By Marissa Essenburg | Sports Writer
Months of preparation led Baylor track and field back to Lubbock chasing execution and a Big 12 championship. Instead, the Bears were forced to adjust and respond.
Led by junior pole vaulter Molly Haywood’s fourth straight Big 12 title and a record-breaking set of races from junior hurdler Demario Prince, Baylor finished seventh on the women’s side and 11th on the men’s at the Big 12 Indoor Championships on Saturday inside the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center. The Bears were without record-setting senior sprinter Tiriah Kelley, who was sidelined with the flu.
Even without one of its top scorers, Baylor delivered several breakthrough performances, highlighted by Prince lowering his own school record twice in the 60-meter hurdles and finishing runner-up in the conference final.
After clocking a 7.54 in Friday’s semifinals to break his own school record, Prince returned Saturday and did it again, blazing to a 7.46 to finish runner-up behind Texas Tech’s Malachi Snow in the 60-meter hurdles final.
“He ran a great race,” head coach Michael Ford said. “There were five guys in the top 16 nationally going into the meet. It was just a great race. I’m looking forward to seeing him go to nationals and try to get his first All-American.”
His performance marked one of the meet’s defining moments for the Bears, providing a needed boost in Kelley’s absence.
On the women’s side, Molly Haywood continued her dominance in the pole vault, clearing 14 feet, 9 inches to capture her fourth consecutive Big 12 indoor title, solidifying her status as one of the nation’s most consistent championship performers. Senior Tenly Kuhn followed with a runner-up finish as the duo claimed the top two spots and earned All-Big 12 honors.
Sophomores Royaltee Brown (7.34) and Hannah Lowe (7.39) set the tone early Saturday with fifth- and eighth-place finishes in the women’s 60 meters, a momentum Baylor carried into the afternoon when sophomore Iyanna Webb delivered one of the meet’s most dramatic moments in the triple jump.
After qualifying for finals with an opening jump of 42-8 ¾, Webb found herself sitting in ninth and out of scoring position entering her final attempt. She responded with a season-best mark of 43-1 ½ to surge four spots and finish fifth.
“Especially on your last jump, when now you’re in ninth place and not even going to score in the final, for her to have a big jump and take fifth place, that was big for us,” Ford said.
The mark was just 1 1/2 inches shy of her career best.
Although he didn’t reach the podium, freshman Kingston Williams recorded personal bests in five of seven heptathlon events and totaled a personal-best 5,317 points — the second-highest mark in program history.
Despite collecting 12 All-Big 12 honors across the men’s and women’s teams, Baylor’s margin for error shrank without Kelley, whose absence loomed large in a tightly contested championship meet.
“We probably left 20 points on the board with Tiriah not running in her two events and the relay,” Ford said. “We were hoping for top five, but I thought the ladies really competed and performed well.”
After a weekend shaped by adjustments, the Bears leave Lubbock with records broken, titles secured and unfinished business still ahead.
Baylor now turns its attention to the NCAA Indoor Championships March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Ark., where Prince, Kelley and Haywood are expected to represent the Bears as the indoor season reaches its final stage.
