Friday, February 7
College Station, Texas
Baylor
at
Charlie Thomas Invite
T&F’s Molly Haywood with Historic Day at Charlie Thomas Invite
2/8/2025 11:24:00 PM | Track & Field
Bears end their fourth meet of the season with two program records
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – In its final day of competition at the R.A. 'Murray' Fasken '38 Indoor facility, Baylor track & field pole vaulter Molly Haywood soared to new heights to become the first Baylor woman to reach the 15-feet mark in indoor program history.
Haywood, setting a new program, meet and facility record with a 15-0.25 mark, broke her personal record three times before taking home the title. The sophomore's mark ranks tied for fifth in the NCAA for the 2025 season and leads in the Big 12.
Alongside Haywood in breaking records was Demario Prince in the 60-meter hurdles. After matching the program record three times already, Prince broke the barrier to etch his name once more into the record books with a 7.57 time. The sophomore's time is the fifth best mark in the NCAA this season.
THE RUNDOWN
To begin the day off, Royaltee Brown advanced to the 60m finals after a 7.37 time in the semifinals. In the finals, Brown finished fifth overall.
Representing the distance Bears, Ethan Wrase grabbed his third PB in a row, this time in the 800m at 1:55.68. Making her indoor debut, Ruth Kimeli competed in the one mile competition with a 4:55.53 time. Ella Perry finished eighth in the 3000m. Nick Hruskoci and Caden Biltz also ran in the men's one mile. Hruskoci grabbed a 4:17.46 time. In the men's 3000m, Jack Sterrett finished 13th at 8:31.96.
In the 400m, Calisha Taylor earned a new PB in the 400m at 54.75.
In the 4x400 relays, both men's and women's teams made moves to push them towards qualifying for nationals. The women's 4x400 relay of Sameena Mathew, Tiriah Kelley, Taylor and Aaryona Kinchen had a massive season-best at 3:35.55, improving their time by nearly 20 seconds and putting them third in the Big 12.
In the men's relay team of Demar Francis, Nathaniel Ezekiel, Abbas Ali and Dillon Bedell, the squad grabbed a season-best time of 3:05.15 to put them 10th in the NCAA.
In the field events and alongside Haywood in women's pole vault, Tenly Kuhn was one jump away from matching her PB she accomplished just last week, grabbing a top-five finish at 13-7.25. Alencia Lenz earned a season-best mark of 12-7.5.
In the women's high jump, Sydney Smith earned a new PB jump at 5-6.
Competing in the heptathlon for the first time this season, Dexter Brice, 4,793 points, and Pablo Negre Smedema, 4,731 points, completed the seven-event marathon in ninth and tenth place respectively.
MIKE ON THE MIC
"The Bears had a great day two at the Charlie Thomas Invitational," head coach Michael Ford said. "Two more facility, school, personal records by Demario Prince and Molly Haywood. Coach Richards and Coach Dalton are doing an amazing job with them. I was pleased with both the women and men's 4x4 seasonal best, with those times we should be top-12 in the nation. I thought Royaltee had a good meet after missing last week. The coaches and I are pleased where we are headed going into championship season."
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears now prepare for the Jarvis Scott Open in Lubbock, Texas on Feb. 14-15 for their final regular indoor season meet before postseason begins.
Haywood, setting a new program, meet and facility record with a 15-0.25 mark, broke her personal record three times before taking home the title. The sophomore's mark ranks tied for fifth in the NCAA for the 2025 season and leads in the Big 12.
Alongside Haywood in breaking records was Demario Prince in the 60-meter hurdles. After matching the program record three times already, Prince broke the barrier to etch his name once more into the record books with a 7.57 time. The sophomore's time is the fifth best mark in the NCAA this season.
THE RUNDOWN
To begin the day off, Royaltee Brown advanced to the 60m finals after a 7.37 time in the semifinals. In the finals, Brown finished fifth overall.
Representing the distance Bears, Ethan Wrase grabbed his third PB in a row, this time in the 800m at 1:55.68. Making her indoor debut, Ruth Kimeli competed in the one mile competition with a 4:55.53 time. Ella Perry finished eighth in the 3000m. Nick Hruskoci and Caden Biltz also ran in the men's one mile. Hruskoci grabbed a 4:17.46 time. In the men's 3000m, Jack Sterrett finished 13th at 8:31.96.
In the 400m, Calisha Taylor earned a new PB in the 400m at 54.75.
In the 4x400 relays, both men's and women's teams made moves to push them towards qualifying for nationals. The women's 4x400 relay of Sameena Mathew, Tiriah Kelley, Taylor and Aaryona Kinchen had a massive season-best at 3:35.55, improving their time by nearly 20 seconds and putting them third in the Big 12.
In the men's relay team of Demar Francis, Nathaniel Ezekiel, Abbas Ali and Dillon Bedell, the squad grabbed a season-best time of 3:05.15 to put them 10th in the NCAA.
In the field events and alongside Haywood in women's pole vault, Tenly Kuhn was one jump away from matching her PB she accomplished just last week, grabbing a top-five finish at 13-7.25. Alencia Lenz earned a season-best mark of 12-7.5.
In the women's high jump, Sydney Smith earned a new PB jump at 5-6.
Competing in the heptathlon for the first time this season, Dexter Brice, 4,793 points, and Pablo Negre Smedema, 4,731 points, completed the seven-event marathon in ninth and tenth place respectively.
MIKE ON THE MIC
"The Bears had a great day two at the Charlie Thomas Invitational," head coach Michael Ford said. "Two more facility, school, personal records by Demario Prince and Molly Haywood. Coach Richards and Coach Dalton are doing an amazing job with them. I was pleased with both the women and men's 4x4 seasonal best, with those times we should be top-12 in the nation. I thought Royaltee had a good meet after missing last week. The coaches and I are pleased where we are headed going into championship season."
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears now prepare for the Jarvis Scott Open in Lubbock, Texas on Feb. 14-15 for their final regular indoor season meet before postseason begins.
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Multi
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Multi
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Distance
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