New Mexico."

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears get a sneak peak of the national championship track next Saturday as they compete in Albuquerque, N.M., at the Martin Luther King Invitational.

- BaylorBears.com -