Jones Earns All-America Honors in the 200

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Senior Laverne Jones finished eighth in the 200 meter dash Friday night at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, repeating as an indoor All-American. Jones finished with a 23.53 in one of the evening's featured races.

Veronica Campbell of Arkansas won the event, finishing with a 22.43, the fastest time in the world by a woman this year. Several other world ranking times were recorded in the event in either the prelims or the final. The time by Campbell was an Tyson, NCAA and Arkansas records. This field wa so talented, it took a collegiate record to win and the previous NCAA record holder was fifth in a race that many called the best women's collegiate 200 ever.

Jones and Campbell, former teammates at Barton County Junior College, will meet again Saturday night in the 60 meter finals. Jones had the second fastest time in the prelims, winning her heat with a 7.24. Campbell, who ran in the same heat as Jones, had a 7.27. Muna Lee of Louisiana State, who finished fifth tonight in the 200, had the fastest overall qualifying time with a 7.20. Jones' time ties her season best and ties the school record she set in the finals of the 60 at the Big 12 meet two weeks ago.

Jones will have company in the finals on Saturday as sophomore DaBryan Blanton recorded the fastest qualifying time in the men's 60 with a 6.60. Blanton was tied for the second fastest time in the country, a 6.57 that he ran in the semifinals of the 60 two weeks ago at the Big 12 Championship. Johnie Drake of Central Michigan, who entered the meet with the fastest qualifying time, finished sixth in the prelims with a 6.71 while Tyson Gay of Arkansas, who was tied with Blanton, finished fourth in the prelims with a 6.69.

“Our heats in the 60 were loaded with some of the top times and we went into the race with the plan of winning the heat, getting the automatic qualifier as the heat winner and using that to set the tone,” said Sooner sprint coach Shanon Atkinson. “Laverne and DaBryan ran perfect races tonight, two of the best races we have had this year. They were crisp, sharp and flawless. We are going to focus Saturday on repeating that effort. With the atmosphere of a national championship, a perfect race is going to bring great times.

“Laverne is ranked second going in so we are going to focus on finishing no worse than second. For DaBryan, he just has to focus on running his race. We are going to keep everything the same on Saturday, keep them relaxed mentally and give them some time to recover from tonight's races. I think it's possible that we will see some of the fastest 60 times of the season in the races tomorrow,” Atkinson added.

“A fourth race won't have an effect on Laverne,” Atkinson continued. “Most of the top women doubled in this meet, either the 200 and the 400 or the 60 and the 200. Laverne didn't run a smart race in the 200 final but that's already behind us. That race is over and done with and we are ready to move on to our next opportunity. And that is what tomorrow's races are for both Laverne and DaBryan ... an opportunity.”

Jones' final is set for 7:15 p.m. Saturday with Blanton's to follow at 7:25 p.m. Both earned All-America honors in the 60 at this meet a year ago.

OU's final qualifier, freshman Jessica Eldridge, finished 14th in the prelims of the mile run with a 4:51.20. It was her slowest mile of the season. She started the race among the leaders and was in fifth place in her heat, within striking distance of the leaders, until the fifth lap. She dropped to sixth by the sixth lap and finished her heat in sixth place.

“We are disappointed with the performance but this was an important experience for Jessica to have as a freshman,” said Rodney Rothoff, OU's middle distance/distance coach. “As a coach, you want the best for your athletes, especially when they are competing at this level. She just didn't run the race we had planned for her to run or that we had worked toward all week. She stayed with the leaders through the first five laps and when they took off, she didn't go with them. We will use this as a learning experience.

“Still, she had a great season for a freshman. She made great strides this season and has made great improvements,” Rothoff added. “I have to remember that this time last year she wasn't thinking about running the kind of times she is running now. We are going to work on getting her mental tenacity to catch up with her physical ability.”

Jones Earns All-America Honors in the 200

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Jones Earns All-America Honors in the 200

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