WE ARE CHAMPIONS
OLYMPIC & WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GOLD MEDALLISTS
CURRENT OLYMPIANS
PREPARING CHAMPIONS FOR LIFE
No team or individual is successful without a championship process, and Baylor Preparing Champions for Life is centered on four pillars:
Committed to learning on the track and in the classroom, Baylor Track and Field recorded a team GPA of 3.0 or better for the 25th consecutive semester. Baylor has also led the Big 12 in Graduation Success Rate for eight out of the past 10 years.
Our athletes are student-athletes, NCAA Champions, BIG 12 Champions, All Americans, Olympians and Olympic Champions. They strive to achieve their full potential, and our student-athlete support services are there every step of the way:
- Performance Nutrition
- Sports Psychology and Counseling Services
- Athletic Medicine
- Academic Services
- Character Formation
COACHING STAFF
Michael Ford is in his 4nd year as Director of the Baylor Bears and 24nd year coaching at Baylor. Ford has mentored multiple All-Americans, notably two-time NCAA champion Trayvon Bromell, five-time All-American hurdler Tiffani McReynolds, Kiana Horton and Tiffany Townsend.
Coach Ford was 2024 Paris Olympics Men's sprint and hurdle coach, 2019 head coach for at the Europe vs. USA match, and Pan-Am Games. Also, men’s sprints, hurdles and relays coach for the 2010 USA Junior World Team
Stacey Smith is in her 23rd season as an assistant coach at Baylor. The most decorated women’s athlete in program history, the former Stacey Bowers currently holds the Baylor outdoor and indoor record in the triple jump.
Coach Smith has coached 17 All-Americans during her time, including 13 on the women’s side and four on the men’s, along with nine Big 12 champions.
David Barnett is in his 4th season as at Baylor. Prior to Baylor Barnett has had a great impact on the national stage coaching an NCAA Champion, three NCAA top-3 finishers, and nine All Americans
The Bears have hosted the NCAA South Central Regional for eight of the last 14 seasons with the women finishing second in 2009, 2006, 2005 and 2003 and third in 2004. The men finished seventh in 2006, 2004 and 2003 and fourth in 2010.
Jeff Chakouian is in his eigth season as an Baylor assistant track and field coach. Chakouian serves as the throws coach.
In 2024 Chakouian coached Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi to his first Olympic birth in Paris. Alongside coaching Jacobus (JL) Van Rensburg to World U20 Silver medal in Lima Peru.
Chakouian guided Cole Hardan Hardan to weight throw and hammer throw records with four All-Big 12 accolades. Coach Chakouian also coached Megan SaxvanderWeyden and Ricky Sanchez to All-Big 12 outdoor honors in the javelin.
Brandon Richards enters his 11th season as an assistant coach for Baylor track & field, where he coaches the Bears’ men’s and women’s pole vaulters.
Most recently Richards developed Molly Haywood to World under 20 Championship Gold in Lima Peru 2024. Prior to that coached KC Lightfoot to an NCAA indoor national title, a world championship and olympic birth. Previously four athletes with All-America honors in the pole vault.
He coached Baylor legend Annie Rhodes to the All-America double in the 2017 indoor and outdoor seasons, and did the same for freshman phenom KC Lightfoot during the 2019 indoor and outdoor campaigns.
Benjamin Dalton is in his sixth season at Baylor. The 2024 season saw Nathaniel Ezekiel make his Olympic Debut in Paris. Ezekiel made it to the Olympic semi finals, after taking 3rd at NCAA's, and a program record of 48.00
Dalton's impact at Baylor was imediate. In 2021 Ackera Nugent became NCAA 60m hurdle champion with a world U20 record. Deshaun Jones swept BIG 12 sprint hurdle titles indoor and out. Nugent also continued on to win World U20 Championships in the 100 meter hurdles.
2022 saw Nathaniel Ezekiel and Jayson Baldrige post NCAA #1 marks in the 400-meter hurdles, & Gontse Morake made it a Baylor sweep in the 400-meter hurdles at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships also posting a program record. Ackera Nugent won her first BIG 12 title indoors. At the Big 12 Outdoor Championship Nugent ran another program record 12.45 for silver, with Alexis Duncan in 12.93 for bronze. Elijah Morris and Johnny Brackins finished silver and bronze, with 13.51 and 13.62 respectively in the 110-meter hurdles.
FACILITIES
Please take time to completely fill out our Baylor Track and Field/ Cross Country questionnaire. It will be directed to our coaching staff.
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
As the oldest continually operating university in Texas, nationally-ranked Baylor University is rich with tradition and pride. Its vibrant Waco campus is nestled among 1,000 acres in the heart of Texas, between Dallas and Austin. A leader in research and community involvement, the private Christian university has an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship.
READY TO APPLY?
THE 7 STEPS TOWARD BECOMING A STUDENT-ATHLETE
- Ask your school counselor for a list of your high school’s NCAA core courses to make sure you take the right classes.
- Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center at eligibilitycenter.org.
- Check with your counselor to make sure you will graduate on time with the required number of NCAA core courses
- At the end of junior year, ask your counselor to upload your official transcript to the NCAA Eligibility Center.
- Complete all academic and amateurism questions in your NCAA Eligibility Center account at eligibilitycenter.org.
- After you graduate, ask your counselor to submit your final official transcript with proof of graduation to the NCAA Eligibility Center.
NCAA ELIGIBILITY CENTER REGISTRATION TUTORIAL
HOW TO REQUEST FINAL AMATEURISM CERTIFICATION