By Tori Jackson
Reporter
The Bears returned to Waco with three event wins and a new school record this weekend at the Texas A&M Aggie Invitational at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.
Senior Hunter Brook won the heptathlon with a personal record in the 60-meter hurdles to lead him to a new school record of 5,154 points in the heptathlon.
“It feels great,” Brook said. “Henry [Vildosola] and I have broken the school record before. [Assistant head coach Danny] Brabham always told us to stay focused on working each event one at a time. When you put it together, you can get a good enough score to do well at a meet.”
Coming in second in the heptathlon competition was teammate Vildosola, who recorded 5,128 points. Both Brooks and Vildosola earned more points than the previous school record set by Eric Bostick at the 2012 Big 12 Indoor Championships. Bostick tallied a total of 5,017 points.
“They did a great job,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “It was the first multi of the year. I’m really proud of them. Henry is still competing with no ACL and that makes it even more impressive.”
Freshman Trayvon Bromell won the 60-meter dash. Bromell holds the second best time in the Big 12 Conference and 13th-fastest in the nation. Bromell recorded a time of 6.65 seconds.
“It feels good,” Bromell said. “It’s good to have it under my belt. I know I can run faster, so that’s motivation. I know what I have to fix.”
Junior Rachel Johnson earned a first place finish for the second time this indoor season. Johnson recorded a personal best of 4:49.63 in the mile.
“All of my work from the past two years has built up until now,” Johnson said. “Mariah Kelly and I have been training together and encouraging each other. It helps to have a teammate and training partner there for me.”
Johnson and Kelly will travel to Seattle, Wash., this weekend to compete in the Husky Classic. They hope to qualify for the NCAA Nationals.
The Baylor men and women placed fourth at the Aggie Invitational. The men tallied a score of 64 points and the women earned 88. Among the three event wins, Baylor had numerous top five finishes for the men and women.
Freshman George Caddick placed fourth in the 400-meters with a time of 46.78.
Caddick then helped the 4×400-meter relay team place top five. Blake Heriot, Caddick, Karrie Butler and Isaiah Duke recorded a time of 3:09.07 for a third-place finish.
Felix Obi finished third in the long jump competition with a mark of 23-11.50 [7.30m].
“He did a great job,” Harbour said. “It wasn’t his best day, but Felix is always solid. It’s impossible to PR every meet in our sport.”
Olicia Williams finished second in the women’s 800-meters with a recorded time of 2:08.26.
Mariah Kelly finished fourth with a personal best of 2:09.43.
Freshman Maggie Montoya finished second in the 3,000-meter distance. Montoya set a new personal best with a time of 9:41:68. Peyton Thomas also finished top five in the 3,000-meter distance with a fourth place finish and a time of 10:05.45.
Senior Kehri Jones set a career best in the 60-meter dash.
Jones was timed at 7.52, which led her to a third place finish.
Jones has set new personal bests in all three indoor meets this season.
“Kehri is continuing to improve and get better,” Harbour said. That’s what you want to see. Athletes improving each week.”
Freshman Annie Rhodes had a mark of 13-0.75 [3.98 m] to take second in the pole vault competition. Rhodes holds the program’s top-two marks of all-time.
Erin Atkinson placed fourth in the weight throw with a mark of 63-4.25 [19.31m]. The last time Atkinson competed at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium, she won the event with a throw of 65-1.5 [19.85m], which placed her No. 11 in the NCAA.
Atkinson still holds the school record for the weight and hammer throw.
Freshman Cion Hicks placed third in the shot put event.
Hicks recorded a mark of 47-10.0 [14.58m].
“This is the last tune up before the Big 12 Indoor Championships,” Coach Harbour said. “I hope to get more people qualified for nationals.”
The Bears will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend to compete in the Tyson Invitational.
The Big 12 Indoor Championships will commence on Feb. 28 at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
