Sooners Return Home To Host J.D. Martin T&F Invitational

Jan. 29, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Oklahoma men's and women's track and field teams are back in Norman this Saturday for their third meet of the indoor season and second home meet in three weeks. OU will host the third annual J.D. Martin Invitational at the Mosier Indoor Facility Saturday. Field events are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with the first event on the track scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Action will continue on a rolling schedule throughout the day.

The J.D. Martin Field
Joining the Sooners in the meet will be men's and women's teams from Southern Methodist, Kansas State, Missouri Southern, Arkansas, Wichita State, North Texas, Barton County CC and Garden City CC as well as the men's team from Miami.

The Meet's Namesake
J.D. Martin retired from OU following the 1997 season. He had served as OU's head coach for 33 years after competing for the Sooners as a pole vaulter. He coached 22 national champions and countless conference winners. He led Sooner teams to top five NCAA finishes six times and two Big Eight titles. He served as a coach for the 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival and was meet director for three NCAA Indoor Championships and the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival. He coached several Olympic medalists including gold-medal winner Jason Rouser in the 1996 games.

Last Week at the Radio Shack/MSSC Open Invitational
Jason Stanley and LaVerne Jones stayed unbeaten in their specialities and, in the process, helped the OU men's and women's track and field teams finish second overall in the Radio Shack/Missouri Southern Open Invitational.
Stanley won the 60-meter hurdles for the second week in a row. He had the third fastest time in the prelims, then posted a 7.82 in the final for the win. The time was .06 faster than his winning time Jan. 11. Jones was in control from start to finish in the women's 60-meter dash. She posted the fastest qualifying time with a 7.56, then held off teammate Jimyria Hicks in the final. Jones finished with a 7.54 in the final while Hicks was second with a 7.57.
Arkansas won the men's title with 158.75 points. OU was second with 106.50. On the women's side, the Sooners were second to Arkansas as well. OU finished with 105 points to Arkansas' 153.
The defending Big 12 Champion, Aldwyn Sappleton made his first race in the 600 a successful one. He won with a time of 1:10.76. Megan Crystal won the shot put title with a season best 43-11.25. The Sooner women also won the 1600-meter and the 3200-meter relay events. Junior Joey McNair finished second overall in the 3000 but produced 10 points for the Sooner team effort as the winner was an unattached competitor. In action late Friday night, senior Robin Hanna won the pole vault title with a jump of 16-4.75. Senior Devon Brabham had a career best by nearly two feet in the triple jump to lead a huge Sooner showing in that event. Brabham was second to an unattached competitor and received first place points with a 48-2.

Last Year at the J.D. Martin Invitational
It seemed fitting that a meet named to honor the University of Oklahoma's first pole vault All-American and longtime Sooner coach would be dominated by performances by the vaulters. At least, it seemed that way to a trio of Sooner vaulters and their competitors at the 2002 J.D. Martin Invitational.
Sooner sophomore Leslie Dunlap got the action going by posting an all-time Big 12 best in the pole vault with a 13-5.75. The mark was an automatic NCAA qualifier for the 2002 NCAA Championships, the first time this season for her to hit an automatic. It also was a meet record and a new school record, breaking the record that Dunlap had set earlier in the season. Then the men moved to center stage on the vault runway and it took an NCAA provisional mark just to finish in the top eight of the competition. OU senior Michael McNamara won the meet on fewer misses with a 17-10.5. OU junior Michael Westlund was second, also with a 17-10.5, as the pair battled at the final height of 18-2.5 before each missed all three attempts. That mark would have been an NCAA automaticqualifier and would have set an OU school record. OU freshman Austin Landreth finished eighth with a 17-0.75 to be the final qualifier from the pole vault.
A pair of Sooners, Moses Washington in the 600 and Aldwyn Sappleton in the 800, each won their event in meet record time, then joined Raoul Harvey and Ernest Lewis on the winning mile relay which claimed a meet record. Another Sooner, L'eron George, won the 200 in meet record time, improving a mark he set in 2001.
In all, there were two NCAA automatic marks and 10 NCAA provisional marks met in the meet. A total of 13 meet records also fell.

Stanley Named Big 12 Track and Field Athlete of the Week
OU sophomore Jason Stanley was named Big 12 Male Track and Field Athlete of the Week Monday for his performances over the weekend at the Radio Shack/Missouri Southern State Open. It marks the second time in his Sooner career for Stanley to earn the award. He was the first winner of the award during the 2002 indoor season after winning the OU All Comers meet with an NCAA provisional qualifying time.
He is the first Sooner to win the award this season in the third week of the indoor track and field season.

Next Up
The Sooners will take a weekend off from competition before splitting into two groups to travel to the Iowa State Classic and the Tyson Invitational Feb. 14-15.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Return Home To Host J.D. Martin T&F Invitational

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