No. 8/8 Baylor T&F: West Prelims Conclude with 10 National Entries

[Pirtle, Colin]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – May 28, 2022

No. 8/8 Baylor T&F: West Prelims Conclude with 10 National Entries
Pettway, Ayers complete T&F hat trick, qualifying in three separate events
For more information contact: Colin Pirtle, 940-564-0351, Colin_Pirtle1 at Baylor.edu


FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Baylor track and field women wrapped up the NCAA West Preliminaries at the John McDonnell Field on Saturday, qualifying both relays and eight individuals to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., in two weeks.



“Man, we had a great day on the ladies’ side,” said head coach Michael Ford. “I am happy with the 4x4s and 4x1s getting through. We survived and advanced and are ready to prep for Eugene.”



The women’s 4x100-meter relay started out the day with a second-place heat finish to advance. The squad of Ackera Nugent, Caira Pettway, Sydney Washington and Mariah Ayers put up a 44-flat time and finished in fourth place overall.



The 4x400-meter relay, comprised of Ayers, Kavia Francis, Gontse Morake and Imaobong Uko recorded the second-fastest time in school history and of the season with a 3:28.38, qualifying for the championships.



Pettway received her second advancement of the day (and third overall) in the 100-meter dash, finishing in 11.13 seconds. Washington followed right behind, recording a personal-best 11.14, to just miss the qualifying time by one-hundredth of a second. Her new PR finds the fourth spot all-time in program history.



Aaliyah Miller booked her final collegiate trip to Hayward Field Saturday, ending the 800 meters second in her heat and fourth overall. Her time of 2:02.87 completes the school performances sweep, as she now holds spots 1-10 in the program record book.



No stranger to advancing on to the national stage, Nugent got a ticket to Hayward behind a 12.93-second performance in the 100-meter hurdles to finish third in the heat. Alexis Duncan missed the cutoff by under one-tenth of a second, finishing in 13.06 seconds.



The quarter-mile duo of Francis and Uko advanced to the NCAA Championships with 52.48 and 52.53-second races, respectively. Shortly after, Ayers followed suit in the 200, qualifying behind a personal-best time of 22.55 seconds.



Morake powered through in the 400-meter hurdles to finish third in her heat and 13th overall. She qualified to Eugene with a time of 57.60 seconds.



Koi Johnson was the fifth and final member of the “JSquad” to advance to the championships, securing her trip behind a 43-8 first attempt in the triple jump. Every competitor in a jump event for the Bears that competed in this week’s preliminaries has advanced on to Eugene.



The NCAA Championships will be held June 8-11 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Baylor’s 21 total entries will begin competition with the men’s semifinals at 6 p.m. CT that Wednesday, competing daily in the evenings.


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



www.BaylorBears.com<http://www.BaylorBears.com>


_____________________________________________
Colin Pirtle | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (T&F/XC)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 940-564-0351

[signature_2756921590]<http://baylorbears.com/>


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