Baylor Track & Field Closes 2023 Season with Two All-American Relay Squads
AUSTIN, Texas – The Baylor track and field women’s team closed out the 2023 season at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at UT’s Mike A. Myers Stadium.
The Bears scored five team points in the women’s competition to tie for 43rd place, but the day was highlighted by All-American finishes that also found top-2 marks in the BU history books from the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays.
THE RUNDOWN
The 4x100 squad of Mariah Ayers, Imaobong Uko, Bria Bullard and Michaela Francois set their third-consecutive program record in the 4x100-meter relay to squeeze into the final spot on the All-American podium. The 2023 relay crew, which was assembled for their first race 42 days ago at the LSU Invitational, put every mark this season on the program’s top-10 list in positions one, two, three and a tie for eighth.
In the final race of the 2023 collegiate track and field season, Uko, Gontse Morake, Jasmine Gryne and Ayers posted the second-fastest 4x400-meter relay mark in program history, a 3:27.45. Pushed by Ayers’ 50.08 split on the anchor leg, the Bears crossed the line in fifth place for the best women’s 4x4 finish since the bronze medal-winning mark in 2009.
Koi Johnson bowed out of the triple jump after missing the cut for the final three jumps with her third-best mark of the season at 42-11 on her first attempt. The senior finished 17th.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Michael Ford
On the women’s finish at NCAAs…
“The women’s team has been training so hard all year long and trending upwards. Looking at the rankings, we started around 80th and then we just kept moving up as they got more confident in themselves. The hardest thing was making them believe they could run with the bigger schools. I was very impressed with the 4x100-meter relay. There were some tough handoffs, but they recovered and ran another school record in the dreaded Lane One. The 4x400 got one of their highest finishes in a while. Ima [Uko] and Gontse [Morake] did an amazing job in those first two legs. It’s been a long season, but I’ve been very impressed and proud of them.”