Baylor T&F Crushes Women’s 4x100 School Record to Book Championship Berth

Sat May 25 23:06:38 CDT 2024

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – May 25, 2024

Baylor T&F Crushes Women’s 4x100 School Record to Book Championship Berth
Bears end regionals with 10 entries to NCAA meet
For more information contact: Colin Pirtle; 940-564-0351, colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu<mailto:colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu>

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Baylor track and field closed the 2024 NCAA West Preliminary Rounds on Saturday evening with the women’s national quarterfinals and first rounds at the University of Arkansas’ John McDonnell Field.

The women’s 4x100-meter relay lit the track a blaze first thing in the afternoon, clocking a new program record and the third-fastest time in the history of the NCAA West Regional meet. The relay was the lone entry to qualify for nationals, with a handful finishing right at the cutoff.

Overall, the Bears will field 10 entries to the 2024 NCAA DI Outdoor Track and Field Championships that begin on June 5 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

THE RUNDOWN

Posting the first sub-43-second mark in program history, the Baylor 4x100-meter relay squad of Tiriah Kelley, Kayla Hunt, Alexis Brown and Michaela Francois punched their ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championship with the west preliminaries’ leading time of 42.66 seconds. That mark enters the NCAA DI list at No. 6, behind Tennessee (two times), Ole Miss, LSU and USC, and beats the previous school record of 43.12 set last season at the NCAA Championship.

With three finishing one spot outside of the NCAA qualifications, Hunt (100 meters), Kelley (200 meters) and Koi Johnson (triple jump) each ended their seasons on Saturday evening.

Hunt and Brown took back-to-back spots in the 100 meters, clocking an 11.14 and an 11.19 for 13th and 14th, respectively. Kelley returned to the track in the 200 meters with a 12th-place finish at 22.87 but was knocked out of NCAAs from an automatic spot in the 14th position. Johnson had the 12th-best jump going into the final attempt in Flights Three and Four but was bumped to 13th in the end with her jump of 43-10 ½.

The women’s 4x400-meter relay season came to an end at the close of the regional meet, but not without a fight. Imaobong Uko, Kelley, Summer Sergeant and Jasmine Gryne clocked the best time of the year, a 3:34.71, but came up short in 17th, five spots out of advancement.

Uko closed out her open 400 collegiate season with a 52.40-second race for 18th, a mark that falls second only this season to her first-round time of 52.22. Also closing her season in the 400-meter hurdles, Gryne had a strong start in the first heat but was tripped up at the No. 8 hurdle.

Makayla Long opened the day in 37th place in the discus throw, hitting 168-3 on her third attempt.

QUOTABLE

Head coach Michael Ford

On the meet…

“Well, I am really proud of the group overall. Our men and women both competed hard to get tickets punched to Eugene and the national championships. You definitely want to start with Zaza [Prosper Nnamdi], with a new meet record and a great throw on Wednesday. It was a big throw, and I am looking forward to watching him compete in Eugene. I was really proud of De’montray [Callis] making it in two individual events, for the first time ever, and in the 4x100. [I am] looking forward to seeing what he can do. That 4x1 had been running great all year, and I am very pleased with them, especially since we can still drop some time. Nate [Ezekiel] has been doing great all year. He had a good first half of his race, but still got the big Q and now it’s time to run fast in the semifinal at nationals. I am also proud of Laurenz Colbert for coming back from an injury that kept him out all of last year. For the relay that got in, I tried to change the order up a little bit, but by the grace of God, we got in. Those guys have run better so am looking forward to them running in Eugene.

“On the ladies’ side, Alexis [Brown] had a big day in the long jump, which we expected from the great year she has had. And then with Molly [Haywood] in the pole vault. She is ready to keep getting better week by week. The 4x100, the last thing I told them was to get the stick around and have some safe passes, and they just executed. I didn’t even realize that ran that fast until a few seconds later, I was just glad they got through. They really did an awesome job.

“I am sad for the young people that got 13th, the unlucky number that you do not want to be in. Especially with Koi Johnson in her last year, Kayla Hunt who has been a blessing to transfer in with a season and career best in the 100 and Alexis in 14th. And then the 4x400 running a season-best, just not good enough to make it, but we will be back next year. Tiriah [Kelley] also was just barely out, it’s just hard to see them work really hard to get it, but you have to be on and ready to go when it counts.

“We had some great performances. Now we can get a couple days of rest in and start preparing for NCAAs. Overall, I am really glad about where the team is going into Eugene this year.”

UP NEXT

The Baylor track and field team heads to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA DI Outdoor Track and Field Championships, running June 5-8 at Hayward Field.

To stay up to date throughout the year on all things Baylor track and field, follow the team on Facebook, X and Instagram: @BaylorTrack.

- BaylorBears.com -

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

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

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