Baylor T&F Records 20 Wins in 2022 Home Opener

[Pirtle, Colin]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – April 2, 2022

Baylor T&F Records 20 Wins in 2022 Home Opener
Bears win 7 field events and 13 races at Baylor Invitational
For more information contact: Colin Pirtle, 940-564-0351, Colin_Pirtle1 at baylor.edu

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Baylor track and field opened the gates to the Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium for the first time this season on Friday and put on a show at its home track. Not counting professional athletes, the Baylor track and field team logged 20 collegiate wins at this meet alone.

DAY ONE
The Bears swept hammer throw titles, with Cole Hardan’s 192-10 throw winning the men’s competition, followed by Hannah Link’s 184-02 in the women’s competition. Hardan’s new personal-best broke his previous program record that stood since the Big 12 Championships last year at K-State. Simone Turner also competed for the women, finishing with a bronze medal.

DAY TWO
In one of the first events of the day, Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi recorded the longest javelin throw the Clyde Hart Track and Field stadium has ever seen, launching a 249-07 throw on his second attempt. As of Saturday evening, Nnamdi still holds the nation’s top mark for this young outdoor season. Senior Chris Stoudt made his season debut for the Bears, finishing in sixth place.

Mariah Ayers broke the 23-second mark for the first time in her career on Saturday, finishing the 200 meters in 22.77 seconds. Caira Pettway followed in 23.55 seconds and joined four other Bears recording personal-bests in the event.

Elijah Morris had a day in the hurdles, winning the silver medal in the 110-meter edition with a time of 13.82 seconds, followed by a collegiate championship in the 400 hurdles with a time of 53.77 seconds. Jasmine Gryne won the women’s 400-meter hurdles, putting up a 59.36-second finish.

The men’s 4x400 recorded a collegiate first-place finish, with Dillon Bedell, Matthew Moorer, Nathaniel Ezekiel and Howard Fields III’s season’s-best time of 3:02.42. The women’s relay, comprised of Ayers, Kavia Francis, Aaliyah Miller and Imaobong Uko, improved on their time by two hundredths of a second on the season, finishing as the collegiate champions in the event.

Francis and Uko finished back-to-back in the women’s 400 meters, with Francis winning the collegiate competition in 53.08 seconds. For the men, Fields III won the collegiate crown in 46.38 seconds, with Hasani Barr following in third.

Ackera Nugent found her usual spot in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing first among collegiate runners and recording a 12.92-second race. The top-10 was full of green and gold, as Alexis Duncan, Kennedy Bailey, Kiara Rhodes and Alyssa Miller all found their spots near the top.

Aaliyah Miller returned to the 800 meters for the first time this season, finishing in first after a 2:06.07 race. Mazie Larsen followed in sixth-place. On the men’s side, Nicholi Brown logged a personal-best time of 1:54.27 to find the sixth-place finish. Kade Hulett wasn’t too far behind in eighth.

Matthew Moorer got another collegiate win in the 200 meters, finishing in 20.75 seconds. Isaiah Cunningham won the silver with 20.83 seconds and Bedell finished fourth in 20.94 seconds.

The distance squad found two first-place finishes on the day, with Ryan Day (1,500 meters) and Sophia Leidner (3,000 meters) both winning their events.

Mikayla Deshazer placed top-three in both the discus and shot put, finishing with a 151-08 attempt and third in the discus and a 49-02.25 chunk and second place in the shot put. Hardan found his second throws win of the meet after a first-place finish in the shot put with his 60-06 ½ throw.

The “JSquad” showed out again on Saturday, with the Baylor women dominating both the triple jump and high jump competition. Alex Madlock flew 43-09 ¼ on her last attempt to secure the gold, but one of the largest cheers of the day was for Koi Johnson’s new monster personal-best in the event of 43-05. Alyssa Miller won the women’s high jump, posting a 5-08 clearance in the jump off to decide first place. Moorea Long followed in fourth and Rhodes in seventh.

The Bears continued their relay dominance in the 4x100 meters, where both the men’s and women’s squads recorded the top marks for the event. The men’s Laurenz Colbert, Cunningham, Kamden Jackson and De’montray Callis, recording a 39.56-second race. The women competed with Duncan, Arria Minor, Bria Bullard and Michaela Francois finishing in 44.84 seconds.

Tuesdi Tidwell got another collegiate win under her belt, finishing the pole vault in first place after clearing 13-07 ¼. In the men’s event, Benjamin Conacher walked away with a silver medal after his 16-02 ¾-clearing performance.

It was a host of Bears in the top-10 of the 100-meter dash, with Sydney Washington, Francois, Summer Sergeant and Bullard all finding their place in the single-digits.

To view a complete list of Bears that competed in Friday and Saturday’s competition, visit our DeltaTiming<https://live.deltatiming.com/meets/14151/teams/348918> page.

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


HIGHLIGHTS

  *   Koi Johnson broke her original personal-best by over a foot and a half in the triple jump with a 43-05 attempt.
  *   “Zaza” Prosper Nnamdi broke the stadium record in the javelin throw after a 249-07 hurl across the field.
  *   Mariah Ayers broke the 23-second barrier for the first time, running a 22.77.
  *   Cole Hardan won both the shot put and hammer throw for BU.


STAT OF THE MEET
100 – Percent of collegiate relay championships won by the Bears at the Baylor Invitational


TOP QUOTE
Michael Ford on the team’s performance…
“I think overall we just had a great meet. I always say when God gives us great weather and a great turnout with the crowd, that's what we do. We only have two home meets, so we want to make sure we show out at those two meets. I thought anywhere from the field events to the sprinting to the hurdles to the distance to the field, we did awesome. We had an awesome day.”


www.BaylorBears.com

__________________________________________
Colin Pirtle | Communications Intern (Interim-T&F/XC)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 940-564-0351

[signature_158060252]<http://baylorbears.com/>


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