March 6, 2004
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Senior sprinter Kenneth Baxter slid under the NCAA's 60-meter dash provisional mark of 6.72 seconds Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame's Alex Wilson Invitational, with his first-place time of 6.71.
Baxter's 6.71 was .01 seconds off his school record mark of 6.70, which he recorded on Valentine's Day of 2003.
Baxter, a two-time All-American in the 200-meter dash, has earned provisional marks in the 60 and 200 races this season, and should compete in both events next weekend at the national championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. His best 200 time of 21.13 was recorded last month at the New York Armory.
Even though Baxter has not registered an NCAA automatic mark in either sprint, he has been regularly ranked by Trackwire in its weekly Dandy Dozen report. In last week's edition, Baxter was No. 11 in the 200, and two weeks ago was 10th in the 60 and eighth in the 200.
If Baxter makes the cut, he will join Purdue's automatic qualifiers Keith McBride (weight throw) and Nedzad Mulabegovic (shot put). Scott Hecht and Tiffany Britten also are on the bubble, as they have recorded several provisional marks in their respective events, but no automatics.
Britten tried one final time Saturday to automatically qualify for the NCAA's, but peaked at 47 feet, 7 inches in the shot put. The NCAA automatic mark is listed at 54-1 3/4. Britten's varsity record mark of 50-9 1/4, was posted against Indiana State on Jan. 31.