By Lindsay Cash
Reporter
Coach Todd Harbour’s track and field squad finished on a strong note after participating in the Razorback Invitational this weekend at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
Overall, Harbour said he was pleased with the performances, especially when team members shone individually.
“This was a good meet from a historical perspective,” Harbour said. “I was very pleased. You can never lump a victory together in track and field the way you can in football or basketball, because there are so many individual performances. And we are ranked nationally in sixth.”
Freshman Tiffani McReynolds exceeded current measures in the 60-meter races in Arkansas. On Friday, she ran the fastest qualifying time at 8.30 seconds, grabbing the eighth-best spot in the NCAA, but she wasn’t quite finished.
On Saturday, McReynolds was able to drop her time to 8.26 to finish as the event’s runner-up and capture Baylor’s record.
“She’s president of the ‘Mighty Might’ club,” Harbour said. “It’s amazing to watch someone her size, so tiny, run that incredibly fast.”
Senior Tiffany Townsend also grabbed the second spot in the 60-meter and 200-meter prelims, running the events in 7.35 and 23.12, respectively.
On Saturday, Townsend finished second in the 60-meter with a time of 7.38. Her 200-meter time propelled her into in the top five in the NCAA.
Baylor’s reigning record holder, sophomore Skylar White, finished second in the shot put. Her second-best toss at 53-6 puts her at second in Baylor’s program history.
White has impressively set two university records in her past two meets.
“The sky’s the limit with Skylar,” Harbour said.
She also now owns top eight all-time performances at Baylor.
Among other women performances were freshman Robyn Bennett, junior Sam Patty and senior Leigh Ann Ganzar.
Bennett placed third in the mile and broke the five-minute barrier at 4:59.62. Patty set her personal best at 9:58.59 in the 3,000 meters, placing third as well. Ganzar neared personal best and finished fourth with a time of 2:11.62.
Junior Jessica Ubanyionwu entered top five contention in the NCAA with a triple jump mark of 43-2.25.
In the men’s 60-meter, Marcus Boyd and Whitney Prevost placed sixth and seventh, respectively, after they each finished at 6.79.
They then joined Zwede Hewitt and James Gilreath for the 4-x-400-relay.
The men finished second at 3:07.88, closely behind Iowa.
“We had a slip up on the backstretch, but ran against a really good team,” Harbour said.
The men succeeded individually, as well. Junior Zwede Hewitt debuted his season with a 400-meter time of 47.41. Sophomore Gavyn Nero ran the Invitational section’s 800 meters and finished ninth at 1:50.44. Sophomore Ben Allen attained personal best in the mile at 4:19.80.
Baylor’s track and field teams will travel to New York City this upcoming weekend for the two-day New Balance Invitational on Feb. 4-5 at the Armory Track Center.
