Eldridge Sets School Record in the 800 at Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Less than 18 hours after running the anchor leg on a record-setting distance medley relay, OU freshman Jessica Eldridge put her name in the school record book with a 2:06.33 in the 800-meter run. Eldridge finished third in the 800 Saturday at the Meyo Invitational on the campus of the University of Notre Dame with the fifth fastest time in the country this season.

Her time broke the previous school record, a 2:07.38 by Lenell Miller in 1992, and missed the automatic NCAA qualifying time by just .68 seconds. The automatic mark is 2:05.65.

“I've coached a lot of runners including an Olympian and I didn't see this time coming today,” said Rodney Rothoff, OU assistant track coach. “We hadn't done the kind of work in practice yet that would have led to this time. She got in a strong field and stayed with them. The runner in second is an All-American and Jessica beat an All-American who finished fourth.”

Freshman Catherine Odell ran the mile for the first time this season and finished with a 4:58.44, good for 10th place overall. That mark ranks ninth on the all-time Sooner list.

Another freshman, Kristi Cook, ran a 2:17.13 in the 800, finishing 18th in a field of 38 runners. A fourth Sooner, Nicola Maye, was scheduled to run in the mile but was held out because of illness.

The action Saturday came one day after the quartet posted an NCAA provisional mark and broke a 23-year-old school record in the distance medley relay at the meet on Friday. The Sooner finished fifth on Friday in that event with an 11:30.53.

The Sooners will travel to the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., next weekend.