Baylor Track Heads to Columbia with Speed, Jumps, and a Promise Kept
COLUMBIA, S.C. - When Michael Ford and Tim Hall were assistant coaches grinding through the track and field circuit, they made a pact: if either ever became a head coach, they'd support each other at home meets. Fast forward to this weekend, and that promise is playing out in real time.
Ford, now the head coach at Baylor, is bringing a select group of Bears to Columbia for the Carolina Classic, hosted by Hall’s South Carolina squad. The meet kicks off Friday at the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex and runs through Saturday.
“The outdoor schedule wasn’t going to work out, but I definitely wanted to support him,” Ford said. “Their women are ranked third and the men are 19th. But this is just an opportunity to go somewhere else, see another part of the country, and honestly, go against some other teams that we haven’t seen before.”
This isn’t a massive Power Five showdown - the 13-team field includes just four Division I programs - but that’s not the point. For Baylor, this trip is about targeted development. Ford’s bringing a smaller roster focused on sprints and jumps, aiming to sharpen performances and chase qualifying marks for conference and national meets.
“It’s not as big as I was thinking going into it,” Ford admitted. “But I think what we need right now is to get our triple jumpers some marks and then our sprint group to get some conference and national marks. That’s a fast track at South Carolina, so I think we have a chance to put up some good times.”
Alongside Baylor and South Carolina, the meet features East Carolina, The Citadel, North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State, and a mix of smaller programs like Allen University, Benedict College, and Lenoir-Rhyne.
The Baylor women come into the weekend ranked 22nd nationally after dropping three spots in the latest USTFCCCA poll. Still, there's plenty of firepower on the roster. Pole vaulter Molly Haywood and 200-meter standout Tiriah Kelley remain among the top two or three athletes in the country in their respective events - a testament to the talent Ford is working with.
And while individual performances are key, Ford also has his eyes on the relays - particularly the 4x400-meter squads. At last week's DeLoss Dodds Invitational in Manhattan, Kansas, both Baylor relays posted season-best times, with the men clocking 3:08.25 behind the quartet of Malik Franklin, Abbas Ali, Austen Diggs, and Tyler Honeyman. That time currently ranks second in the Big 12.
The women’s relay - Serafima Lucero, Alyssa Jones, Jada Edwards, and Kelley - finished fifth in 3:41.92. Ford sees room for growth.
“I was pleased to a point with the ladies’ relay. But I think we’ll run a lot better this week, because I think we’re more like a 3:35 team,” he said.
As for the men, Ford believes there’s still more in the tank.
“I told the guys, I still think we’ve got about three seconds that we can get. But I thought they ran really well, considering our best time last year was maybe 3:04, 3:05 - and that was with Nate [Nathaniel Ezekiel],” he said.
“This is going to be more of a committee of runners than just having one big leg at the end to make it up. Like I told them, if you all run 46 [seconds], that’s 3:04.”
The meet opens Friday with the men’s and women’s triple jump and women’s 60-meter hurdles prelims at 3 p.m. CT. Saturday’s slate starts early, with the high jump at 9:30 a.m., and running events kicking off at 11:30 a.m. with the women’s 300 meters.
For Baylor, this weekend isn’t about flashy headlines or big-time matchups. It’s about sharpening steel, building momentum, and honoring a coaching bond years in the making.