Blanton, Landreth Win Big 12 Titles in Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. -- DaBryan Blanton in the 60 and Austin Landreth in the pole vault won Big 12 titles Saturday during second day action of the eighth annual Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship.

Senior LaVerne Jones closed her amazing weekend of competition with second place finishes in the 60 and the 200 and she ran the opening leg of OU's sixth place 1600-meter relay.

Nebraska won the men's and women's titles. The Sooner men finished sixth, tying the previous all-time best finish for OU. The Sooner men, 11th in 2003, finished sixth in 1997, the first year of the Big 12 Conference. The OU women finished eighth, just half a point point away from tying an all-time best finish and just 4.5 points from a top six finish. The Sooners were ninth in the meet one year ago.

Blanton's winning time in the 60, 6.67, was an NCAA provisional mark but fell short of the 6.57 he posted in semifinal action on Friday. His semifinal time was the second fastest by an American this season until Saturday's USATF National Indoor. After that event, Blanton's 6.57 dropped to the fourth fastest in the country. It also set a Big 12 meet record and is the all-time best mark in the Big 12.

Landreth, who won the NCAA Regional title last May in Lincoln, returned Saturday to win the conference indoor pole vault title with a 17-5.75. The mark was a season and career best for the Elk City junior and beat the NCAA provisional standard. OU also got points in the pole vault from Scott Martin, who tied for sixth, with a 16-6. Martin is a freshman from Tulsa.

Jones broke her own school record in the 60, running a 7.24. She had set the record Friday in the semifinals when she set a Big 12 meet record with a 7.27. That mark fell today in the final. She then ran a 23.46 in the 200, another NCAA automatic time but not her season best in the event.

Aldwyn Sappleton, the 2002 Big 12 champion in the 600, finished second in the 800 with a 1:49.41. The time beat the NCAA provisional standard and was a season best for Sappleton by nearly two seconds.

The men's 1600 meter relay, with Sappleton taking the second leg and Blanton running the third leg, posted a season best 3:10.41 to finish third. Dwyane Duhaney ran the opening leg and Dax Thomas ran the anchor leg on the relay which posted an NCAA provisional mark for the first time this season.

Enid freshman Catherine Odell finished third in the 1000 meter run with a career best 2:49.83 and Choctaw freshman Jon McMillian established a career best in the high jump, clearing 7-0.25 to finish fourth. Odell's time lowered her career mark by nearly seven seconds. The Sooner women got points in the 800 from sophomore Nicola Maye, who finished fifth with a 2:10.40, and freshman Jessica Eldridge, who was seventh with a 2:11.71.

Enid junior Dan Strong held steady in the heptathlon, finishing seventh with 4,926 points.The final score is a career best for Strong by more than 300 points and ranks as the second best mark all-time in school history. Salah Hussein finished eighth in the men's 1000 with a 2:29.35.

The women's 1600 meter relay, with Jones running the opening leg and Maye taking the third leg, finished sixth with a season best 3:47.82. Terrika Warren ran the second leg and Ashley Johnson ran the anchor leg.

The top eight finishers in each event earned All-Big 12 honors. The OU men produced 17 All-Big 12 honorees, including those with multiple honors, and the Sooner women produced 14 All-Big 12 honorees, again including the multiple honorees.

The first day of the championship was one for Sooner sprinters as Jones and Blanton posted the fastest times in the preliminary and semifinal rounds of the 60-meter dash to lead the way into Saturday's final.

Blanton's time of 6.57 improved his previous season best by .07 seconds. It ranks as the second fastest time on the NCAA qualifying list as well. Blanton's attempt to double in the 200 was stopped when he was disqualified in his heat of the 200 Friday evening.

Not to be outdone, Jones posted a school record with her 7.27 in the 60 semifinal. The time is an automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Indoor and broke the meet record of 7.29 she had tied in the prelims. Jones later posted the second fastest qualifying time in the 200 with a season best mark of 23.31, also an NCAA automatic qualifying mark.

The Sooners got points in the first day of competition in the men's long jump, the men's distance medley relay, the women's pole vault and the women's distance medley relay. Junior Robert Smith recorded a season best 24-3.5 in the long jump. The mark improved his previous season best by nearly a foot and earned him a fourth place finish. Senior Cory Crosby finished sixth in the long jump with a 23-11.75.

Senior Leslie Dunlap finished tied for sixth in the pole vault with a 12-7.5. Four vaulters went out at that height with two tying for fourth with one miss and two tying for sixth with two misses.

The men's distance medley relay finished third with a 9:53.03, also a season best. The women's distance medley relay finished fifth with an 11:39.81.

OU will send entries to NCAA qualifying meets next weekend with the decisions on which athletes and which meets to be made later in the week. The NCAA Championship is scheduled for March 12-13 in Fayetteville, Ark. OU currently has a pair of automatic qualifiers, Blanton in the 60 and Jones in the 60 and 200. Sooners who have met provisional standards include Sappleton in the 800, Landreth in the pole vault, Eldridge in the 800 and the mile and the men's 1600-meter relay.

Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships
Saturday Results (Finals -- OU Results only)

MEN - 1. Nebraska 141.666, 2. Kansas State 77, 3. Baylor 72, 4. Texas 67, 5. Texas Tech 60.333, 6. Oklahoma 58.5, 7. Texas A&M 56, 8. Colorado 50, 9. Kansas 45, 10. Iowa State 44, 11. Oklahoma State 37, 12. Missouri 31.5.

60 meter dash: 1. DaBryan Blanton, 6.67 (NCAA provisional mark)
800 meter run: 2. Aldwyn Sappleton, 1:49.41 (NCAA provisional mark)
1000 meter run: 8. Salah Hussein, 2:29.74
3000 meter run: 13. Joe McNair, 8:23.96; 16. Jimmy Buchanan, 8:26.59; 34. Jason Coleman, 8:37.39; 36. Silverus Kimeli, 8:37.86
1600-meter relay: 3. Oklahoma (Dwayne Duhaney, Sappleton, Blanton, Dax Thomas), 3:10.24 (NCAA provisional mark)
Pole Vault: 1. Austin Landreth, 17-5.75 (NCAA provisional mark); 6. Scott Martin, 16-6; T-14. Jacob Williams, 15-6.25
High Jump: 4. Jon McMillian, 7-0.25; Jason Stanley, no height; Kris Glenn, no height
Long Jump: 9. Robert Smith, 47-11.25; 10. Cory Crosby, 46-10.25
Heptathlon: 7. Dan Strong, 4,926
60-meter hurdles: 12. Strong, 9.14 (715); Pole Vault: 3. Strong, 14-11 (775); 1000-meter run: 5. Strong, 2:52.27 (742)

WOMEN - 1. Nebraska 171.5, 2. Texas 158, 3. Kansas State 69, 4. Missouri 56.5, 5. Colorado 45.5, 6. Baylor 42, 7. Kansas 38, 8. Oklahoma 37.5, 9. Texas A&M 32, 10. Iowa State 31, T-11. Oklahoma State and Texas Tech 28.

60 meter dash: 2. LaVerne Jones, 7.24 (NCAA automatic mark; OU school record, old record 7.27 by Jones on Friday in semifinals)
200 meter dash: 2. Jones, 23.46 (NCAA automatic mark)
800 meter run: 5. Nicola Maye, 2:10.40; 7. Jessica Eldridge, 2:11.71
1000 meter run: 3. Catherine Odell, 2:49.83
1600 meter relay: 6. Oklahoma (Jones, Terrika Warren, Maye, Ashley Johnson), 3:47.82
Triple jump: 11. Lucretia Rimmer, 39-6.5; LaDonna Moore, foul
High jump: 16. Kelsey Moore, 5-4.25; Veronica Clayborne, NH; Myria Houlihan, NH
Shot put: 17. Katie Blue, 40-4.25; 18. Barbara Phillips, 38-9.5

Late Friday Results (Final and Preliminaries -- OU Results only)
Men
Finals
5000-Meter Run: 9. Silverus Kimeli, 14:36.69; Blake Culp and Jimmy Buchanan, did not finish
Long Jump: 4. Robert Smith, 24-3.5; 6. Cory Crosby, 23-11.75
Distance Medley Relay: 3. Oklahoma, 9:53.03
Weight Throw: 17. Evan Kerrane, 52-11.50
Heptathlon: 7. Dan Strong, 2,694 after four events
60-meter dash: 14. Strong, 7.62 (675); Long Jump: 9. Strong, 20-10 (664); Shot Put: 4. Strong, 42-2.75 (659); High Jump: T-4. Strong, 6-2 (696)

Prelims
60 meter dash: 1. DaBryan Blanton, 6.65 (NCAA automatic qualifying time); 20. Josh Scott, 7.12
60 meter semifinals: 1. Blanton, 6.57 (NCAA automatic qualifying time) (advances to the final)
60-meter hurdles: 10. David Wright, 8.34; 12. Jason Stanley, 9.07 (neither advanced to final)
200 meter dash: 17. Scott, 22.33; Blanton, disqualified
400 meter dash: 9. Dwayne Duhaney, 48.36; 21. Caleb Turner, 51.58 (neither advanced to the final)
600 yard dash: 11. Dax Thomas, 1:12.40 (did not advance to the final)
800 meter run: 1. Aldywyn Sappleton, 1:52.45 (advances to the final)
1000 meter run: 8. Salah Hussein, 2:24.93 (advances to the final)
Mile: 11. Joe McNair, 4:12.01; 12. Jason Coleman, 4:12.80 (neither advances to the final)

Women
Finals
Distance Medley Relay: 5. Oklahoma, 11:39.81
Pole Vault: T-6. Leslie Dunlap, 12-7.50; 10. Lindsey Bourne, 12-1.50; 17. Devon Fox, 11-7.75; 20. Jennifer Plank, 11-1.75
Weight Throw: 16. Barbara Phillips, 41-2.25
Long Jump: 16. Kelsey Strecker, 17-9.75; Lucretia Rimmer, foul
Pentathlon: 9. LaDonna Moore, 3,516; 11. Veronica Clayborne, 3,407
60-Meter Hurdles: 2. Moore, 8.67 (980); 11. Clayborne, 9.34 (840)
High Jump: T-3. Clayborne, 5-5.75 (818); 11. Moore, 5-1 (678)
Shot Put: 6. Moore, 34-11.25 (572); 14. Clayborne, 29-11.25 (472)
Long Jump: 2. Moore, 18-3.75 (723); 9. Clayborne, 17-0.75 (614)
800-Meter Run: 13. Clayborne, 2:32.38 (663); 14. Moore, 2:40.85 (563)

Prelims
60 meter dash: 1. LaVerne Jones, 7.29 (ties meet record; NCAA automatic qualifying mark); 13. Yolanda Goff, 7.60 (both advance to semifinals); 20. Ashley Freeman, 7.93
60 meter semifinals: 1. Jones, 7.27 (meet record; NCAA automatich qualifying mark); 15. Goff, 8.37 (did not advance to final)
60 meter hurdles: 13. Cicely Williams, 8.88; 16. Melissa Shipley, 9.59
60 meter hurdles semifinals: 14. Williams, 8.92; 16. Shipley, 9.62 (neither advances to the final)
200 meter: 2. Jones, 23.31 (advances to final); 21. Ashley Freeman, 26.09; Yolanda Goff, did not start
400 meter: 13. Terrika Warren, 58.54; 14. Jessica Talton, 58.83; 18. Natasha Franklin, 1:00.55 (none advance to the final)
600 yard: 10. Kristi Cook, 1:26.09; 15. Shipley, 1:28.32; 17. Michelle Thomas, 1:28.73 (none advance to final)
800 meter: 7. Jessica Eldridge, 2:11.62 (advances to final); 8. Nicola Maye, 2:12.02 (advances to final)
1000 meter: 1. Catherine Odell, 2:51.67 (advances to final)
Mile: 9. Eldridge, 4:50.22 (did not advance to final)

Blanton, Landreth Win Big 12 Titles in Lincoln

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