FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –
The
Baylor track and field team concluded its indoor season with six
athletes earning All-American status on the final day of the NCAA Indoor
Championships on Saturday at the Randal
Tyson Track Center.
Hurdler
Tiffani McReynolds, triple jumper Felix Obi and the men's 4x400-meter
relay team of Blake Heriot, Justin Allen, Drew Seale and Richard Gary
all finished in the top
eight in their respective events to secure All-American recognition.
"It
was a great day for Tiffani, Felix and our men's relay team," head
coach Todd Harbour said. "Tiffani did just a great job in her race to
set a school record, while it is
impressive for Felix as a freshman to come here and get All-American
honors. Then our men's 4x400 team came in ranked 12th and it was great
to see them have a great run."
McReynolds
set a school record of 7.96 en route to claiming second-place in the
60-meter hurdles. The junior notched All-American honors for a third
straight season, after
taking second in 2010 and fourth in 2011.
The
native of Kansas City, Kan. came into the meet with the second-best
time in the country, but bettered her previous school-record of 8.02 by
.06 for her first career time
under eight seconds.
"I
feel like I won, because I was able to hit the time that I had been
working to hit all season," McReynolds said. "I wanted to be under eight
seconds this year, so I will
take 7.96. That is amazing. I feel marvelous."
Baylor's
4x400-meter relay team tallied All-American status for a seventh
consecutive season and the 26th time in the last 28 years with a
sixth-place showing in a season-best
time of 3:07.59.
Running
in the first of three sections, Baylor was in third after the first
leg, but Allen was able to make a move into second place going into his
final turn. Seale and Gary
kept the Bears in second. Baylor then became scoreboard watchers as
eight more teams got a chance to run.
BU's
time stood up as no team in the second section passed the Bears, but in
the final heat all four teams bettered the mark to push Baylor to
sixth. It was the first time
Baylor had used the quartet of Heriot, Allen, Seale and Gary in
competition this season.
In
his first NCAA Indoor Championships, Felix Obi finished sixth in the
triple jump with a leap of 52-4.5 to take home his first All-American
honor. The freshman saved his
best for last; using his final attempt to record his best jump of the
night.
"It
was either go big or go home for me," Obi said. "I didn't want to
finish near last place in the finals, so I gave it all I got."
Skylar
White opened Baylor's second day of competition by taking part in her
third straight NCAA Indoor shot put event. However, the senior was
unable to secure All-American
status for a third consecutive year.
In
her final throw of the preliminary rounds, White recorded a heave of
54-7.5 to be fourth in the first flight. However, six throwers bettered
White's mark in the second flight
to knock her out of contention for the nine-person final. She finished
in 10th-place, just seven centimeters outside of ninth.
As
a team, Baylor tied for 25th on the women's side with eight points,
while on the men's side BU was tied for 32nd with six points.
The Bears will now open their outdoor schedule at the TCU Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday, March 15.
For updates on the team, follow @BaylorTrack on Twitter.
Complete Baylor Results
Men's Triple Jump
6. Felix Obi (FR) – 52-4.5 [15.96m] (First Indoor All-American honor)
Men's 4x400-Meter Relay
6. Baylor (Blake Heriot, Justin Allen, Drew Seale, Richard Gary) – 3:07.59 (Season-best)
Women's 60 Hurdles – Finals
2. Tiffani McReynolds (JR) – 7.96 (School record & Indoor All-American for third straight year)
Women's Shot Put
10. Skylar White (SR) – 54-7.5 [16.65m]
