The most telling example of just how far ahead of the competition Baylor distance runner Brandon Lord is came after his 3200-meter race had ended.
While all the other runners raised their arms above their heads, knelt on the grass or took in huge gulps of air, Lord stood nearby accepting congratulations, smiling and joking without so much as being short of breath and barely having broken a sweat.
Lord, a University of Georgia signee, easily won the only running event at Tuesday’s Division II state-qualifying region meet at Baylor. He spent the final three laps pacing himself so he didn’t pull away from second-place finisher Taylor Dix so far that he couldn’t shout encouragement to his Baylor teammate.
Only the first-place finisher in each event automatically qualifies for next week’s state meet in Murfreesboro, but other high finishers in each event can claim at-large berth.s
The region’s remaining running events resume Thursday at Baylor at 5. Baylor leads the girls’ team scores by 16 points over GPS, and McCallie leads Baylor by 33 in the boys’ team scores.
Baylor’s Hannah Jumper also blistered her 3200-meter field, finishing 33 seconds ahead of her next closest competitor. Her 11:03.04 was also a school record.
“She started the season running around an 11:15, so she has really taken a lot of time off in that event,” Baylor coach Bill McMahan said. “The amazing thing is her and Brandon are both turning in those times all by themselves out there, without anybody close to push them.
“Today is a nerve-racking event because you’re trying to qualify for the state. Once you get in the state meet, you can relax and just run your race.”
GPS’s Simone Busby was also dominant in the discus and shot put. Her throw of 108 feet, 2.25 inches in the discus was nearly six feet farther than second-place finisher Ryan Bock of Baylor, and Busby won the shot by 4 feet, 4 inches over second-place Jayda Johnson of Knoxville Webb. Bruisers teammate Tory Kemp won the long jump and was second in the triple jump, and GPS’s Julianne Wilson easily won the high jump.
McCallie’s Keenan Hale won the high jump and will wait to see if his third-place distance in the triple jump will qualify him in that event. He still has the 110-meter hurdles and 4×100 relay remaining.
“I expected to do better in the triple jump,” Hale said. “But I actually feel really good about my chances in every other event. Hopefully my triple jump distance will be enough to get me in in that event, too.”