Baylor returns 23 All-Big 12 performers to the 2017 Big 12 Outdoor Championship hosted by the University of Kansas at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kan., including 6 Big 12 Outdoor champions, for competition Friday through Sunday.
STORYLINES
• Heading into the Big 12 Outdoor Championship meet, the Bears have 40 event marks (18 men & 22 women) among the top 10 in the conference.
• The Bears have six league-leading marks, including Maxwell Willis (100m), the men’s 4x4 relay and Felix Obi (triple jump). Meanwhile on the women’s side, Taylor Bennett (200m), Annie Rhodes (pole vault) and Cion Hicks (shot put) boast the Big 12’s best marks.
• Baylor’s women also own 5 second-best conference marks from Bennett (100m), Maggie Montoya (5,000m), Kiana Hawn (400H), Jenna Pfeiffer (heptathlon) and the 4x1 relay.
• On the men’s side, the Bears have three runner-up league marks from Willis (200m), Rhys Phillips (110H) and Luke Littlefield (decathlon).
• The BU women enter the meet ranked No. 11 in the latest USTFCCCA rankings, which is 2nd best of any Big 12 team (Texas, No. 9). Looking ahead, the women have 17 marks in the region’s top 48 with 15 individual entries and two relays slated to compete in the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
• Nationally as a team, the men are ranked No. 13. Currently, the men would have13 entries (11 individual & two relays) into the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
• At last year’s Big 12 Outdoor meet in Fort Worth, Texas, BU’s women won 2 event titles and tallied 52.2 points, while finishing 8th. The men produced 2 Big 12 crowns, placing 7th with 64 points.
QUOTING THE COACH
"We feel like we are set and ready to go. I feel like our women are in good shape. We are healthy on that side. It is going to be a really solid conference meet. It is going to be a battle for the team title. We hope to have our best conference meet ever on the men’s side. Our best ever point total is 102, so we are shooting for that and will see were that takes us." -- head coach Todd Harbour on his teams entering the meet
RESULTS/COVERAGE
Live results for the 2017 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship can be found at www.Big12Sports.com. Complete meet recaps and video highlights can be found at the conclusion of each day of competition at www.BaylorBears.com. A live stream of all the action will be available on FloTrack for a subscription fee.
