Baylor Track & Field Wins 14 Baylor Invitational Titles

WACO, Texas - Baylor track and field athletes matched the win total from last year’s meet by racking up 14 event titles Saturday at the Baylor Invitational at Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium.

The 2015 Baylor Invitational was the inaugural meet at the state-of-art-facility on the Brazos River and the Bears continued the tradition of a successful meet in 2016, albeit with several new faces.

Freshman Taylor Bennett highlighted the day for Baylor by winning two individual titles and helping the 4x400-meter relay take top honors as well.

The Spring, Texas, native opened her day by winning the 100-meter dash in a stadium record time of 11.38. That mark is currently 15th-fastest in the NCAA for 2016 and was .23 seconds faster than any other runner in the field.

Ninety minutes later, Bennett returned to the track and wowed the crowd of 1,313 fans by turning in a 22.71 to capture the 200-meter crown. That time ranks third in school history, second-best in the NCAA for 2016 and was also a stadium record. The only person to run a faster 200-meter time at Baylor is the most decorated All-American in program history, Tiffany Townsend.

For an encore, Bennett ran the third leg for the mile relay, which also consisted of Justise Dayries, Kiana Horton and Jessica Purtell. That crew used a stadium record time of 3:36.16 to win that event.

Fellow freshman Wil London also starred in his first collegiate meet in his hometown. The Waco, Texas, product nearly chased down Olympic gold medalist and former Baylor great Jeremy Wariner in the 400-meter dash, but was still the top collegian on the day with a time of 45.76. That mark is good for third-best in the NCAA for the current outdoor season.

In the pole vault, Annie Rhodes came very close to a school-record clearance, but settled for the second-best vault in school history, a stadium record and an event win by clearing 14-5.25 [4.40m].

Baylor swept three events in both the men’s and women’s races. In the 800 meters, Purtell used a personal-best time of 2:09.52 to be the top collegian on the day, while Brandon Moore had a season-best mark of 1:49.14 to claim the men’s crown. In the triple jump, Rachel Toliver posted a leap of 42-2.25 [12.25m] to win, while on the men’s side Felix Obi returned to action to tally the ninth-best leap in the NCAA currently and the ninth-best jump in school history, 51-9.75 [15.79m], to win.

In her second 1,500-meter race of the season, Maggie Montoya had a season-best mark of 4:28.44 to take home that title. Fellow distance runner Peyton Thomas carded a personal-best time in the 3,000 meters to snag the top spot on the podium. Madison Zimmerman opened the running portion of the meet leading the 3,000-meter steeplechase from wire-to-wire to win in 10:56.95.

Rhys Phillips continued his breakout season by winning the 110-hurdle title in a time of 13.88. That victory marks his second title in that event in 2016, after also claiming the event crown at the Ricardo Romo Invitational.

To close out the night, the men’s 4x400-meter relay of Moore, Antwuan Musgrove, Caleb Dickson and London ran a stadium record time of 3:07.95 to complete BU’s 14-title day.

OTHER NOTABLES
• Kiana Horton finished second in both the 100 and 200-meter races to Bennett, clocking times of 11.61 and 23.41, respectively.
• Former Bears Trayvon Bromell and Jeremy Wariner also had successful days as Bromell turned in the world’s fourth fastest time in the 200 meters at 22.30 and Wariner had the fastest 400-meter time on the day at 45.70.
• Cion Hicks finished second in both the shot put and discus. She produced a season-best throw in the shot put of 53-10.25 [16.41m], which ranks 17th-best in the NCAA.
• Baylor also had numerous runner-up finishes on the day, including Antwuan Musgrove (400mh, 52.83) and the men’s 4x100-meter (40.16).

TOP QUOTE #1
"It was an outstanding home meet. We had some really solid performances. We had a few sit out as the injury bug has kind of nipped us, but the ones that competed did an outstanding job. I thought Taylor Bennett was definitely the highlight. When you run the No. 2 time in the NCAA in the 200 meters and do a super job in the 100 that is outstanding. Wil’s (London) quarter was certainly outstanding. He moved up to No. 3 in the country in the 400, so that is great. With one of these meets at home it is hard to keep up with everything that is going on, but overall I thought it was a great meet." - head coach Todd Harbour on the meet

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will take next week off before hosting the Michael Johnson Invitational on April 23 at Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium.

To stay current on all things Baylor Track, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorTrack.

BAYLOR INVITATIONAL COMPLETE BAYLOR RESULTS

100 Meters
Women
1. Taylor Bennett (FR) – 11.38 (stadium record, tied 15th-best in NCAA)

2. Kiana Horton (FR) – 11.61

7. Justice Dayries (SR) – 11.79

17. Juanita Mainoo (SO) – 12.16

2. Kiana Horton (FR) – 23.41

4. Justise Dayries (SR) – 23.76

13. Juanita Mainoo (SO) – 24.42 (season best)

44. Eva Morrison (FR) – 28.15

Men
7. Malik Wilson (SO) – 21.13 (season best)

-- Isaiah Duke (SR) – DNF

-- Richard Gary (SR) – DNF

18. Kaitlynn Lindsey (SO) – 57.12 (season best) 

Men
2. Wil London – (FR) – 45.76 (third-best in NCAA, top collegian)

3. Caleb Dickson (FR) – 46.81 (season best)

-- Danny Leland (FR) – DNS

-- Brandon Moore (JR) – DNS

800 Meters
Women
2. Jessica Purtell (JR) – 2:09.52 (personal best, top collegian)

3. Charlotte Myers (SR) – 2:11.73

4. Chelsea Orr (SR) – 2:13.08 (season best)

12. Amanda Dillon (FR) – 2:16.19 (season best)

-- Olicia Williams (SR) – DNS

-- Maggie Montoya (JR) – DNS

Men
1. Brandon Moore (JR) – 1:49.14 (season best)

8. Danny Leland (FR) – 1:53.59 (season best)

-- Greg Bostick (SR) – DNS

1,500 Meters
Women
1. Maggie Montoya (JR) – 4:28.44 (season best)

8. Haleigh Blackwell (SR) – 4:53.55

9. Aubree Miller (SO) – 4:54.80 (season best)

20 Catherine Zabilski (SR) – 5:06.30

Men
4. Eric Anderson (SO) – 3:55.68 (season best)

10. Greg Bostick (SR) – 3:57.49 (personal best)

11. Chris McElroy (SR) – 3:57.07

12. Matt Parham (SO) – 3:58.32 (season best)

3,000 Meters
Women

1. Peyton Thomas (SO) – 9:41.10 (personal best)

5. Alex Davis (JR) – 10:15.28 (personal best)

13. Leila Rohde (FR) – 11:03.88

15. Annie Jaska (JR) – 11:35.95 (personal best)

17. Kasey Kinzel (FR) – 11:41.24

19. Abbie Greenwell (SO) – 12:05.39

20. Megan Rule (FR) – 12:07.15

-- Mary Woodall (SR) – DNF

-- Aubree Miller (SO) – DNS

-- Haleigh Blackwell (SR) – DNS

Men

3. J R Hardy (SR) – 8:38.34 (season best)

6. Matt Galvin (SR) – 8:44.05 (season best)

7. Kyle Scanlan (SR) – 8:45.45 (personal best)

-- Matt Parham (SO) – DNF

-- Chris McElroy (SR) – DNS

-- Eric Anderson (SO) – DNS

100 Hurdles
Women
15. Taije Jordan (SR) – 14.67
27. Eva Morrison (FR) – 16.05 (season best)

110 Hurdles

Men

1. Rhys Phillips (JR) – 13.88

17. Hunter Powell (SO) – 16.34 (season best)

400 Hurdles
Women 

10. Taylor Houston (JR) – 1:03.87

Men 
2. Antwuan Musgrove (FR) – 52.83 (season best)

8. Robert Dutton (SO) – 54.45

12. Nicholas Ucherek (SR) – 55.79

4x100-Meter Relay
Men
2. Baylor (Musgrove, Wilson, London, Dickson) – 40.16

4x400-Meter Relay
Women
1. Baylor A (Dayries, Bennett, Horton, Purtell) – 3:36.16 (stadium record)

7. Baylor B (Lindsey, Dillon, Fields, Myers) – 3:51.31

Men
1. Baylor A (Moore, Musgrove, Dickson, London) – 3:07.95 (stadium record)

10. Baylor B (Dutton, Powell, Cunningham, Leland) – 3:20.04

High Jump
Women

4. Kaylyn Schultz (SR) – 5-5.75 [1.67m] (season best)

6. Alexandra Lord (FR) – 5-3.75 [1.62m]

-- Tammy McVickar (FR) – NH

-- Laura Casadonte (FR) – NH

-- Abena Ofori (FR) – NH

Men

3. Blaine Listach (FR) – 6-8.75 [2.05m] (tied season best)

Pole Vault
Women
1. Annie Rhodes (JR) – 14-5.25 [4.40m] (stadium record, second-best in school history)

-- Paul Gaschen (SO) – NH

-- Reed Rightmer (SO) – NH

-- Chase Hood (SO) – DNS

Long Jump
Men 
-- Chase Hood (SO) – ND

-- Amani Dotson (FR) – ND

Men
6. Desmine Hilliard (SR) – 53-9.25 [16.39m] (season best)

-- Hunter Powell (SO) ND

Discus
Women 
2. Cion Hicks (JR) – 165-9 [50.52]

12. Michelle Campa (FR) – 131-8 [40.13]

-- Selena Demus (JR) – ND

-- Amani Dotson (FR) – ND

Men

-- Selena Demus (JR) - Foul

Men
3. Chase Hood (SO) – 174-6 [53.18m] (personal best)

4. Blake Rawls (FR) – 174-0 [53.03m] (personal best)

-- Richard Hansen (SR) – DNS

-- Ricardo Sanchez (FR) – DNS

-- Hunter Powell (SO) – DNS

Hammer Throw

Women

21. Michelle Campa (FR) – 135-2 [41.21m]