BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Baylor track and field kicked off the 2024 season with a bang on Saturday at Texas A&M's McFerrin-12 Degree Invitational at the new Fasken Indoor Track. Baylor had two new program records behind Gary Moore Jr. and Alexis Brown and tallied wins in three men's events: the weight throw, 60-meter hurdles and 60-meter dash.
 
THE RUNDOWN
In the first event of the 2024 season and only the second attempt, Moore Jr. won the Bears their first event of the season and broke his program record set on this day one year ago. His throw of 67-11 landed him six feet ahead of the silver medalist from Oklahoma, Ben Ryer. Cooper Mack also competed, throwing 48-6 for fourth place. Victoria Adu took third place in the women's weight throw, going 59-1½, and was followed by Makayla Long, who finished fifth.
 
The second program record of the night came from Brown, who sat out of her first season at Baylor from Florida after a foot injury. She sailed to 21-1 ½ and became the first Bear to ever cross the 21-foot mark in the indoor season. Koi Johnson went took fifth in her season-opener, with Alexandra Rutenis in 10^th.
 
After getting fifth overall in the preliminary round of the 60-meter dash, De'montray Callis ignited and ran to win the final round of the event in 6.68 seconds. It was the junior's first finals win of his career.  
 
Demario Prince opened his time in the hurdles with a first-place finish in the finals, popping a 7.79-second race to etch his name temporarily at No. 3 in the Baylor record books.
 
The women's pole vault featured eight Bears, with Molly Haywood, Alencia Lentz, Katelyn Andrews and Reynah Cheng finishing third, fourth, 13^th and 13^th, respectively. Haywood and Lentz's 13-11¾ mark adds them automatically into the Baylor record books at No. 3. Of the returners, Kierstyn Ballard finished ninth and was followed by Tenly Kuhn in 10^th, Lillianna Ifft in 11^th and Keidra Mills in 15^th.
 
In the men's 200 meters, Demar Francis fired out to a second-place finish in 20.83, as Laurenz Colbert followed in sixth at 21.44. Ricquan Graham and Aren Spencer also competed, finishing 11^th and 13^th, respectively.
 
With another successful race, Brown was the only Bear to advance out of the preliminary round of the 60-meter dash, placing fourth in the first race. In the finals, Brown took sixth with a 7.49.
 
The women's 4x400 marked the final finish of the night for BU, as the team of Jasmine Gryne, Mariah Ayers, Gontse Morake and Imaobong Uko took second in 3:40. The B-team comprised of Summer Sergeant, Bria Bullard, Kayla Hunt and Tiriah Kelley finished fifth.
 
True freshman Parker Brannon led pole vaulting Bears in his first meet, crossing 15-8¼ for eighth place. Chandlar Ifft was right behind at the same height in ninth, followed by Michael Nance in 10^th.
 
Back in the ring, Moore Jr. took silver in the shot put after 57-0, with Mack seventh. In the women's event, Long finished with another silver medal at 51-1¾.
 
In his first collegiate race, Jack Jackson was the lone Bear entered in the 400 meters and he finished eighth in the event. Just after, Nathaniel Ezekiel took the track for the 800, where he crossed the line fourth after 1:53.74.
 
With a jam-packed 200-meter field, Kelley, the transfer from Louisville, led the Bears in sixth and was followed by Hunt in eighth, Sergeant in 11^th, Michael Francois in 13^th, Kourtney Kennard in 17^th and Cierra Wash in 20^th.
 
After taking sixth in the preliminary round to advance to her first final round, Sima Lucero finished seventh with a day-best time of 9.09 in the first round.  
 
In the men's long jump, Prince excelled again and took fifth with Unyime George Obote II in ninth and Nicolas Rodriguez in 10^th.
 
The high jump was a collegiate debut for Sydney Smith, daughter of Baylor associate head coach Stacey Smith. In her first competition, she leaped to fifth place at 5-3¼ and was mirrored by Ukuru Kojo in the men's event, finishing fifth in his first indoor competition as a Bear at 6-6¾.
 
WHAT THEY SAID
Head coach Michael Ford
On today's meet…
"I thought overall we had a solid track meet today, that I don't even know where to start. There were some solid performances with several personal bests. You must start with Gary Moore Jr. who broke the school record in the weight throw with technically a new facility record too. Demario [Prince] with the hurdles had a solid race with a solid race to move up into top-3 at Baylor in the event. Coach [Benjamin] Dalton did a great job with him. He did well in the long jump too. Then there's Alexis [Brown] breaking a 15-year-old record in the long jump. She went through a lot with her foot last year. With this PR and school record, it's great to see, also in the 60-meter dash. De'montray Callis also had a great day winning the 60. Overall, we did well, and I was glad to see everyone back. We need to put some work in to get other kids more aggressive and healthier, but I am happy with the Bears today."
 
UP NEXT
The Bears make the annual trip to Texas Tech's Corky Classic, Jan. 19-20.
 
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