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Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Best of Quarter-Miler U
MEN
WOMEN
Of all the tough decisions I’ve had to make in putting these all-time Baylor athletic teams together, one of the most difficult choices was trying to determine how many athletes to put on the track team.
In track, you may have 40 guys on a roster. There are so many different events, so many races, and Baylor certainly has produced a slew of talented thinclads, especially on the men’s side.
Ultimately, I opted to go with 15 athletes, which I believe is in line with the ultra-exclusive format I’ve tried to use in selecting all the various teams. I can promise you that these 15 dream teamers would rack up some points at a fantasy track meet.
Incidentally, I will also point out that NCAA championships weighed heavily in determining my selections. It should also be noted that the teams include far more sprinters than field-event performers. Baylor didn’t earn the tag “Quarter-Miler U” for nothing.
WOMEN
Angelique Banket (1997-99): Banket ran a leg on BU’s one-and-only relay national champion, the indoor 4x400 team in 1998. She was a five-time All-American for her career.
Stacey Bowers Smith (1996-99): Bowers is the only BU woman to win an individual NCAA title, claiming the triple jump crown in 1999 with a leap of 45-10. She’s tied with three other athletes with nine All-America honors, and owns the top 10 triple jumps in school history both indoors and outdoors. Bowers married former BU football player Rodney Smith after graduation, and now serves as one of the track program’s assistant coaches.
Alayah Cooper (1997-98): One-fourth of BU’s national champion 4x400 relay team in ‘98, Cooper also claimed three conference titles, including a Big 12 crown in the 600-yard run.
She She Crawford (1991-94): A four-time All-American, Crawford is the second-best 100 runner (11.29) and fourth-best 200 runner (23.00) in school history.
Sally Geis (1991-93, 95): Geis is tied with Jennifer Jordan and Natalie Nalepa for the most conference titles of any BU trackster with five. She won three 5,000-meter SWC titles and two more in the 10,000.
April Holliness (2002-05): The best long jumper in school history, Holliness finished fifth at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships and was third in 2004. She also twice earned All-America honors indoors.
LaKadron Ivery (2002-05): A splendid sprinter, Ivery owns the school records in the 60 (7.31), the 100 (11.25) and the 200 (22.87).
Nichole Jones (2007-present): After graduating from high school a year early, Jones became the youngest athlete to win a Big 12 title when she won the 800 in a school-record time of 2:05.89. She has since lowered that record to 2:04.69, and also holds the top mark in the 1,000-meter run indoors at 2:45.68.
Jennifer Jordan (1995-97): A nine-time All-American and five-time conference champion, Jordan made history by running the anchor on the first national champion relay team in school history at the 1998 NCAA meet.
Stacy Milligan (1993-96): Milligan competed on five relay teams that achieved All-American recognition. She also qualified for the NCAA meet in the 400 in 1995, finishing eighth.
Natalie Nalepa (1988-91): One of three athletes (along with Sally Geis and Lisa Stone) to make both my all-time cross country and track teams, Nalepa is tied with Geis for the most individual conference championships with five. She’s the No. 2 runner in school history in the 5,000 (16:12.89) and ranks fourth in the 1,500 (4:19.47).
Yulanda Nelson (1996-99): A nine-time All-American, Nelson is the fourth and final member of the NCAA title-winning 4x400 relay team in ‘98 to make this list. As a senior in ‘99, Nelson won the Big 12 400-meter title during the indoor season. She holds the school record in the 400 both indoors and outdoors.
Barbara Petrahn (1999-2003): One of the more versatile athletes I saw come through Baylor, this native of Hungary was a five-time conference champion and nine-time All-American, tying her for the top spot on both lists. Petrahn ranks among Baylor’s top five runners in the 100 (11.44), 200 (22.92) and 400 (51.85).
Suzie Snider Eppers (1973-77): Also a member of BU’s all-time Lady Bear basketball team, this Robinson native owns the oldest unbroken record in Baylor’s books, throwing 48-8 in the shot put in 1974.
Lisa Stone (1988-91): Stone became the BU women’s program’s first-ever All-American when she finished eighth in the 5,000 at the 1989 NCAA outdoor meet. Overall, Stone won four SWC titles and earned four All-America prizes.
MEN
LeJerald Betters (2007-present): As he enters his third season at Baylor, the former Waco High product known as “Sticks” has already muscled his way to four 4x400 NCAA titles, sweeping both the indoor and outdoor crowns in each of his two seasons. In 2007, he teamed with Reggie Witherspoon, Kevin Mutai and Quentin Iglehart-Summers to notch the fastest 4x400 in school history at 3:00.04.
Danny Brabham (1970-73): Brabham owns eight of the the top 10 long jumps in school history, including the school record of 26-9 1/2. He won a pair of SWC titles in that event, and now serves as a BU assistant coach, overseeing all of the program’s field-event performers.
Willie Caldwell (1982-85): Caldwell was Baylor’s first track athlete to win a national title when he darted to gold in the 500-meter dash at the 1985 NCAA indoor meet. Later that year, he helped lay the foundation for Quarter-Miler U by running on BU’s first 4x400 national champion.
Brandon Couts (1998-2001): No Baylor track star ever won more conference championships than Couts, who claimed 15 (eight individual, seven relay) during his stellar run in Waco. He also won the 2000 NCAA indoor title in the 400, and anchored three 4x400 relay teams to gold medals in NCAA meet competition.
Bruce Davis (1981-84): Also a standout for Baylor in football, Davis was one of the school’s swiftest all-time sprinters. He registered three of the top five times in school history in the 100-meter dash, including a 10.16 that won the 1984 SWC title.
Todd Harbour (1978-81): You can bank on it: Harbour is the best distance runner in school history. A 10-time conference champion (including eight individual titles), BU’s current head coach still holds the NCAA record in the mile at 3:50.34. He also earned recognition on my all-time BU cross country squad.
Michael Johnson (1987-90): One of the top athletes in any sport to come through Baylor, MJ won three NCAA titles in the 200 and also ran on a pair of NCAA-winning 4x400 teams. Johnson still owns Baylor records in the indoor 200 (20.59), the outdoor 200 (19.85) and the outdoor 100 (10.13). Then he went on to an illustrious gold-medal career as a pro.
Bayano Kamani (1998-2001): A two-time NCAA champion in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, Kamani and Michael Smith became the first set of teammates to go 1-2 in that event at the NCAA meet in 2001. Kamani won two more championship rings for BU’s 4x400 title teams in 2000 and ‘01.
Tony Miller (1990, 92-94): Talk about your regulars at the NCAA meet. Miller achieved All-America honors 15 times, more than any other Baylor athlete. He competed on two NCAA 4x400 champions indoors and another one during the outdoor season.
Deon Minor (1992-95): Minor won the indoor 400-meter title as a freshman in 1992, then repeated as a senior in ‘95. In between, he also reached the top of the medal stand twice on 4x400 relay teams.
Bill Payne (1987, 89-91): The best pole vaulter in school history, Payne soared to three straight SWC indoor championships in that event from 1989-91. He also won the SWC title outdoors in 1991 with a school-record vault of 19-2 3/4.
Raymond Pierre (1986-89): Pierre became Baylor’s first-ever individual to win an NCAA outdoor title when he sprinted to gold in the 400 in 1989. Among Bears, only Jeremy Wariner, Michael Johnson and Darold Williamson have ever run faster than Pierre’s 44.59 at that meet.
Jeremy Wariner (2003-04): In two short years, Wariner made rapid progress as a quarter-miler, culminating with a sensational sophomore season when he swept the 400-meter titles indoors and outdoors, ran legs on both of national champion 4x400 relay teams and finished the summer off by winning gold at the Athens Olympics. Baylor counts Wariner’s time of 44 flat at the Olympics as the school record, because he was still technically enrolled in school at the time. (He turned pro right after the Games).
Darold Williamson (2002-05): Ruthless as an anchor runner, Williamson could chase down a racehorse if you asked him to. He won 12 conference titles (second-most in school history), including a four-year sweep of the Big 12’s outdoor 400-meter title. After winning three NCAA titles as part of 4x400 relay teams, Williamson finally got his individual gold as a senior in ‘05, winning the 400 at the NCAA outdoor meet.
Reggie Witherspoon (2006-07): After transferring from Florida, Witherspoon twice was the high-point performer at the Big 12 outdoor meet. He ran on a pair of national championship 4x400 teams, and notched 10 conference championships.
Coach: Clyde Hart (1964-2005): Who else? After inheriting the head coaching job from his mentor Jack Patterson in 1964, Hart, a former Baylor sprinter, built one of the top programs in the nation. Over his four decades, he coached 33 NCAA champions (14 individual and 19 relays) and a whopping 503 All-Americans. As the personal coach for Michael Johnson and later Jeremy Wariner, Hart earned a reputation as the premier 400-meter coach in track and field. He turned over head coaching duties to Todd Harbour in ‘05, but still works with the program, specializing with those quarter-milers.
- Introducing the all-time Baylor football team
- Baylor soccer's all-time squad
- The Best of Quarter-Miler U
- Nothing but aces for Baylor golf
- Baylor baseball's field of dreams
- Catching up to BU's swiftest cross country runners
- Introducing BU's all-time volleyball all-stars
- BU's all-time tennis teams
- These Bears could ball
- Baylor softball's all-time lineup
- BU women's hoops dream team
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