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Baylor Track & Field Opens Texas Relays Wednesday

Posted at 8:47 PM, Mar 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-28 21:47:35-04

The majority of Baylor's track and field team will be in action at the 90th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, presented by Spectrum Wednesday through Saturday in Austin, Texas.

BU is scheduled to have 17 women's athletes and 23 men's athletes in the field at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Meanwhile, select men’s and women’s distance runners will be competing in California on Friday.

In Austin, Baylor's contingent will get the action started Wednesday in the multi-events with three men in the decathlon and two women in the heptathlon.  The heptathlon starts at 10:30 a.m., while the decathlon opens at 11 a.m.

On Thursday, the multi-events resume at 10 a.m. (decathlon) and 11 a.m. (heptathlon), followed by the men’s pole vault at 2:30 p.m. and the 400-meter hurdles at 4:30 p.m. On Friday, field events for the Bears start at 10 a.m. with the women’s high jump, while running prelims begin at 9:35 a.m. with the 4x100-meter relay. Saturday competition starts with the men's 4x800-meter relay at 10:40 a.m. and field events open with the women's pole vault at noon.

Last week at the Roadrunners Invitational in San Antonio, Texas, the Bears racked up nine event titles. The event titles, eight for the women and one for the men, propelled the women to a second-place finish in the team standings with 145 points, while the men were fourth with 96.5 points.

The women's team was ranked No. 17 in the first USTFCCCA rankings of the outdoor season, while the men were 28th.

The women have six marks that currently rank in the NCAA top 10 for the 2017 outdoor season. The 4x400-meter relay of Taylor Bennett, Kiana Hawn, Victoria Powell and Leticia De Souza have the best time in the country for 2017 at 3:33.98, after winning the Roadrunners Invitational event title. In the 4x100-meter relay, the crew of Kiana Horton, Taylor Bennett, Juanita Mainoo and Jhane’ King ranks fifth nationally with a time of 44.08.

Individually, Annie Rhodes leads that group as her vault in San Antonio is the second-best clearance in the country at 14-1.25 [4.30m]. BU has two other field event athletes in the top-10, including Cion Hicks, who is fifth in the shot put at 55-5.75 [16.91m] and Rachel Toliver, who is eighth in the triple jump at 42-3.5 [12.89m]. On the track, Kiana Horton represents the Lady Bears with the 10th-best 200-meter mark (23.11).

On the men's side, five marks are top-10 in the NCAA after two weeks of competition. The men's 4x400-meter relay is third in the country with a time of 3:06.08, while the 4x100-meter quartet is fourth in 39.42.

Pole vaulter Ryan Womack boasts the next highest national mark for BU as his clearance of 17-4.5 [5.30m] in the Alamo City is fifth-best in the country.

On the track, freshman Maxwell Willis ran a 20.54 time last week in the 200 meters, which is sixth nationally and senior Rhys Phillips in No. 10 in the 110-meter hurdles at 13.97.

The meet will be broadcast on Longhorn Network. A total of 14 hours of coverage will be provided this year with 11 of it live. It will also be available online at espn3.com and on the WatchESPN app for smartphones and tablets.

Wednesday, March 29: 6-7:30 p.m. (tape delay of multi-events)

Thursday, March 30: 4:30-6 p.m. (tape delay of multi-events); 6-8 p.m. (LIVE)

Friday, March 31: 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (LIVE); 7-9 p.m. (LIVE)

Saturday, April 1: 1:30-5:30 p.m. (LIVE)

Following the Texas Relays, Baylor will return home to host the Baylor Invitational on Saturday, April 8, at Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium.