OU Announces Changes to John Jacobs T&F Invitational

NORMAN, Okla. Because of the schedule on the renovation/construction project at the John Jacobs Track, the University of Oklahoma track programs announced today that the annual John Jacobs Invitational, scheduled April 9-10, will undergo some changes this year.

The high school portion of the meet, run on Friday, will be moved to the track at Moore High School and the university portion of the meet, held on Saturday, will be cancelled. The high school date is Friday, April 9, and the university date was to have been Saturday, April 10.

The construction project, which includes completely re-working the infield area and the track oval, is close to completion. The final surface on the new oval has been poured. All the other major parts of the projects, including lights, a scoreboard and and reworking and building of new throwing, jumping and vaulting areas, is complete. This project gives the Sooners permanent lights and scoreboard for the first time in the history of the facility. The reworking of the other areas has added throwing areas for the hammer as well as multiple throwing areas for the discus, shot and javelin and multiple runways for the long/triple jumps, high jump and pole vault. Additionally, the field event areas have been relocated to allow specatators the best opportunity to see those events.

OU will host the eighth annual Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the facility on April 29-May 1 and that will be the first event held at the renovated facility. For more information on the Big 12 meet, go to the Sooners' web site www.Soonersports.com.

“While we are disappointed that we had to make changes in the John Jacobs meet, we believe that all the improvements are worth any disruptions we have to go through at this time,” co-head coaches Jill Lancaster and Rodney Price said. “This facility, when completed, is going to be one of the finest in the country for the athletes, for the coaches and for the spectators. It is going to be a very athlete/spectator friendly facility and we are looking forward to the opportunities having a facility like this will give our program. It has been a big project and a longtime dream to make these kinds of changes and it wouldn't have happened without the support of former track letterwinners and other friends of the OU Athletic program. We think those people will be proud of what the new facility will offer.”

The construction/renovation project at John Jacobs is one of the many facility projects that have been done through OU's Great Expectations -- The Campaign for Sooner Sports.

With the cancellation of the collegiate portion of the John Jacobs, the Sooners have added a trip to the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., on Saturday, April 10.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Announces Changes to John Jacobs T&F Invitational

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