Sooner Track and Field Teams Head to California and Texas

The Sooner track and field teams will be sending student-athletes west to the Mt. Sac Relays in California and south to the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco this weekend. The group heading to California left today while the athletes heading to Waco will depart in two different groups on Friday. Competition begins Friday in Waco and continues through Saturday while the Sooners heading to the Mt. Sac Relays are scheduled to compete Saturday night and Sunday.

The Michael Johnson Field
Joining Oklahoma and host Baylor at the Michael Johnson Invitational will be Abilene Christian, Angelo State, New Mexico State, Seton Hall, Tarleton State, Texas, Texas State, Texas-Arlington, Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Events begin on Friday afternoon with the pole vault competition. The hammer is set for 5 p.m. Friday. Field events begin at 9 a.m. Saturday with running events set to begin at 11 a.m. The running finals are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Field event finals will continue throughout the day Saturday.

A total of 41 student-athletes are headed to Waco as the Sooners compete in their next to last meet before the Big 12 Championships.

At the Mt. Sac Relays
Four athletes are representing OU at the Mt. Sac Relays. Catherine Odell is scheduled to run in one of six sections of the women's 1500 at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Jason Coleman and Salah Hussein are entered in the six-section men's 1500 that is scheduled for 9:06 p.m. Saturday. Jessica Eldridge is running in the invitational 1500 which is set for 4:45 p.m. Sunday.

The Last Time Out
After more than a hour delay because of storms, the John McDonnell Invitational started and Jessica Eldridge was one of several Sooners to take full advantage of the chance to run.

The OU freshman won the women's 800-meter run with a 2:08.64. The time beat the NCAA Regional qualifying standard by nearly two seconds and ranks as the sixth best time in school history.

Four other Sooners met the regional qualifying mark but their efforts will not count. Because of the weather, all the jumping events were moved indoors and indoor marks are not eligible for consideration for the outdoor meet. Jon McMillian (high jump), Scott Martin (pole vault) and Austin Landreth (pole vault) already had qualified for the regional meet but Martin's vault of 17-0.75 was a career best for the freshman and gave him a second place finish. Sophomore Lucretia Rimmer finished fourth in the triple jump with a 40-11.50, the first time for her to beat the regional mark. The mark was a career best for the OU sophomore.

A total of four Sooners won their events including McMillian in the high jump, Jason Coleman in the 1500, Dwayne Duhaney in the unseeded 400 and Eldridge in the 800. A number of other Sooner competitors were held out of competition because of the weather conditions

Trackwire Rankings
The second Trackwire power ranking and Dandy Dozen list of the outdoor season was released on April 13 and the Sooner men are tied for 22nd in the power ranking. The Sooners were 21st in the first ranking of the outdoor season. The OU men were ranked every week but one of the indoor season in the Trackwire 25.

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.

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.

Sophomore DaBryan Blanton is ranked first in the country in the 100 in the Dandy Dozen. Senior Laverne Jones is ranked eighth in the 100 and eighth in the 200 on the women's Dandy Dozen list.

Big 12 Track and Field
Work continues at the John Jacobs Complex in preparation for the eighth annual Big 12 Track and Field Championships to be hosted by OU April 29-May 1. Credential requests are being accepted now. The form is available on the OU web site. Click on the Big 12 Track and Field link on the site and the latest meet schedule and the credential request are available as PDF files.

Next Up
The Sooners have changed their upcoming schedule, deciding not to send athletes to the Drake Relays. Those who do compete next week will travel to the North Texas Invitational which is scheduled for Thursday.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Track and Field Teams Head to California and Texas

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