Sooners Crown A Big 12 Track Champion

May 20, 2000

COLUMBIA, Mo.- Junior Bambi Carson became the University of Oklahoma's second women's Big 12 Champion, and first in outdoor track, by winning the discus title today during the second day of the conference meet. The second day of the meet at Audrey Walton Track-Soccer Stadium featured combined event finals and six field event finals, three for the men and three for the women.

Carson jumped from third to first with her fifth throw of the competition, unleashing a toss of 162-6 to make the move. She then had to wait for the earlier leaders to finish their fifth round of throws and for all competitors to throw a sixth time to win the title.

"I had a feeling when I let it go that it was a good throw," the Marlow junior said. "I wish I had qualified for the NCAA but it feels great to win a conference title. Today was all technique and strength. The wind had been blowing, then we started competition and it just died. I wish we'd had a little wind.

"I'm really looking forward to the shot put competition tomorrow- this is a great throwing environment for the shot," Carson added.

Junior Janel Hayes finished second in the women's long jump as OU scored 19 points on the second day to move into seventh place. Hayes jumped 19-9.75, a season and career best, to produce eight points for the women. Lindsay Harris scored a point with a tie for seventh in the pole vault.

The Sooner men are 11th with one half point after Joe Butler tied for eighth in the high jump. Butler, a freshman, cleared 6-8.75 to tie his Sooner career best.

Senior Michael Blackwood ran a season-best 45.31 in the 400-meter dash to post the fastest qualifying time. The mark also broke the Audrey Walton Stadium record set in 1998 by Brandon Couts of Baylor. Couts had the second-fastest qualifying time, setting up an interesting final for Sunday.

The day started off in a bad way for OU as freshman Shane Benton had to withdraw from the decathlon after injuring himself while warming up for the pole vault in the 10-event competition. Benton re-injured his wrist.

The Sooner men qualified seven for Sunday's finals and also have opportunities to score in the discus, pole vault, javelin, 3,000-meter steeplechase, 5,000-meter run and both relays (400 and 1600). The Sooner women qualified five for the finals and also will have scoring opportunities in the 5,000-meter run, 400- and 1600-meter relays and the javelin, high jump, shot put, and triple jump finals.

In the women's team race, Nebraska has a 19-point lead over Kansas State 64-45 but Texas, 12th after two days, leads all teams with 15 qualifiers. Missouri leads the men's race with 46. Trailing closely behind are Nebraska with 42 and Texas with 34.

Action begins at 10 a.m. Sunday and will conclude with the 1600-meter relays at 5:45 p.m. (women) and 6 p.m.(men).

FINAL RESULTS (Winner and OU Placers)
Men's Team Scoring - 1. Missouri 46, 2. Nebraska 42, 3. Texas 34, 4. Texas A&M 32, 5. Kansas 21, 6. Iowa State 15.5, 7. Kansas State 14, 8. Colorado 8, 9. Baylor 6, 10. Texas Tech 5, 11. Oklahoma 0.5

Decathlon- 1. Andy Morris, KU, 7315

Long Jump- 1. Chris Hercules, Texas, 25-4.5

Shot Put- 1. Chris Cantwell, Missouri, 64-6.5

High Jump- 1. Mark Boswell, Texas, 7-3.75, 8. (tie) Joe Butler, OU, 6-8.75

Women's Final Team Standings- 1. Nebraska 64, 2. Kansas State 45, 3, Missouri 29, 4. Texas A&M 27, 5, Colorado 24, 6. Baylor 21, 7. Oklahoma 19, 8. Kansas 15, 9. Iowa State 13, 10. Oklahoma State 10, 11. Texas Tech 4, 12. Texas 1.

Heptathlon- 1. Michelle Moran, Missouri, 5590

Pole Vault- 1. Erin Anderson, Kansas State, 13-5.25, 7 (tie) Lindsay Harris, OU, 11-2.5

Long Jump- 1. Dahlia Ingram, Nebraska, 20-4.5, 2. Janel Hayes, OU, 19-9.75

Discus- 1. Bambi Carson, OU, 162-2

OU Qualifiers
Men
110-Meter Hurdles- Jonas Lusk, Joey Scott

400-Meter Dash- Michael Blackwood, Raoul Harvey

400-Meter Intermediate Hurdles- LaBoris Bean, Joey Scott

200-Meter Dash- Ernest Lewis

Women
100-Meter Hurdles- Alesha Peel

400-Meter Dash- Jennifer Fontenot

100-Meter Dash- Staneshia Bell

800-Meter Run- Aisha Stringer