Completed Event: Track and Field at Battle on the Bayou on April 3, 2026 ,
Final
Track and Field
at Battle on the Bayou
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sooners Advance Three to Fayetteville for NCAA Indoor Championship
March 10, 2004 | Track and Field
Three members of the OU track and field teams and their coaches left Norman Wednesday for the 2004 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Action begins in the meet on Friday with preliminaries and finals on Friday and Saturday. The Randal Tyson Track Complex on th campus of the University of Arkansas will serve as the host site.
On Their Way
OU freshman Jessica Eldridge will be joining OU's two automatic qualifiers, sophomore DaBryan Blanton (men's 60) and senior LaVerne Jones (women's 60 and 200) in the field. Jones will be the first to hit the track with her preliminary in the 60 at 6:15 p.m. Blanton's prelim in the 60 is set for 6:30 p.m. while Eldridge's mile preliminary is set for 6:45 p.m. Jones will return to the track at 7:20 p.m. Friday for the prelim in the 200 and the final for that event is set for 8:50 p.m. The women's mile final is set for 6:05 p.m. Saturday. The women's 60 final is set for 7:05 p.m. Saturday followed by the men's 60 final at 7:15 p.m.
What They Did To Get There
Jones, who became the first OU woman since 1982 to earn All-America honors in two individual events in the same meet at last year's NCAA Indoor, had automatic qualifying times in both the 60 and the 200. On the final entry list, she is ranked fifth in the 60 with a 7.24 on the and she is seventh in the 200 with a 23.31on the same list. She recorded both of those times at the Big 12 Championship Feb. 27. There are 21 entries in the 60 and 20 in the 200.
Blanton, an All-American in the 60 in 2003 as a freshman, is tied for second in the 60 on the final entry list with a 6.57. He recorded that time in the Big 12 semifinal on Feb. 27. There are 20 runners in the men's 60.
A provisional qualifier in the 800 and the mile, Eldridge will be one of 18 competitors in the women's mile preliminaries on Friday. After final declarations were made and final invitations issued, Eldridge ended up as the fourth ranked runner in the mile with her season best of 4:38.79. She recorded that time last weekend at the ISU NCAA Qualifier, setting a school record in the process. Eldridge also had a provisional qualifying time in the 800, a school record 2:06.33. That time would have been the 13th best on the final entry list but she will only run in the mile at the meet.
Trackwire Rankings
For the first time in eight weeks, the Sooner men are unranked in the Trackwire 25. OU was tied for 23rd last week, the seventh consecutive week for the Sooenrs to be ranked. The Sooner women, also unranked the Trackwire 25, rank 16th in the United States Track Coaches Association Team Power Ranking this week.
OU had been in the Trackwire 25 in each of the seven weeks this season, opening the year tied for 14th, Since then the Sooners have been listed 15th, tied for 21st, tied for 19th, tied for 22nd, tied for 24th and tied for 23rd.
The Trackwire 25 projects a hypothetical score for the NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and other variables supported by information gathered from coaches and NCAA-qualifying competitions across the country. This projection is generated by scoring the Dandy Dozen, a power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event.
Sophomore DaBryan Blanton is ranked second in the 60-meter dash in the Trackwire Dandy Dozen. Senior Jones is ranked fifth in the 60 and ninth in the 200 in Trackwire's Dandy Dozen. Freshman Eldridge is ranked 11th in the mile.
The Sooner women currently rank 14th in the USTCA Team Power Rankings, down from 12th a week ago. The Team Power Ranking is a unique system of ranking teams on the basis of quality of athletic performance, team depth, and dual meet scoring potential. The system rates teams in the same fashion as decathlete or heptathlete. Points are assigned for two athletes in each event contested in a dual meet and points are assigned on the basis of quality of performance. The top person in each event has his/her points doubled to adjust for the value of the number one performer on each team in a dual meet. The points for all events are then totaled for the ranking score.
The Dandy Dozen is selected using quantitative values that measure performances in past major competitions (such as conference championships, national championships and Olympic competition), durability and freedom from injuries, demonstrated ability to compete well in multiple rounds of competition, ability in other events, head-to-head competition with other top athletes, and personal or seasonal bests. The ranking in the Team Power Ranking is based on time alone.
On the NCAA List but Not in the Meet
While one Sooner celebrated the news Monday night news Monday night, other OU athletes were left out of the field. Both were ranked 17th in their events after final performances were include and neither was included in the final entry field. Sappleton, who was hoping to make a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Indoor after qualifying last year in the 800, missed the automatic mark by .12 seconds. The field in the 800 was limited to 15 runners and all 15 had met the automatic qualifying time of 1:48.30.
For Landreth, the margin was just as small. The field in the vault includes 16 who had cleared 17-6.5 and Landreth was ranked 17th with a season best vault of 17-5.75, just 0.75 of an inch away from his first trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Other Sooners who met provisional standards but did not advance to the meet included Salah Hussein in the mile run; the men's 1600-meter relay and the women's distance medley relay. Hussein recorded a school record 4:04.64 Saturday at the ISU NCAA Qualifier, his first NCAA provisional time of the season. The women's distance medley relay had a season best time of 11:30.53 on Feb. 6 at the Meyo Invitational. That time also was a school record. The men's 1600-meter relay's best time was a 3:10.24 recorded on Feb. 28 at the Big 12 Championship.
Next Up
While Blanton, Jones and Eldridge focus on the NCAA meet this weekend, the rest of the Sooners will turn their attention to outdoor season openers. The combined event athletes will travel to Texas A&M for a meet March 18-19. Some Sooners will participate in the Dr Pepper Invitational in Waco, Texas, on March 20 while the remainder of the team will open the 2004 outdoor season on March 27 at either the UTEP Invitational in El Paso or the UTA Invitational in Arlington.
Saturday, June 13
Friday, June 12
Thursday, June 11
Wednesday, June 10
