EUGENE, Ore. – Baylor track and field senior Rachel Johnson earned All-America honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for a second-straight year with a sixth-place showing Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field.
Johnson is the fourth Baylor female athlete to earn All-American honors in cross country, indoor and outdoor track in the same school year, joining Natalie Nalepa (1990-91), Sherri Smith (1998-99), and Lauren Hagans (2007-08).
After taking third in the race a year ago, she ran a season-best time of 9:42.93 to secure her fourth All-America honor of the 2014-15 school year.
She was fifth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November and then tallied a sixth-place finish in the 3,000-meters and a second-place finish in the 5,000-meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The Plano, Texas, native hung with the lead pack throughout the entirety of the race and was fifth until the final 100 meters when she was passed by North Dakota State's Erin Teschuk.
With Johnson's sixth-place finish, Baylor tallied three total points to finish the meet tied for 51st. The Baylor women have scored at the meet in 23 of the last 27 years.
In the triple jump, Brianna Richardson carded a leap of 42-9.75 [13.05m] on her first attempt, but came up limping after landing the jump. A hamstring injury forced Richardson to pass on her next two attempts. After earning All-America honors in the event a season ago, the BU junior was fourth after the first round of jumps, but fell to eighth as she passed on her third attempt. Richardson was knocked to 10th as the third round of jumps was completed, pushing her outside of the top nine, which earn a spot in the event finals.
OTHER NOTABLES
· Johnson totaled six individual All-America honors in her four years in Waco, which is tied for the second-most in school history with Stacey (Bowers) Smith and Skylar White.
· Johnson earns Baylor's third all-time All-America honor in the steeplechase event.
·Johnson's time was third-best in school history as she now owns nine of the top-10 times all-time.
TOP QUOTE #1"You never know with this wind – some of the races have been tactical, while others have gone out fast. It was just a great race. To run 9:42 and get sixth – I wouldn't have believed you if you told me that. Rachel has had an unbelievable career – the best in Baylor female distance history. I don't think there is any doubt about that with the number of All-American honors and school records that she has. It is an incredible end to a great career." - head coach Todd Harbour
on Rachel Johnson
TOP QUOTE #2
“It was a great meet. We didn't have any terrible performances, but we just weren't quite good enough this time.” – Harbour on the meet in general
TOP QUOTE #3
“God's just really blessed me with a great season and a career at Baylor where I haven't gotten injured. It just means a lot to be an All-American in all three seasons, and hopefully it will inspire other people that might want to run later on and just inspire the team to keep going strong.” – Rachel Johnson on her career
WHAT'S NEXT
The end of the NCAA Championships concludes Baylor's collegiate season. The Bears will now have several athletes in action at the USA Championships in Eugene, Ore. That meet runs June 25-28 at Hayward Field.
To stay current on all things Baylor Track, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorTrack.
COMPLETE BAYLOR RESULTS
3,000 Steeplechase
Women
6. Rachel Johnson (SR) – 9:42.93 (second-straight All-American honor, season best & third fastest in school history)
Triple Jump
Women
10. Brianna Richardson (JR) - 42-9.75 [13.05m]
