OU T&F Heads To Texas Relays

April 2, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - A total of 33 OU student-athletes will be heading south over the next two days to compete in the 75th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. The first group of competitors left Wednesday afternoon while the second group will leave Thursday afternoon.

Competition in what is the first stop on the annual spring relay circuit began with the combined events Wednesday and runs through Saturday.

Events Schedule
The women's 3200-meter relay, made up of Alaina Dearman, Nicola Maye, Aisha Stringer and Kim Thomas, will be the first to compete when the heats against time begin at 3:45 p.m. Tiffany Davis will compete in the 100-meter hurdles prelims at 4:15 p.m. followed by Jimmy Buchanan and Joe McNair in the 5,000-meter run at 6:10 p.m.
Action for the Sooners will resume on Friday with OU's first entries starting competition at 9:30 a.m. Sooners will compete in events throughout the day Friday with the men's and women's distance medley relay, set for 10 p.m., as the final event for OU athletes.
The schedule for the Sooners starts up at 11 a.m. Saturday with the final events set to begin at 4:25 p.m.

The Last Time Out
It was a successful outdoor season opener for a pair of NCAA All-Americans and another Sooner picked up her second NCAA regional qualifying mark in as many meets at the UTA Invite March 29.
Junior LaVerne Jones opened her 2003 outdoor season with a win and a regional qualifying time in the 100-meter dash and ran on OU's third place 400-meter relay that also posted a regional qualifying mark. DaBryan Blanton won the men's 100-meter dash with an NCAA regional qualifying time in his first outdoor meet of the season. Senior Tiffany Davis won the women's 100-meter hurdles, lowering her regional qualifying mark by nearly .20 seconds.
Aisha Stringer also posted a win for the Sooners, finishing the 1500-meter run in 4:38.57.
Other Sooners who posted qualifying marks included Kyle Bookout, who recorded his third regional qualifying mark in as many meets, and women's 400-meter relay. Jimyria Hicks, Natasha Franklin and Ashley Freeman joined Jones to post a 46.05.
OU career bests were recorded by a number of returning Sooners including Barbara Phillips in the hammer; Darren Hutchins in the 5000; Alaina Dearman in the 1500; and Emily Leonard in the 5000.

Blanton Named Big 12 T&F Athlete of the Week
OU freshman DaBryan Blanton was named Big 12 Men's Track and Field Athlete of the Week March 31 for his performances during the week of March 23-30. Blanton became OU's second honoree in as many weeks. Senior Kyle Bookout won the award March 24, the first of the outdoor season.
Jason Stanley won the award on Jan. 27 for his performance in OU's second meet of the 2003 indoor season.
Blanton, from Forney, Texas, came up on top at the UTA Invite last Saturday in Arlington, Texas. He ran 10.30 in the 100-meter dash that gave him the victory as well as a NCAA regional qualifying mark in his first race of the season. The time puts Blanton on the OU all-time career list as the ninth best time in the 100 meters.
Blanton is coming off an outstanding indoor season after earning All-America honors in the 60-meter dash at the 2003 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Meet Marks Season Opener
The Texas Relays mark the outdoor season opener for several Sooners including pole vault All-Americans Leslie Dunlap and Michael Westlund.
Kevin Bookout, who just finished a phenomenal freshman season on the Sooner basketball team, has traded in his high tops for cleats, joining the Sooner track and field team Monday at practice. His first competition will be this weekend at the Texas Relays. He is entered in the shot put (section B), set for 1:30 p.m. Friday, and the discus (section B), scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday.

Next Up
The Sooners will return to Norman to host their only outdoor meet of the 2003 season, the 34th annual John Jacobs Invitational, Saturday, April 12. Field events begin at 10 a.m. at Jacobs Field with events on the track set to begin at 11 a.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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