FAYETTEVILLE -- Jada Baylark joined some fast company at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville this outdoor track and field season.
Record-tying fast.
SEC OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
WHEN Friday through Sunday
WHERE Tom Black Track, Knoxville, Tenn.
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Men: Texas A&M. Women: Arkansas
FAVORITES Men: No. 1 Florida, No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 8 Arkansas. Women: No. 1 LSU, No. 4 Arkansas, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 6 Georgia
INTERNET SEC Network-Plus on Friday and Saturday
TELEVISION SEC Network on Sunday
Jada Baylark at a glance
SPORT Track and Field
COLLEGE Arkansas
CLASS Sophomore
EVENTS 100, 200, 400 relay
HIGH SCHOOL Little Rock Parkview
AGE 20 (born Oct. 17, 1997)
PARENTS Danelle and Robin Baylark
NOTEWORTHY Ran 11.10 seconds in the 100 meters this season to tie Veronica Campbell-Brown’s Arkansas record. … Ran wind-aided 11.09 at the Texas Relays, and 23.0 in the 200 at the LSU Gold meet. … Earned All-American honors as a freshman last year with leg on Arkansas’ sixth-place 400 relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. … Finished sixth in the 60 at the SEC Championships this year while running 7.24.
Baylark, a sophomore from Little Rock Parkview, opened the season by running 11.10 seconds in the 100 meters to match Veronica Campbell-Brown's school record set in 2004.
The same Campbell-Brown who is still competing at 35 for her native Jamaica and has won eight Olympic medals -- three gold -- and 13 World Championships medals -- five gold.
"You look at the clock and time Jada ran and go, 'Whoa! Wait a minute! That's really fast,' " said Lance Harter, the Razorbacks' women's head coach since 1990. "Then you start memory checking -- 'That's Veronica-type territory.' "
Baylark didn't immediately understand the significance of what she had done.
"I asked Jada, 'Do you understand who Veronica Campbell-Brown is?' " Harter said. "Right after the race, she had no idea.
"I said, 'Go upstairs to our offices and there's a picture of Veronica holding a whole bunch of medals -- and they're not high school medals. They're all from the Olympic Games.' Jada said, 'Oh, that's who that is.' Now she knows."
Baylark has since read up on Campbell-Brown's career.
"Doing a lot of research makes it a really special feeling to tie her record," Baylark said. "I've got a lot more confidence in myself now and realize I'm really fast."
Baylark leads the sprinters for No. 4 Arkansas going into the SEC Championships, which will be held Friday through Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn. She'll run the in the 100, 200 and on the 400 relay.
"We're expecting good things from Jada at the conference meet," said Arkansas assistant Chris Johnson, who coaches the sprinters. "Not to take anything for granted, but I would give her a top-five finish in the 100 and 200.
"If you can be in the top five in the SEC in any event -- but especially in the sprints -- you're doing an exceptional job."
Baylark didn't expect to be running track in college.
"I did gymnastics for 12 years, so honestly that's what I thought I'd do in college," she said. "But I got too tall for gymnastics, so I switched to track."
Baylark, 5-8, ran, hurdled and jumped well enough at Parkview to be the All-Arkansas Preps 2016 girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year. She had bests of 11.77 in the 100, 14.22 in the 100 hurdles and 39 feet, 9 inches in the triple jump.
Arkansas' coaches expected the heptathlon to be Baylark's primary event along with hurdling and triple jumping.
"She ran some decent 100s in high school, but we never thought she'd be an elite level sprinter," Johnson said. "Then when we started doing our preseason workouts last year, you could see some glimpses of real talent and potential in her as a sprinter.
"I always tell my athletes, 'The event is going to pick you. We're not going to necessarily pick the event for you.' It just seemed like the sprints took off for her. We decided, let's go 100 percent with sprinting and see what happens. We rolled the dice, and we hit."
As a freshman Baylark ran 7.46 in the 60 and 23.80 in the 200 indoors to rank ninth and 10th on Arkansas' all-time lists. Outdoors she ran 11.38 in the 100 and 23.38 in the 200 to rank fifth and fourth on the lists. She competed at the NCAA Championships in the sprints and earned All-American honors when she ran on the Razorbacks' sixth-place 400 relay.
At this year's SEC Indoor Championships, Baylark was sixth in the 60, lowering her time to 7.24, and ran on Arkansas' seventh-place 400 relay. She ran the 60 at the NCAA Championships but didn't make the final at 7.28.
Then came Baylark's record-tying mark in the 100.
"To be in the same conversation as Veronica Campbell-Brown when she was here, I think it's phenomenal for Jada," Johnson said. "I think Jada can still hurdle and triple jump, but her heart is really set on sprinting.
"It's something she's very much into now and she's very comfortable doing it. As well as she's done, we think she's got a lot more she can do."
Baylark said her background in gymnastics has benefitted her as a sprinter.
"I feel like it's helped me with my balance and my stability," she said.
Baylark has the rest of this outdoor season as well as the next two years to try to break Campbell-Brown's record in the 100.
"I think Jada has a really high ceiling," Johnson said. "The sky is the limit."
Sports on 05/10/2018