Demario Prince and Tiriah Kelley are going where they've never gone before.
In opening-day action at the NCAA Indoor Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center, the Baylor duo both advanced to their first indoor national final and are in line for All-America honors on Saturday.
Prince was fourth in the first heat and ran the sixth-fastest time in the 60-meter hurdles prelims, a 7.49 clocking that ranks as the program's second-best all time. The junior from Jamaica set the school record two weeks ago with a 7.46 as the Big 12 Championship runner-up.
Four of the top six qualifying times came out of that first heat, including Auburn's Ja'Kobe Tharp running a national-best 7.36 time that is just one hundredth of a second off the collegiate, facility and meet records set by Florida's Grant Holloway seven years ago.
"Today was a good day, Demario and Tiriah advancing to their first-ever indoor final," Baylor coach Michael Ford said. "Demario didn't have a great start, but after hurdle 1, he closed well."
Prince, who was an outdoor All-American last year in the 110-meter hurdles, draws lane 7 for Saturday's 6 p.m. final.
Kelley, who sat out the Big 12 Indoor Championships two weeks ago with the flu, chased two-time NCAA champion Jameesia Ford of South Carolina to the line as the runner-up in heat two of the 200-meter prelims with the third-fastest time overall at 22.67.
Ford's heat-winning time of 22.54 stood up as the best in the field until Georgia freshman Adaejah Hodge lowered her nation-leading time to 22.28 in the fourth and final heat. Kelley will run out of lane 5 in the first heat that pits her against reigning NCAA Indoor champion Indya Mayberry of TCU.
"Tiriah set her race perfect," Ford said. "I was really happy the way she ran the second curve. She will need to finish better tomorrow."
Baylor will also have junior Molly Haywood going on Saturday's 4 p.m. finals of the women's pole vault. A two-time outdoor All-American and four-time conference champion, Haywood's best finish at an indoor nationals came two years ago as a freshman when she was ninth with a mark of 14-5 ¼.
Saturday's Day 2 action will be streamed by ESPN+, with live results available at NCAA Indoor Championships.
NCAA MEET SCHEDULE
(Baylor entries)
Friday's results
Men's 60-meter hurdles prelims, Demario Prince, 6th, 7.49
Women's 200 meters prelims, Tiriah Kelley, 3rd, 22.67
Saturday, March 14
(all times are Central)
4:00 p.m.: Women's pole vault (Molly Haywood)
5:30 p.m.: Women's 200-meter final (Kelley)
6:00 p.m.: Men's 60-meter hurdles final (Prince)
