Sooners Send Seven To Sacramento For NCAA T&F Meet

NORMAN, Okla. - A total of seven University of Oklahoma track and field student-athletes are in Sacramento, Calif., for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Action begins on Wednesday and continues through Saturday at Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex on the campus of the University of California - Sacramento.

The Qualifiers
Seven student-athletes earned automatic berths in the meet or were added to the field with at-large invitations. DaBryan Blanton (100), Laverne Jones (200), Kevin Bookout (shot put), Austin Landreth (pole vault) and Michael Westlund (pole vault) were automatic qualifiers based on results from the NCAA Midwest Regional in Lincoln, Neb. on May 30-31. Aldwyn Sappleton (800) and Kyle Bookout (discus) earned at-large invitations and Jones was added to the field in the 100 based on her ranking on the at-large list.

The Schedule
The first rounds of the 100 for DaBryan Blanton and Laverne Jones are scheduled for Wednesday at 10:25 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. (PT). Austin Landreth and Michael Westlund will begin competition in the qualifying round of the pole vault at 11 a.m. Aldwyn Sappleton will run the preliminary round of the 800 at 11:30 a.m. The semifinals of the men's and women's 100 are set for 8:50 p.m. and 9:05 p.m. Wednesday. The qualifying round of the shot put for Kevin Bookout is set for 8:35 p.m. Wednesday.

On Thursday, the qualifying round of the discus for Kyle Bookout is set to begin at 10:15 a.m. Preliminaries in the women's 200 for Jones are scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Thursday and the semifinals of the men's 800 are set for 11:25 a.m. The semifinals of the women's 200 are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

On Friday, the finals of the men's pole vault are set for 6 p.m. with the finals of the men's shot put set for 7:30 p.m. The finals of the women's 100 is scheduled for 8:55 p.m. followed by the final in the men's 100 at 9:05 p.m. On Saturday, the finals of the men's discus is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. with the finals of the men's 800 set for 8:30 p.m.

Advancement in each round will be determined by the NCAA Track and Field Committee after final declarations.

Been There Before
Michael Westlund is the veteran NCAA performer of this year's qualifiers. The 2003 meet marks the seventh trip to an NCAA Championship and fourth outdoor meet for the fifth year senior to enter. The 2003 NCAA Indoor was the only meet in his Sooner career that he did not qualify for.

It marks the second trip to NCAA competition for Blanton and Jones, the first for the outdoor season. For Sappleton, it marks the fourth overall appearance in the NCAA field and second in outdoor. For Landreth, this marks the second trip to NCAA competition, both during the outdoor season.

For fifth year senior Kyle Bookout, this marks his first trip to NCAA competition. It's also a first time in track and field for Kevin Bookout. The Sooner freshman was a starter on OU's men's basketball team that advanced to the Elite Eight in March.

More Sooner History in NCAA Competition
Michael Westlund is a four-time NCAA All-American while Aldwyn Sappleton has earned All-America honors twice as a member of the 1600-meter relay. DaBryan Blanton was an NCAA Indoor All-American in the 60 in March while Laverne Jones earned All-America honors in the 60 and 200 during the 2003 NCAA Indoor meet. With that performance, she became the first Sooner woman to earn All-America honors in two individual event in NCAA competition and the first to achieve the double since 1982.

Record Holder
When the time flashed on the board May 30, everyone knew a 10.07 was a special time in the 100-meter dash. At the time, though, no one realized how special it actually was.

The time posted by Sooner freshman DaBryan Blanton in the 2003 NCAA Midwest Regional Championship is the new American Junior record, according to Track and Field News, it was learned on Thursday.

Blanton won the Big 12 100-meter dash title with a 10.25, taking the lead in the race out of the blocks and holding it throughout. He dropped that time to 10.07 in the regional prelims but did not run in the finals because of a mild injury. He has been cleared to compete next week after undergoing treatments this week.

Trackwire Top 25 & Dandy Dozen
DaBryan Blanton's time at NCAA Regional meet plus his performances throughout the spring have prompted Trackwire to list him as the favorite to win the NCAA title in the 100-meter dash.

A pair of Sooner pole vaulters are ranked sixth and 10th by the Trackwire Dandy Dozen ranking. Sophomore Austin Landreth is ranked sixth and senior Michael Westlund is ranked 10th in the final poll which was released June 5.

Laverne Jones is ranked 12th in the women's 200 in the June 5 listing of the Dandy Dozen.

The Trackwire 25 has the Sooner men's team ranked 21st heading into the NCAA Championship. The poll projects scores in the upcoming NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and other variables collected from coaches and NCAA-qualifying competitions across the country. The Dandy Dozen is a power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event.

Season Over For ...
While the news was good for these seven Sooners, several others competed in their final meet at last weekend's regional. Senior Robin Hanna was ranked 21st in the country with a 17-4.5. However, the final at-large selection in the pole vault came at the 17-8.5 height. He was one of three vaulters who had cleared 17-4.5 who were not selected as at-large entries. Hanna's chances to go to the NCAA were hurt by the number of higher ranked vaulters who did not earn automatic slots at last weekend's regional meets. Six vaulters ranked higher on the season list than Hanna did not earn automatic berths last weekend.

Others who were in the at-large field but were not selected included Nicola Maye in the 800; Tiffany Davis in the 100-meter hurdles; Kelsey Moore in the high jump; Leslie Dunlap, Lindsey Bourne and Mary Waytula in the women's pole vault; Renea' Burns in the javelin; Kevin Bookout in the discus; Jimyria Hicks in the 100; Dwayne Duhaney in the 400; the men's and women's 400-meter relay; and the men's and women's 1600-meter relay.

Big 12 Freshman of the Year
For DaBryan Blanton, his first year has been quite a ride, and the ride got better May 27 when he was named the Big 12 Male Freshman of the Year for track and field. With the honor, he becomes the first Sooner in track and field to earn Big 12 freshman of the year honors.

Blanton won the Big 12 title in the 100 and was third in the 200 after posting the fastest qualifying time in the 200 at the conference championship just over a week ago. He was ranked number one in the league throughout most of the season and had been among the Big 12's top competitors in the 200.

Blanton had posted regional qualifying times every time he competed in the 100 and the 200 this season and was ranked first in the region and sixth in the nation in the 100 heading into this regional competition. He also was ranked in the region in the 200.

OU at the NCAA Midwest Regional
OU's Austin Landreth was perfect through four heights to win the NCAA Midwest Regional pole vault title during the final day of competition at Ed Weir Stadium.

The Elk City sophomore passed on the first two heights, then cleared on his first attempt at the next four heights to beat Geoff Fairbanks of Southwest Texas. Landreth finished with a 17-7, a season best by nearly three inches after missing three attempts at 18-1.

The mark for Landreth is just shy of the career best (17-7.5) he posted last year on his way to earning a ticket to the NCAA Championships as the only true freshman in the field.

Freshman Kevin Bookout opened the competition with his best effort, 60-6.75, then watched all but one other competitor fall by the side. The mark was good for second place. The mark is the second best all-time in school history and was a season best for Bookout by nearly eight inches.

Senior Michael Westlund came back from an injury plagued senior season to win a jump off for fifth place in the pole vault to earn another trip to the NCAA Championships. For Westlund, it marks the fourth consecutive year for him to earn a spot in the NCAA Outdoor field. He was credited with clearing 16-7.25 but won the jump off with a 16-11.

Junior Laverne Jones, who earned indoor All-America honors in two events in March, finished third in the 200. She finished with a 23.55. Jones was seventh earlier in the day in the 100.

Other Sooner competitors on Saturday included Nicola Maye, who was sixth in the 800; Kelsey Moore, who tied for 14th in the high jump with a career best 5-7.25; Robin Hanna who finished 18th in the pole vault with a 15-7.25; the women's 1600-meter relay that finished 18th and the men's 1600-meter relay that finished 13th.

Minnesota won the men's title and the Sooners were tied for 13th. Nebraska won the women's team title and OU was 22nd.

On Friday, DaBryan Blanton provided the main highlight for the Sooners, winning his heat in the 100 with an Ed Weir Stadium record time of 10.07. The mark was the fastest in the prelims. The time was the best in the country through qualifying and is the best non wind-aided time for a Sooner since 1976. It also was just .03 off the OU school record.

He later pulled out of the 200 preliminaries because of a slight injury.

Jones advanced to Saturday's final in the 100-meter dash with the fifth fastest time. She ran a 10.44 to finish third in her heat, then came back to win her heat of the 200 with the second fastest qualifying time, a 22.93. Because of the wind, however, the time cannot be used for NCAA ranking because the wind reading during her heat was higher than the allowable.

Maye posted the fifth best qualifying time in the 800. Junior Mary Waytula won a jump off to finish eighth in the women's pole vault with a career best mark of 12-3.25.

The results were a bit disappointing for OU's other entries on Friday's first day. The men's and women's 400-meter relay did not advance to the final. Jimyria Hicks (100), Tiffany Davis (100 hurdles), Dwayne Duhaney (400) and Aldwyn Sappleton (800) also failed to advance to Saturday's final. Davis finished ninth in the hurdles, missing a spot in the finals by .03 seconds.

Kyle Bookout finished ninth in the discus with a 183-4 while Kevin Bookout was 13th with a season best 174-1. The senior Bookout had his best throw on his final attempt in the prelims, then fouled on all three attempts in the final. The younger Bookout had only one legal throw, his first in the prelims.

Junior Leslie Dunlap tied for 12th in the pole vault with a 12-0.5 and Lindsey Bourne was 16th with the same height but more misses. Renea' Burns finished 16th in the javelin.

Up Next
Several Sooner student-athletes will be participating in national competitions throughout the summer. A group of Sooners including Nicola Maye, Aldwyn Sappleton, David Coombs, Dwayne Duhaney and Sean Williams, is leaving for Jamaica and that country's national championships on June 15 while Chaundra Allard is training for the Canadian Senior Nationals to be held in July. Decisions about the competitive status of other Sooner student-athletes will be made following the NCAA Championships.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Send Seven To Sacramento For NCAA T&F Meet

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