Tribune-Herald staff report

DES MOINES, Iowa — It wasn’t a gold medal, but a bronze still holds some luster for Baylor’s Robert Griffin.

Griffin, the freshman track and football phenom from Copperas Cove, charged to a bronze medal in the 400-meter hurdles finals Friday night at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium.

Griffin actually finished fourth in the race with a time of 49.55, but moved onto the medal stand when third-place finisher Justin Gaymon of Georgia was disqualified following the race for hooking his trail leg around a hurdle on the back stretch.

Another freshman, Washington State’s Jeshua Anderson, claimed the gold medal by holding off Auburn’s Reuben McCoy in a bang-bang finish at the line. Anderson, the national high school record-holder in the 300 hurdles, ran 48.69 to McCoy’s 48.71.

Even in third place, Griffin is ahead of schedule, considering he should have been a senior in high school this spring. After leading Copperas Cove to a second straight 4A Division I football final last fall, Griffin graduated a semester early in order to go through spring drills with Art Briles’ Bears. Griffin didn’t even join the BU track team until the week after the spring football game.

“I know Robert is disappointed he didn’t win, but for a freshman to go out and perform at this level like he has, that’s just outstanding,” Baylor coach Todd Harbour said.

In other action Friday, Baylor sophomore LeJerald Betters cruised on through the semifinals of the 400 with a 45.12-second clocking, the best of the round. Running in the second heat and saddled with an unfamiliar lane assignment in lane 8, Betters looked completely unfazed. He led wire-to-wire, his long strides widening the gap over his nearest competitor, Oral Roberts’ Andretti Bain (45.22), down the back stretch.

Betters, a former Waco High track star who was sixth at last year’s NCAA meet, will run for his first individual title today out of lane 5, with his chief competitors, Washington’s Jordan Boase (lane 6) and USC’s Lionel Larry (7) out in front of him where he can see them.

“LeJerald ran a real smart race,” Harbour said. “He put himself in great position to hopefully win a title tomorrow. He wanted to get a good lane for the final, and he went out and did that.”

Baylor’s women picked up some strong points in the 4x100 relay, darting to a third-place finish behind Texas A&M (42.59) and LSU (42.85). With freshman Tiffany Townsend on the anchor, Baylor clocked 43.60 to nip Florida in a photo-finish at the tape. Joining Townsend on the medal stand were fellow freshmen Brittany Bruce and Brittany Carr and senior Carla Grace.

Baylor’s time was only a hundredth of a second off the school record.

The Baylor men notched a sixth-place effort in its 4x100 final, running 39.47. LSU, with NCAA champion Richard Thompson on the second leg, and bronze medalist Trindon Holliday on the anchor, won the race in a stadium-record 38.42.

The NCAA meet will conclude today. Baylor will compete in the men’s 400 final with Betters, the men’s 200 final with Trey Harts, the women’s 200 with Townsend, the women’s 1,500 with Lauren Hagans and both the men’s and women’s 4x400 relays.