Baylor T&F Sprints Squads Make History on Day One of Big 12 Indoor Championships

Fri Feb 24 22:18:13 CST 2023

BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – February 24, 2023

Baylor T&F Sprints Squads Make History on Day One of Big 12 Indoor Championships
Men in seventh, women in eighth after first day of postseason
For more information contact: Colin Pirtle; 940-564-0351, colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu<mailto:colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu>

LUBBOCK, Texas. – Baylor track and field completed the first day of competition at the Big 12 Indoor Championships. Five Bears won All-Big 12 honors from their top-8 finishes on the day, and one set a new program record in the preliminary round.

Mariah Ayers stormed out of the start in the women’s 200 meters to put up a 22.76 for the Baylor program record. The senior is only the second Bear to cross the 22-second barrier in Baylor indoor track and field history and the first to do so since Tiffany Townsend in 2011.

It was a big day for the men’s 400-meter dash squad, as all four advanced to the finals and two set program top-10 marks. Matthew Moorer led the Bear pack in 45.84 to find spot No. 5 all-time in program history, just before Nathaniel Ezekiel raced a 45.90 to tie for seventh all-time and finish second. Hasani Barr finished fifth in the race with a 46.12 and Dillon Bedell caught the last qualifying spot in eighth with a 46.34.

Demar Francis had a quick race in the 200 meters, crossing the finish line at the 22.55-second mark for third overall, a mark that moves him to second at BU behind Trayvon Bromell. Moorer also advanced to the finals in the 200, after a 20.76-second performance in the prelims.

The Bears received their first point of the meet behind Gary Moore Jr.’s seventh-place performance in the weight throw. The freshman threw for 63-10 ½ in the first championship meet of his collegiate career.

Annamaria Kostarellis was right behind with another five points for the Bears after finishing fourth in the 5,000 with a time of 16:25.70.

The 60-meter hurdles advanced both Bears, with Elijah Morris in the men’s race and Simone Ballard in the women’s. Morris’ 7.87 earned him third in his heat to automatically move on, while Ballard put up an 8.34 for a new PR and sixth overall.

The men’s distance medley relay closed the night finishing sixth, with Ryan Day making up ground in the anchor leg of the event. Ryan Hodge, Drew Snyder and Nicholi Brown joined Day to run a 9:55.07.

The long jump saw Koi Johnson finish sixth with a PB of 20-0 ½. Alexis Brown finished the event in 13th, Keviah Ealy in 14th and Alexandra Rutenis in 16th. In the men’s event, Aren Spencer put up a 22-8 ½ and ended in 14th.

Ben Conacher earned another Big 12 medal in his career with the Bears on Friday, taking fifth place after he successfully cleared 17-5 ¾.

Lily Williams notched the second-fastest time of the day in the 600 yards with a new personal-best of 1:19.95. Her final, and a chance at the Big 12 Indoor Championship, will be Saturday at 3:10 p.m.

Imaobong Uko and Kavia Francis advanced to the 400-meter finals on Friday, with Uko winning her heat in 53.20 seconds, while Francis finished second in her heat in 53.45 seconds.

Nicholi Brown was the first man out of the 600-yard finals, crossing the line in 1:10.98, just 17-hundredths behind eighth place.

Kamden Jackson matched his previous PR in the 60-meter dash of 6.66 set on the Texas Tech track in 2021 to finish as the first runner out of the finals, just ahead of De’montray Callis who crossed with a 6.68 in 11th.

Twelfth place was the highest finish for the Bears in the 60, with Michaela Francois leading the pack at 7.38. Bria Bullard was just behind, finishing 14th in 7.38, followed by Summer Sergeant in 21st.

QUOTABLE

Head coach Michael Ford

“Overall, the team competed hard and I have to give big congrats to the All-Big 12 athletes that won medals today. We’ve had ups and downs this season, both of which we also had today. Going into it we knew that the 400 and 200 would be big for our team, and they all ran well. It’s super impressive to enter four guys and have four guys advance to the finals with PRs. I just thought we competed really well today and have to do it again tomorrow. Today was going to be hard, but we got through it and did really well.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears return to the Sports Performance Center for Day Two of the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships. The multi events begin at 11 a.m., followed by field events at 1 and running events at 2.

- BaylorBears.com -

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

[signature_2230589939]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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