WACO, Tex. - The Wayland Baptist track team had to battle not only the elements, but competition from every intercollegiate level at the rain-shortened Michael Johnson Classic on Saturday at Baylor's Hart-Patterson Track Complex. The meet was suspended with four scheduled events remaining, including the men's 5,000 meters and both the 4x400-meter relays.

The highlight of the rainy day for the Pioneers came in the Men's 800-meter Invitational when WBU senior Kirby Dunn finished in second place. Baylor's Chris Gowell ran a 1:50.23 to win the race, but Dunn was right behind the NCAA All-American with an automatic qualifying time of 1:50.62.

The women's 4x100-meter relay team, running for the first time without four-time sprint National Champion Kimberly Smith, was also impressive in the less-than-ideal weather. The foursome of Leandria Lee, Bianca Grant, Kydia Echols and Keliesha Ross won their heat with a time of 47.14 and wound up finishing just .01 behind fifth-place Baylor in the overall standings.

Other top performances were turned in by freshman Myran Roundtree who was third in the long jump and Elva Pedroza, a senior, who was fifth in the 1,500-meters. Roundtree hit the automatic standard with a leap of 7.15 meters (23-05.50), while Pedroza crossed the finish line in 4:51.42.

The Pioneer men had two runners to finish in the top ten in the 1,500-meters. Freshman Hildon Boen was eighth (3:59.93), while sophomore Lucius Lopez came in tenth (4:01.13).

Jarrod Morris, another freshman, was tenth in the regular 800-meters (1:57.17), and first-year distance runner Catherine Leubner just missed a top ten finish, coming in 11th in the 5,000-meters (19:01.86).