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April 24, 2003

DES MOINES, Iowa - On a damp, cold evening in Des Moines, Iowa, the Baylor track and field team got a solid start at the 94th annual Drake Relays. Four Bears competed in the distance carnival at Drake Stadium with senior Debbie Thornhill winning the women's 5,000 and Matt Chance recording his first regional-qualifying time of the season in the men's event.

Senior Debbie Thornhill started the Bears off on a solid note, winning the first university race of the day, the 5,000-meter run. She and Michigan State's Jamie Krzyminski pulled away from the rest of the runners early in the race, making it a two-way battle for the win. Thornhill trailed Krzyminski for the majority of the race, but the Wichita Falls, Texas-native pulled out from behind as she rounded the final curve and overtook Krzyminski down the stretch. Thornhill bettered her regional-qualifying time in the event, clocking a season-best 16:24.46. Krzyminski took second with a time of 16:24.69.

Thornhill is Baylor's first individual Drake Relays champion since Bayano Kamani won the invitational heat of the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 2001. Baylor has not had a female individual champion since recording three victories in 1999. That year Sherri Smith took the 5,000 crown with a school-record time of 16:10.62. The other two women's victories in 1999 were Nzingah Kamani in the 100 hurdles and Ssereta Lafayette in the 100.

In the men's 5,000, junior Matt Chance clocked a 14:21.57 to finish fifth. With his best time of the season by nearly 22 seconds (14:43.27), Chance became the 21st Baylor athlete to qualify for this season's regional meet. Westley Keating of Texas-Pan American won the men's race with a time of 14:12.47.

Freshman Lisa Cornelius made her first career appearance at the Drake Relays. She ran an excellent 5,000-meter race, clocking a season-best time of 17:13.10 to finish seventh. She dropped more than 45 seconds ahead of her previous best time in the event (18:01.06).

The final competitor of the night for the Bears was Megan McCoin in the 10,000. Running the race for the first time this season, the junior recorded a time of 37:27.68 to finish 16th.

Head coach Clyde Hart was pleased with the evening's races saying: "I think Debbie Thornhill did a super job. Finishing first at the Drake Relays is quite an accomplishment. And, she beat an outstanding 5,000 runner in Michigan State All-American Jamie Krzyminski. Lisa Cornelius had a personal best time, which was an outstanding race for a freshman. Matt Chance also ran an outstanding race to qualify for the regional meet."

The Relays continue of Friday and Saturday with the preliminary races and several relay events taking place on Friday.