Sooner Track and Field Travel to Joplin for Second Meet of Season

Jan. 23, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - After opening the 2003 indoor season with a successful home and a successful trip to Reno, Nev., for the USATF Pole Vault Summit, the Sooner track and field teams will take their shows on the road to Joplin, Mo. OU will compete in the Radio Shack/Missouri Southern Open Invitational Friday and Saturday. This will be OU's first time to enter the meet in Joplin.
The Track Classic Field
Joining the Sooners and host Missouri Southern State College in the meet are men's and women's teams from Allen County CC, Arkansas, Benedictine, Coffeyville CC, Cowley County CC, Dallas Baptist, Neosho CC, Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma Christian, Oral Roberts, Pittsburg State and Southwest Baptist. Additionally, the men's teams from McPherson and Wentworth Military Academy and the women's team from Oklahoma State will be in the field.
The Time Schedule
Action begins on Friday with the women's pole vault, women's weight throw and men's triple jump at 5 p.m. The men's pole vault, men's weight throw and women's triple jump are scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. The women's 5,000-meter is set for 8:15 p.m. with the men's 5,000 scheduled for 8:45 p.m.
Action resumes on Saturday at 11 a.m. with the women's long jump and the men's shot put. Action on the track begins at 3 p.m. and continues through the men's mile relay, the final event of the meet. That race is scheduled for 8:40 p.m.
Last Week at the Track Classic
Jason Stanley and LaVerne Jones took different routes to last Saturday's Oklahoma Track Classic but the end result was the same. Stanley, who ran twice last year and hit NCAA provisional qualifying marks both times, and Jones, who was making her first appearance as a Sooner, won their events Saturday with NCAA provisional qualifying times.
Stanley hit the provisional standard on the mark in the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles with a 7.95. He lowered his best to 7.88 to win the final of the hurdles in only the third meet of his Sooner career. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., sophomore qualified in the OU All Comers in December 2001, then hit the qualifying mark again at the Iowa State Classic after missing three meets with injury. He did not compete again until he made the trip to the NCAA Indoor but false started in the prelims. That marked final attempt to race in the season and he missed the entire outdoor season while battling the injury. Jones transferred to OU from Barton County this year and her debut as a Sooner was memorable. She won the 60-meter dash with 7.41, just .01 off the OU school record. The time also beat the NCAA provisional qualifying mark. She came back 30 minutes later to win the 200 with a 24.41.
OU also got victories today from Tiffany Davis in the 60 hurdles, Dwayne Duhaney in the men's 600, L'eron George in the men's 200, and the men's and women's distance medley relays.
Last Week at the USATF Pole Vault Summit
On a day when their Sooner teammates were hosting the season opening home indoor meet, eight University of Oklahoma pole vaulters were making headlines of their own in the USA Track and Field Pole Vault Summit.
Junior Mary Waytula posted a career best of 11-1.75 to win the women's college division 6 title. She and Sooner teammate, redshirt freshman Jennifer Plank, were among six vaulters who cleared the same height. Waytula was declared the winner based on number of misses. Plank finished fifth in the division and her effort also was a collegiate career best. Waytula, in her third year with the program, is in her second year as a vaulter. Sophomore Lindsey Bourne just missed a career best with her 12-3.5 in the women's college 3 division. She finished tied for fourth with that mark. Freshman Devon Fox opened her Sooner collegiate career with a 12th-place finish in the women's college 4 division. She cleared 11-7.75, establishing a collegiate career mark for the former Norman North state champion. For junior Leslie Dunlap the results were not as successful. After finishing fourth in the women's collegiate division a year ago, she cleared 11-9.75 in the competition on Saturday and finished tied for ninth in the women's college 1 division.
For the Sooner men, sophomore Austin Landreth finished eighth in the men's college 1 division with a 16-10.75. Senior Robin Hanna was ninth in men's college 2 with a 16-3. Senior Michael Westlund tried to compete but had to withdraw because of an injury he had suffered in practice.
Williams Named 2002 Collegiate Pole Vault Coach of the Year
The Sooner performances at Reno came one day after their event coach, Tom Williams, was named the USATF Collegiate Pole Vault Coach of the Year.
Next Up
The Sooners will host the J.D. Martin Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 2.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Track and Field Travel to Joplin for Second Meet of Season

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