Sooner Track and Field Squads Split Up For Weekend Action

Feb. 13, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Oklahoma men's and women's track and field teams are back on the road for competition this weekend.
Nine Sooner vaulters and thrower Megan Crystal, as well as coaches Tom Williams and Ed Wade, are headed to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Tyson Invitational. They left Thursday afternoon and will compete on Friday. The rest of the traveling team is heading north to Ames, Iowa, for the ISU Track and Field Classic. The first group, including co-head coach Jill Lancaster and assistant coaches Shanon Atkinson and Rodney Rothoff, left for Ames Thursday morning to begin competition Friday afternoon. The second group, with co-head coach Rodney Price, will leave for Ames Friday morning and will compete on Saturday.
The women pole vaulters will open the action for OU in Fayetteville, starting competition at 1 p.m. Friday. The men's pole vault is set to begin at 5 p.m. with the women's shot put set to start at 5:30 p.m. Action in Ames begins at 3:30 p.m. Friday and continues through the 200-meter dash at 6:30 p.m. The meet resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday with non-seeded running events. Field events are scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. Running events will start at noon with the final of the men's 1600-meter relay set for 6:40 p.m.
Last Year at the ISU Classic
Super OU freshman Jason Stanley returned from injury in a huge way, winning the 60-meter hurdles title at the Iowa State meet with a season-best 7.79. The time was a new school record, breaking the record that Stanley tied earlier in the season by .09 seconds.
Senior Michael McNamara and junior Michael Westlund once again battled in the pole vault, finishing with the same height, 17-6.5, an NCAA provisional mark. And for the second week in a row, McNamara won the title with fewer overall misses. Freshman Austin Landreth was eighth with a 16-0.75. Redshirt freshman Aldwyn Sappleton and senior Moses Washington ran season bests in the 800-meter run, then were joined by Raoul Harvey and Ernest Lewis in the 1600-meter relay. The quartet combined for a 3:10.32, a season best and NCAA provisional qualifying time.
Sophomore Leslie Dunlap finished second to Texas A&M's Erica Boren in the pole vault competition. Dunlap cleared 12-5.5, the fifth time this season for her to beat the NCAA provisional mark. Sooner freshman Lindsey Bourne finished eighth in the vault with an 11-11.75.
The Sooners rewrote the season best list while in Ames. Nine Sooner women and the 1600-meter relay recorded season bests in action on the second day of the meet. Eight Sooner men and the 1600-meter relay posted season bests on the ISU track. Season bests were posted by 10 Sooners in the 12 finals held on the meet's first day.
The Last Time Out
On a day when the weather might have been suited for an outdoor track and field meet, the action was record-setting in the third annual J.D. Martin Indoor Track and Field Meet Feb. 1 at the Mosier Indoor Facility.
A total of 18 meet records fell and two facility marks were set. Additionally, two NCAA automatic qualifying marks and 13 NCAA provisional marks were recorded.
OU junior LaVerne Jones set a school record in the 60-meter dash with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 7.36, then came back about 90 minutes later to win the 200-meter dash with a 24.16, also an NCAA provisional mark.
Sooner sophomore Jason Stanley stayed undefeated in the 60-meter hurdles, winning the event with an NCAA provisional mark of 7.83.
Sooners Post Season Bests at OC Indoor
Originally scheduled as a weekend away from competition, several Sooners took advantage of a meet being held in the Mosier Facility on Feb. 8 to get another chance to compete. For the Sooner pole vaulters, it was a great decision as five posted season best marks in the competition.
On the women's side, Leslie Dunlap improved her season best to 12-6.25, Devon Fox improved to 12-0.5 and Jennifer Plank cleared 11-6.5. The improvements by Dunlap and Fox give OU three vaulters over 12-0 and three of the Big 12's top 10. For the men, Robin Hanna improved his season best to 17-0.5 and Michael Westlund cleared 16-0.75 for his first mark of the season.
Sappleton Finishes Third at Gator Invitational
While his Sooner teammates competed in Norman or took a week off, redshirt sophomore Aldwyn Sappleton traveled to the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., on Sunday. Sappleton went from last to third in the final 200 meters to post a 1:50.92 in the 800-meter run.
Next Up
The Sooners will return to Norman to host the Sooner Indoor on Saturday, Feb. 22. The meet marks the end of OU's home indoor schedule and is the final tuneup before the Big 12 Championship Feb. 28-March 1 in Lincoln, Neb.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Track and Field Squads Split Up For Weekend Action

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