The Baylor Bears will host their first track meet of the outdoor season all day Saturday at the Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium.
Last week, despite weather conditions and scratched events, Baylor collected eight top 5 finishes at the 89th Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin.
These top finishes included events ranging from hurdles to shot put. Sophomore Kiana Hawn’s 400-meter hurdle time of 57.38 ranked sixth-best in school history and sixth-best in the NCAA while junior Cion Hicks throw of 178-0, a personal best, ranked 15th in the NCAA.
The women’s side opened the outdoor season ranked No. 19 (currently No. 16) while the men ranked No. 43 (currently No. 42) by the USTFCCCA. Yet, these rankings have not stopped the Bears from staying relevant in each meet.
At their second meet of the season Baylor racked up 11 event titles in San Antonio. Head Coach Todd Harbour proudly spoke on how it was a great meet overall.
Although the men’s side experienced injury, junior Rhys Phillips snagged the 11th-best time in the NCCA for the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.00. Last weekend Phillips improved to a time of 13.80, placing fourth in his race but reclaiming the No. 11 spot in the NCAA.
The relay teams have also made an impact these season as the women’s 4×100 team of Kiana Horton, Taylor Bennett, Juanita Mainoo and Justise Dayries currently hold the eighth-fastest time in school history are ranked 11th in the NCAA with a time of 43.91.
Both the women’s 4×400 team of Taylor Bennett, Kiana Hawn, Kiana Horton and Olicia Williams and men’s 4×400 team of Richard Gary, Caleb Dickson, Brandon Moore and Wil London sit fifth and fourth, respectively in the NCAA.
Olympic qualifier junior Annie Rhodes has also had a great season, owning all of the top 10 pole vault clearances in school history. At the second outdoor meet of the season Rhodes cleared 14-7.25, a 2016 Olympic Trials qualifying clearance and second-ranked in the NCAA.
The Baylor Invitational will host teams from North Texas, Fresno St., South Florida, Arkansas St., Cal State Northridge, Texas Southern, Tulane, UT-Arlington, Texas State, Prairie View A&M, Oral Roberts, Tulsa, and Houston.
“We are excited now to get to host some great teams on Saturday at the Baylor Invitational,” Harbour said last meet.
Field events will begin at 10 A.M. while running events will begin at 3 P.M. The Clyde Hart and Field Stadium is located off of MLK Blvd., next to McClane Stadium. Tickets for Baylor students are free. General admission is $10 for youth and $15 for adults.
