By Gio Gennero | Sports Writer
For the first time in 2022, Baylor track and field will host a home meet Friday and Saturday at the Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium. The Bears welcome nine schools for the Baylor Invitational.
On Monday, outdoor rankings were released and the men’s team came out as No. 2 and the women’s as No. 11. Fourteen Baylor individual athletes earned top-10 national spots and head coach Michael Ford looks to get even more as the season continues.
“We want to get some more national marks, so we’ll be ready going into the Big 12 and national meets,” Ford said. “Our ladies are finally starting to do some of their open events, so I’d expect that ranking to go up more soon if we compete hard.”
Ford said he has been seeing good things from the teams and hopes to continue the team’s success in Waco.
“They’ve been locked in,” Ford said. “Of course we’ve been running pretty fast and jumping really far and throwing really far. So I’m hoping that if the weather permits it, that we’ll have another good meet.”
Freshman jumper and hurdler Johnny Brackins has had a stellar first season at Baylor, earning a top spot in the national rankings for his respective events. Ford said he likes the mindset Brackins has when approaching each race.
“Just the consistency of how he’s been performing. He’s always elevated at the right time of the season,” Ford said. “I’m looking on my phone watching his jumps, I’m like, ‘Man, this kid is good.’ Granted he runs a great hurdle race too. One of the things I love about Johnny is if he has a bad race, he basically erases it from his memory and responds in a positive way.”
Ford said he is most excited about having the alumni return as well as the seniors being able to compete in one of their final home meets.
“One, I’m excited about the alumni who came back to watch the meet,” Ford said. “I’m also excited about the seniors that are getting able to compete at the meet because they only have one more meet to compete at home. So I’m looking forward to the seniors running. Overall, I’m excited for everybody on the team getting that first home meet out the way so we can make adjustments.”
The meet kicks off at 3 p.m. on Friday with the hammer throw, and this will be the only event on Friday. At 10 a.m. on Saturday the field events will begin.
