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
OU Continues Outdoor Schedule at Texas Meets
March 26, 2004 | Track and Field
The Sooner track and field teams will split up this weekend with the majority of the team heading to El Paso, Texas, for the UTEP Springtime Invite and the rest of the squad heading to Arlington, Texas, for the UTA Invitational.
The Meet Schedules
Field events will begin at the El Paso meet at 9:30 a.m. and continue throughout the day. Running events, all finals, will start at 8 a.m. and continue through the men's 1600 meter relay which is scheduled for 6 p.m. The UTEP meet features high school and collegiate events. The collegiate portion of the meet will feature athletes from OU, Texas-El Paso, New Mexico, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. The collegiate event also will be a scoring meet.
Field events at the UTA meet will start at 9 a.m. Saturday with running events, all finals, set to begin at 1 p.m. The final event is the men's 1600 meter relay and it is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The Last Time Out
The Sooners sent a pair of athletes to the Texas A&M Multis on Thursday and Friday last week while other OU athletes competed in the Dr Pepper Invitational in Waco on Saturday. The rest of the team sat out last weekend after taking time off for spring break on the OU campus.
After an average first day, Dan Strong and Veronica Clayborne had a solid second day and, in the process, finished the College Station Multis with career best final scores in the decathlon and heptathlon respectively.
Strong finished fifth overall with 6,309 points while Clayborne was 10th with 4,377 points.
Strong established career bests in combined event competition in the discus with a 113-8, the pole vault with a 14-7.25 and the 1500 with a 5:03.15. Strong's pole vault mark produced 746 points. He also got big points in the hurdles with 698 points. His discus mark produced 557 points with his 1500 producing 542 points. His time in the hurdles, 16.31, was just .01 seconds away from a career best. He recorded a 149-10 in the javelin throw which produced 525 points.
For Clayborne, competing in her only the second heptathlon of her career, it was a pair of career bests on the second day of competition that helped her finish strong. She got 638 points from her career best in the 800, a 2:34.49, and 413 points for her best in the javelin, an 87-4. She also got 589 points from her long jump with a 16-9.25.
It was the second day of career bests for Clayborne who posted career bests in the 100 hurdles, the first event of competition on Thursday, with a 15.45, and in the shot put with a 31-0.50.
Junior Renea' Burns made her season opener a successful one, finishing second in the javelin at the Dr Pepper Invitational with an NCAA regional qualifying mark. Burns threw the javelin 143-0 to qualify for the meet to be held in late May in College Station, Texas. Her effort was a career best by more than three feet and is the fifth best throw in Sooner history.
Another Sooner, junior Barbara Phillips, won the hammer throw with a toss of 137-11. Sophomore Katie Blue finished fourth in the shot put and fifth in the discus while Cale Drumwright was fifth in the men's javelin.
Shannon Wilson and Emily Leonard were the only Sooner runners to compete in the meet. Wilson was seventh in the 3000 with Leonard coming in ninth.
NCAA Qualifiers
Renea' Burns became OU's first NCAA Regional qualifier for the 2004 outdoor season. She posted a career best in the javelin at the Dr Pepper Invitational with a 143-0 to beat the regional qualifying standard. This will mark the second year for Burns to qualify for NCAA Regional action.
Last Year at the UTA Invitational
It was a successful outdoor season opener for a pair of NCAA All-Americans and another Sooner picked up her second NCAA regional qualifying mark in as many meets at the UTA Invite.
Junior Laverne Jones opened her 2003 outdoor season with a win and a regional qualifying time in the 100-meter dash and ran on OU's third place 400-meter relay that also posted a regional qualifying mark. DaBryan Blanton won the men's 100-meter dash with an NCAA regional qualifying time in his first outdoor meet of the season. Senior Tiffany Davis won the women's 100-meter hurdles, lowering her regional qualifying mark by nearly .20 seconds.
Other Sooners who posted qualifying marks included Kyle Bookout, who recorded his third regional qualifying mark in as many meets, and women's 400-meter relay. Jimyria Hicks, Natasha Franklin and Ashley Freeman joined Jones to post a 46.05. Aisha Stringer also posted a win for the Sooners, finishing the 1500-meter run in 4:38.57.
OU career bests were recorded by a number of returning Sooners including Barbara Phillips in the hammer; Darren Hutchins in the 5000; Alaina Dearman in the 1500; and Emily Leonard in the 5000.
Next Up
Two Sooners, Chaundra Allard and LaDonna Moore, will head south for the heptathlon at the Texas Relays on Tuesday. The rest of the Sooners invited to compete in the Texas Relays will be announced by Monday and the scheduled day of their events will determined travel plans for those who are headed to Austin.
Saturday, June 13
Friday, June 12
Thursday, June 11
Wednesday, June 10
