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Track and Field
at Battle on the Bayou
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sappleton Improves His NCAA Qualifying Mark
March 08, 2003 | Track and Field
March 8, 2003
AMES, Iowa - Aldwyn Sappleton stepped a bit closer to a return trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships Saturday, posting a season best 1:48.43 to finish second in the 800-meter run at the Cyclone Qualifier Meet. The time missed an automatic qualifying mark by just .13 seconds.
The time improved his standing on the NCAA list from 23rd to eighth. The announcement of the NCAA field will be made late Monday after results from this weekend's final competitions are posted.
Sappleton established a career best by .38 seconds today and lowered the OU school record by .22 seconds.
Sappleton also ran a leg on OU's 1600-meter relay which posted a season best by more than 12 seconds but missed the NCAA provisional time by just .12 seconds. Joining him on that relay, which finished ninth overall, were Dwayne Duhaney, L'eron George and Robert Smith.
Two Sooner women also traveled to Ames hoping to improve already posted NCAA marks but neither did. Tiffany Davis finished fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.61. Her best time in the meet was an 8.51 in the semifinals but she already has a season best mark of 8.41 which is an NCAA provisional mark.
Aisha Stringer finished eighth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:09.21, well below her previous season best of 2:08.81 which is an NCAA provisional mark.
The Sooner pole vaulters who traveled to Baton Rouge, La., Friday for the LSU National Qualifier also failed to post NCAA qualifying marks. Junior Leslie Dunlap, a 2002 NCAA Outdoor All-American and two-time NCAA Indoor participant, won the women's division with a vault of 12-5.50. That mark was nearly three inches less than her season best of 12-8.25 and well short of the NCAA provisional mark.
Seniors Robin Hanna and Michael Westlund and sophomore Austin Landreth, tied for first in the men's vault with a 16-4.75. The mark was well under the NCAA provisional qualifying mark and brought an end to a season that saw each of the men battle injuries that kept them from reaching their previous best marks. For Westlund, a string of six consecutive trips to the NCAA Championships, indoor and outdoor combined, was broken.
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