Completed Event: Track and Field at Battle on the Bayou on April 3, 2026 ,
Final
Track and Field
at Battle on the Bayou
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooners Await NCAA Track & Field Invitations
May 22, 2002 | Track and Field
May 22, 2002
NORMAN, Okla. - It's a time for anxious waiting as one relay and seven Sooner individuals wait on invitations to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Those athletes all met NCAA provisional qualifying standards but must wait to see if they get the call to participate in the meet.
Hosted by Louisiana State University, the championships are scheduled for May 29-June 1 in Baton Rouge, La. The list of participants for the meet is scheduled to be released on Thursday, May 23, by the NCAA.
NCAA Update
Sophomore Leslie Dunlap became OU's first provisional qualifier for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with her winning vault at the Hurricane Invitational March 16. It marked the 11th consecutive meet for her to clear at least a provisional mark. The men's 1600-meter relay team joined the list with a season-best 3:06.49 to win the John Jacobs Invitational. Aldwyn Sappleton added his name to the list with a 1:48.87 in the 800 at the Michael Johnson/Southwestern Bell Classic. Tiffany Davis became the latest to add her name to the list with her time of 13.46 in 100-meter hurdles at the Big 12 Championships.
The Sooner vaulters have come up strong in the last three weeks as four men have added their names to the list. Austin Landreth was the latest to join the list with his winning vault on May 11. Previously, Michael McNamara, Michael Westlund and Brett Corlett (at the Texas Invitational and the ACU Invitational) had posted provisional marks. Westlund improved his mark at the Big 12 Championships last Saturday.
NCAA Ranking
Austin Landreth has the best ranking of any Sooner on the NCAA lists. He is 13th on the men's pole vault list as of May 20. Leslie Dunlap is ranked 15th on the women's pole vault list. Michael McNamara and Michael Westlund are tied for 17th in the men's vault followed by Brett Corlett, who is tied for 24th. The men's 1600-meter relay has the 22nd best time but moves up to 18th when duplicates are taken out. Aldwyn Sappleton, a member of that relay, is tied for 28th in the 800-meter run. Tiffany Davis ranks 21st in the 100-meter hurdles.
Sooners At The Big 12 Championship
Junior L'eron George was busy Sunday at the Big 12 Track and Field Championships and in the process, he produced 13.5 points for Oklahoma Sooners, the most produced by a Sooner man during the 2002 meet.
George ran the second leg of OU's 400-meter relay that finished seventh and the third leg of the 1600-meter relay that was third; finished fourth in the 100-meter dash and was third in the 200-meter dash, a race whose top three finishes were decided by .06 seconds. George ran a 21.03, a season best, to finish third in the 200.
Junior Tiffany Davis posted an NCAA provisional mark in the 100-meter hurdles. Seeded eighth heading into the final, she finished sixth with a wind-aided 13.46. That mark was 0.14 better than the NCAA provisional standard. It also was .16 seconds better than her previous season best in the event.
It was a day of individual highlights for the Sooners who finished 10th in the women's team standings and 11th in the men's team standings. It also was a day that the Sooner track and field program clinched the 2002 Bank of Oklahoma Bedlam Series Presented by Ford trophy for OU. The yearlong series was tied heading into the outdoor track and field championships. The Sooner men posted a combined indoor/outdoor score of 88.50 while Oklahoma State had a combined score of 35. The Sooner women had a combined score of 59.5 while the OSU women finished with a combined score of 46. Those advantages gave OU the Bedlam trophy by a 10-9 margin.
Jennifer Ledford broke her own school record in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a 10:54.62 to finish fifth in that event. Her time Sunday lowered the mark by another 26 seconds, the third time this season for her to drop the mark. The women vaulters, Leslie Dunlap and Lindsey Bourne, finished third and fifth. Freshman Amanda Warehime finished sixth in the shot put and Megan Crystal was eighth in that event. LaKisha Robinson was eighth in the 400-meter dash and ran on the women's 4 x 400-meter relay that finished eighth as well. She was joined on that quartet by Aisha Stringer, Kim Thomas and Alicia Emanuel.
For the Sooner men, sophomore Aldwyn Sappleton was third in the 800 and senior Raoul Harvey was seventh in the 400. That duo joined George and Moses Washington on the third-place 1600-meter relay. George was joined on the 400-meter relay by Andrew Crabbe, Brontez Steele and Edwin Jones.
Junior Michael Westlund cleared a season best 17-6.5, then missed on his next three attempts to finish second in the pole vault at the meet on Saturday. The Sooner men scored well in the pole vault, picking up 20 points. In addition to Westlund's second place finish, Brett Corlett was fourth, Robin Hanna was fifth and Austin Landreth was sixth.
In the women's heptathlon, freshman Chaundra Allard held onto sixth place during the final three events and junior Taylor Cates moved into eighth place on the first event of the second day of competition, then held on to earn a medal. The Sooner women also got points from senior Sand Swaby, who was fifth in the high jump with a career best 5-8.75.
The Sooners also had some hard luck on Saturday. Senior Ben Winter had to pull out of the second day of the decathlon because of an injury. Senior Edwin Jones injured his hamstring in the 100-meter dash prelims and had to scratch from the 200. A pair of Sooners, Sappleton and Washington, ended up in the same heat of the 800-meter run, a race that advanced the five heat winners and next three fastest times. The duo ran together throughout the race, sharing the lead. A Kansas runner challenged late and Sappleton won at the wire. Washington finished third in the heat, but was 16th in the standings and did not advance.
Redshirt freshman Darren Hutchins was the only Sooner to have a final on Friday, the first day of the meet. He finished 19th in the 10,000. The first day marked the opening of the combined events for the Sooners. It also marked the beginning of the hard luck as freshman Dan Strong injured his hamstring in the first event of the decathlon and had to withdraw from competition because of the injury.
Rewriting The Career Best Lists
It was a weekend when you needed a pencil and an eraser to keep up with the Sooners. A total of 16 (12 women and 4 men) collegiate outdoor career best marks were set during the competition at the Big 12. Those who set collegiate career marks included Krystle Williams (26.26 in the 200); Tiffany Davis (13.46 in the 100-meter hurdles); Chaundra Allard (4,757 in the heptathlon, 14.77 in the 100-meter hurdles and 140-0 in the javelin); Jennifer Ledford (10:54.67 in the 3000-meter steeplechase); Sand Swaby (5-8.75 in the high jump); Kelsey Moore (5-5 in the high jump); Veronica Clayborne (5-3 in high jump and 16-8.75 in the long jump); Lindsey Bourne (11-9 in the pole vault); Barbara Phillips (124-0 in the hammer); Dan Strong (12.03 in the 100-meter dash); Andrew Crabbe (49.28 in the 400-meter dash); Joey McNair (14:57.64 in the 5000-meter run); and Kris Glenn (6-4.25 in the high jump).
Academic All-Big 12 Honorees
A total of 246 student-athletes, including 14 from the University of Oklahoma, were named to the 2002 Big 12 All-Academic teams that were released May 14. To qualify for first-team honors, a student athlete must have a 3.20 grade point average. Second-team honorees have at least a 3.00 GPA. Freshman and first-year transfers are not eligible and to be considered student-athletes must have competed in at least 60 percent of their team's competition. Seniors who meet the requirements except for the 60 percent competition are eligible for honors in their final season.
Sooners Andrew Crabbe, Darren Hutchins, Sara Justice and Kelli O'Rourke were among the 12 honorees who were recognized for earning a 4.00 GPA in at least one of the past two semesters.
First-team honorees for the Sooners included Crabbe, So, zoology, Grand Prairie, Texas; Kris Glenn, RS-Fr., journalism, Healdton, Okla.; Aldwyn Sappleton, So., political science, James Hill, Clarendon, Jamaica; Darren Hutchins, So., mathematics/biology, Choctaw, Okla.; Taylor Cates, Jr., sociology, Bartlesville, Okla.; Alicia Emanuel, Sr., communication, Houston, Texas; Justice, Jr., health and sports science, Pauls Valley, Okla.; O'Rourke, Jr., psychology, Jenks, Okla.; Kim Thomas, So., University College, McAlester, Okla.; Michelle Thomas, So., University College, McAlester, Okla.; Arianna Wertheim, Sr., health and sports science, Fort Sumner, N.M.
Second-team honors went to Cecil Rose, Sr., management, Missouri City, Texas; Leslie Dunlap, So., University College, Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Krystle Williams, So., finance, Houston, Texas
Next Up
A number of Sooner student-athletes will continue training for the U.S. Senior and Junior Nationals as well as national championships in their home countries.
Saturday, June 13
Friday, June 12
Thursday, June 11
Wednesday, June 10
