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In his 10th year with the Baylor coaching staff and fourth as associate track coach, former Bear standout Michael Ford works primarily with the sprints, short hurdles and relays. Ford earned his second straight honor in 2006, as he was named the Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year for men's sprints by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association to go along with the same honor for women's sprints in 2005. In 2009, the Baylor 4x400-meter men's team put together one of the most impressive streaks in collegiate track and field. The Bears took a streak of wins and national titles that began in 2007 to the finals of the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The 4x400 relay took the NCAA indoor crown, then continued a streak of 42 straight wins until a third-place finish at the outdoor championships. In 2008, the Bears captured two more national titles, winning the men's indoor and outdoor 4x400-meter relays for the second-straight year. The Bears' time of 3:00.22 at the NCAA Championships ranked as the second-fastest in Baylor history, and the fifth-fastest collegiate time ever. Baylor claimed the indoor and outdoor titles in the same season for the fifth time in school history and only the 11th time ever. Baylor again made history at the Drake Relays as the men's and women's teams combined for a record seven relay titles at the meet. The women claimed four relay titles, the most ever for a women's team, and the Lady Bears moved into first place in all-time relay titles at the Drake Relays. The Bears had solid showings at the national meets as all four Baylor relays earned All-America honors at the outdoor championships. In addition, Trey Harts and Tiffany Townsend earned All-America honors in the indoor and outdoor 200 meters. Townsend set a new school record in the 200 meters, clocking 22.75 at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. In addition, the women's sprint relay set a new school mark, running 43.60 at the outdoor conference meet. During the summer, Townsend won the USA Junior Championship in the 200 meters, and later anchored the United States to a gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the 2008 IAAF World Junior Championships. Also in 2008, Ford began his tenure coaching Jeremy Wariner, as well as other Olympians Darold Williamson, Reggie Witherspoon and Sanjay Ayre. Under Ford's leadership, Wariner claimed the silver medal in the 400 meters at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and won a gold medal as the anchor leg on the 4x400-meter relay. Witherspoon also won a gold medal, running the third leg in the preliminaries of the 4x400-meter relay. During the 2007 season, the Baylor men's 4x400-meter relay won the indoor and outdoor NCAA titles, the fourth time in Baylor history and just the 10th time in collegiate history that feat has been accomplished. At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the 4x400-meter relay set a new Baylor record of 3:00.04, breaking the 12-year-old school record that Ford helped set as the leadoff leg. Ford coached Witherspoon to Big 12 indoor titles in the 200 meter and 400 meters for the second straight season. Witherspoon also captured the Big 12 title in the outdoor 200 meters, and was named High Point Performer for both conference championships. Also, the Bears claimed the Big 12 title in the men's 4x100-meter relay for the second straight year, the first time Baylor history to win back-to-back conference championships in the sprint relay. Witherspoon and Trey Harts also earned All-America honors in the indoor 200 meters. Baylor made history at the Drake Relays, winning all four sprint relays (4x100-meter, 4x200-meter, 4x400-meter, and sprint medley), becoming the first school to accomplish the feat in 63 years. In 1944, Illinois also captured all four relays, the only other men's university team to sweep the sprint relays. During 2007, Ford coached former Baylor All-American Williamson to the bronze medal at the USATF Indoor Championships. Williamson won gold as a member of the United States 4x400-meter relay team at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Ford also coaches Ayre, who won gold in the 400 meters at the Jamaica National Championships. In 2006, freshman Jacob Norman captured the NCAA championship in the indoor 60 meters with a school-record time of 6.56. Norman also anchored the men's 4x100-meter relay to its first Big 12 title in the event since 2000. Both the men's and women's 4x400-meter relays swept the indoor and outdoor conference titles. Jerome Miller was the national runner-up in the 60-meter hurdles with a school record time of 7.66 and Witherspoon was an All-American in the indoor 200 meters. In 2005, Ford guided the 4x100-meter relay to a school record and helped Elizabeth Wilson pull a stunning upset by winning the Big 12 indoor 200-meter title and set a new school record at 23.53. Carla Grace was one of the top freshmen in the Big 12 Conference, earning All-America honors on the Bears' indoor 4x400-meter relay and earning all-region and all-conference accolades in both the 100 and 200 meters. The 2005 edition of the men's 4x400-meter relay of Kevin Mutai, Mark Teter, Wil Fitts and Williamson earned All-America honors both indoors and outdoors, finishing second at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Ford was heavily involved with the success of the 2004 men's 4x400-meter relay squads. The indoor team of Jamen Saziru, Teter, Wariner and Williamson set a new NCAA record with a time of 3:03.96 at the NCAA Indoor Championships, then Braelon Davis and Fitts joined Wariner and Williamson to claim the title at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 3:01.03. Wariner, the Olympic gold-medalist in the 400 meters, and Williamson went on to run the third and anchor legs, respectively on the United States gold-medal 4x400-meter relay team. Ford also guided both the men's and women's 4x100-meter relay squads to the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Ford was instrumental in the development of All-American sprinter LaKadron Ivery, who holds three school records and finished second in the 100 and 200 meters and the long jump, while running on the Bears' 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays at the 2005 Big 12 Outdoor Championships. In 2004, Ivery won gold in the 200 meters competing for the United States at the North America, Central America and Caribbean Under-23 Championships in Sherbrooke, Canada. Ford spent three years as an assistant coach at the University of Rochester, working with sprinters and 400-meter hurdlers under the direction of head coaches Tim Hale (1998) and Richard Mackenzie (1999-2000). In 1998, Ford helped guide the Yellow Jackets to indoor-outdoor Associate of American Universities titles. The AAU is a 61-member organization of the leading public and private research and graduate institutions in the nation. Rochester established eight school records in sprints and relays while Ford was a member of the coaching staff. Like his fellow assistant coaches, Ford enjoyed a stellar collegiate career at Baylor. The 1997 graduate was a two-time 4x400-meter relay national champion, running the first leg for both the 1995 team and the 1996 team. Both of those teams also won conference titles. Ford's six relay All-America honors are tied for ninth all-time at Baylor. In 1996, he and the 4x400 team finished second at the NCAA Indoor National Championships after finishing first at the Southwest Conference Championships. During his time at Baylor, Ford was considered the nation's best 4x400 leadoff leg. In 1995, he sparked the Bears national title relay team to a school-record time of 3:00.60 -- then the fifth-fastest outdoor time in NCAA history -- during the preliminaries of the NCAA Championship meet. In that race, Ford ran a 45.51-second split. He also turned in second-place finishes in the 400 meters at the 1993 Southwest Conference Indoor Championships and at the 1995 SWC Outdoor Championships. Ford's relay success reached beyond his Baylor experience. In 1995, he was a member of the bronze-medal East 4x400 team at the U.S. Olympic Festival. While in high school, he won the 400 meters at the American Amateur Union Junior Olympics in record time. Ford also added New York State and Eastern States championship titles in the quarter-mile to his resume. A native of Rochester, N.Y., Ford was inducted into the Section V Track & Field Hall of Fame in May 2003. |
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