Baylor Track & Field: Jones, Miller and Women’s 4x4 Win Big 12 Titles

Sat Feb 27 23:06:24 CST 2021

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – February 27, 2021

Baylor Track & Field: Jones, Miller and Women’s 4x4 Win Big 12 Titles
Bears finish with 93 points in women’s standings, 51 points on men’s side.

*COMPLETE RESULTS ATTACHED*

LUBBOCK, Texas – Deshaun Jones won the men’s 60-meter hurdles, Aaliyah Miller cruised to victory in the women’s 800 meters, and the Baylor women’s 4x400-meter relay won to close the final day of the 2021 Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championship Saturday at the Sports Performance Center.

“It was the typical track & field weekend where you have some unbelievable performances and you have some disappointments that end up impacting your team’s championship finish,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “We’re disappointed that the men weren’t able to have a few more bodies standing at the end. We couldn’t even run a 4x4, so that was tough. It’s the first time that’s ever happened.”

The women’s 4x400-meter relay saved arguably the best for last, running a Big 12-best 3:31.90 to take home the victory. Kavia Francis opened up with 53.11 to give the Bears a solid lead, and she passed it off to Arria Minor who clocked 52.04 to keep the distance. Miller ran the third leg in 52.90 to maintain the lead. She passed it off to Lily Williams, who relinquished the lead within the first 200 but kept Texas in her sights and regained the lead on the second 200 before closing strong to record a 53.86 split and give Baylor a one-second win.

“To close it off with the 4x4 to run like that, that’s a big four-second drop for them,” Harbour said. “Those ladies ran incredible, all four of them. Arria and Aaliyah, Kavia led off a great leg, passed it off and they were running from the front and then put Lily in the fire and she’s about as tough as there is. It was just a great, great effort.”

Jones, a sophomore from San Antonio, Texas, joined the team in January and less than two months later won his first Big 12 Championship in the 60-meter hurdles. He clocked a personal-best time of 7.86 to take home the victory and score 10 points for Baylor. Eli Morris took seventh with a time of 8.02 to add two points for the Bears.

“What can you say about Deshaun and the weekend he had,” Harbour said. “To come into conference after coming in at midterm and to have that kind of performance, he was definitely a highlight for the men.”

Miller put on a show in the women’s 800 meters, cruising to a four-second victory and breaking the Big 12 meet record set by Marleena Eubanks of Kansas in 2019. Miller clocked in at 2:02.98 to score 10 points for Baylor.

“Aaliyah put on a nice race in the 800,” Harbour said. “You can’t run it much better than that. Now she’s the Big 12 record holder indoor and outdoor. That’s pretty impressive. It’s a pretty neat deal for her.”

In the women’s 60-meter hurdles, Ackera Nugent followed up Friday’s record-setting performance with a time of 7.98 and a runner-up finish to score eight points for the Bears. Kennedy Bailey finished sixth in 8.33 to score three points for the Bears.

“What Ackera did the last two days is incredible,” Harbour said. “To run a school record yesterday and follow it up with a runner-up finish in the final was big for her. She and Kennedy ran fantastic.”

Lily Williams and Chris DuPree pulled off the runner-up double in the women’s and men’s 600 yards. Williams ran a personal-best time of 1:20.88, while DuPree ran a PB of his own at 1:08.59.

“Chris, a freshman, to battle like he did in the 600 was impressive,” Harbour said. “In my opinion, it’s maybe one of the toughest races in the meet. It’s just hard. Lily’s 600 was amazing. I’m proud of both of them.”

Arria Minor blazed to a third-place finish in the women’s 200 meters after winning heat one with a personal-best time of 23.03. The sophomore from Denver, Colo., scored six points for Baylor while Mariah Ayers followed in fifth place (personal-best 23.54) to add four points.

“Arria and Mariah both ran outstanding in the 200,” Harbour said. “They both had PBs, a big day for both of them.”

Kavia Francis continued her ascension with another personal best in the women’s 400 meters, this time clocking in at 52.86 to take fourth and register five points for Baylor.

“Kavia got a huge PB in the 400,” Harbour said. “That was huge. I think she started the season at about 56 [seconds], and now look where she is. Incredible.”

Hasani Barr placed fourth as well in the men’s 400 meters, registering a personal-best time of 46.65.

Baylor scored a total of eight points in the women’s 60 meters, as Sydney Washington (7.47) placed fourth, Demitra Carter (7.57) took seventh and Caira Pettway (7.61) finished eighth.

“The 60 meters I thought was outstanding,” Harbour said. “I thought for Demitra and Caira to make the finals was awesome, and Sydney ran great.”

In the men’s 60 meters, Kamden Jackson placed fourth with a time of 6.68 to score five points for Baylor.

“Kam had a nice 60 coming back off the hamstring,” Harbour said. “It’s good to see him back.”

Alyssa Miller placed fifth in the women’s high jump with a season-best mark of 5-8.75 (1.75m), Celia Holmes took sixth in the women’s mile with a time of 5:04.91, and Mazie Larsen finished eighth in the women’s 1,000 meters with a time of 2:59.99 to round out the scoring for Baylor.

“It was an up and down emotional weekend,” Harbour said. “We had a few key injuries, and it was disappointing because we were hoping to finish a little better as a team. We thought we could get 100 points on the ladies’ side but came up a little short of that. We had a few little misfires, but we had some unbelievable performances.

“It’s tough when you’re looking at team vs. individual performances. We had some outstanding performances, but we needed a few more of them. We won’t make excuses, but we’re trying to recover, get a few guys healthy and be the team that we need to be for outdoors.”

Baylor track & field will close the indoor season March 11-13 at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The Bears are currently slated to take 11 student-athletes to nationals.

For continued updates on the Baylor Track & Field team, follow the team's social media accounts all season long: @BaylorTrack.

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Kellen Coleman | Associate Director of Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-4049 | C: 254-749-6507

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