For the third week in a row, Baylor track & field is set for indoor competition as the Bears head to the Texas Tech Classic Friday and Saturday (multis begin Thursday) in Lubbock, Texas.
“It’s a little bit of a grind stretch for us,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “This is the first year that we’ve gone three in a row, but I think our athletes have done well and I think we’re in a good place right now. Just trying to make sure we’re recovering. We’re jumping into a really, really good meet this weekend.”
Between the men’s and women’s teams, seven schools from the national top 25 will be represented, including Baylor (men), Florida State (men/women), Miami (women), North Carolina State (women) Texas A&M (men/women), Texas Tech (men/women), and USC (men/women).
“I think it will be one of the best invitationals in the country,” Harbour said. “There are teams from east to west and all over the country coming to Lubbock this weekend to run. It’s going to be an outstanding meet. All of our athletes are excited. Texas Tech will host the Big 12 meet there this year. It’s an opportunity to get on that track, get on the jump runways and throwing areas just to get the feel for it.”
The Bears will travel 60 student-athletes to Lubbock, looking to build off a strong start to the indoor season. This past weekend in Iowa, the Baylor women’s team took the team title at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational, while KC Lightfoot (pole vault) was named themeet’s outstanding male field event athlete.
“Multis start on Thursday, and our three young ladies are excited to do their first multi of the year,” Harbour said. “We’re always just trying to get better as a team for the conference meet, but we’re also trying to get some of our athletes qualified for the NCAA meet.”
Coming into this weekend, the Baylor men’s team is ranked No. 16 in the country while the women are ranked No. 27.
“Sometimes it helps to have great competition, and sometimes it helps to have a great facility,” Harbour said. “Texas Tech has both of those. You can’t ask for better conditions. It’s the third week now, so we should be starting to round into some form. This will be a good opportunity to get some NCAA marks.”
