Baker Runs 9.94 at USATF Championships
6/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Outdoor Track
EUGENE, Oregon – In his first 100 meters in almost a month, Ronnie Baker returned to the track with a spectacular performance on day one of the USATF Championships at Hayward Field on Thursday night.
Running in heat one of a star-studded field, Baker blazed down the track to a time of 9.94 seconds, with a wind that was just above the legal limit at +2.1 m/s. The time is the fastest of his young career and gave him a third-place finish in his heat and seventh overall to advance to Friday's semifinals.
It was the second time this season he accomplished a time under 10 seconds in the 100-meter dash, setting the mark in the final of the Big 12 Championships at 9.99.
Also competing in the men's 100 was Horned Frog great Charles Silmon, who recorded a fifth-place mark in heat two and 12th overall at 10.02. His time was a seasonal-best under legal conditions (+1.7 m/s). Silmon has also tallied a sub-10 wind-aided mark this year of 9.91, coming at the Texas Relays in Austin on March 28.
Baker and Silmon will return to the track for the semis on Friday at 5:15 p.m. PDT/7:15 CDT looking for a chance to run in the final at 7:30 PDT/9:30 CDT.
On the women's side, Jessica Young grabbed the final qualifying spot behind a wind-aided (+3.0 m/s) 11.14 seconds in the 100 meters to finish fifth in heat one and 16th overall.
The school record holder Young will compete on Friday at 5 p.m. PDT/7 p.m. CDT, with the final looming at 7:21 PDT/9:21 CDT.
