Burns Finishes 22nd in Storm-Delayed NCAA Javelin Competition

AUSTIN, Texas -- Senior Renea' Burns saved her best throw of the season for her last effort at the NCAA Midwest Regional meet in College Station, Texas, two weeks ago. Little did she know, she would wait more than eight hours after the NCAA Championships began Wednesday afternoon at Mike A. Myers Stadium to throw again in competition.

Scheduled to throw in the second flight of the javelin qualifying round, Burns and 13 other athletes in that event were preparing to begin warmups for competition when the first of several lines of thunderstorms moved through the Austin area. After two stadium evacuations and more than eight hours waiting, the competition was resumed at 9:45 p.m. Less than a half hour later, the javelin competition was finished. Burns finished 22nd in the qualifying round and did not qualify for Friday's final.

She threw 131-7 on her first attempt of the competition. She improved to 137-8 on her second attempt and closed the competition with a 129-1. The 137-8 was her fifth best throw of the season but well short of the career-best mark from two weeks ago, a 153-1. It took a 150-4 to advance to the final.

While Burns and the second flight had to wait to compete, the first flight threw during the start of the storms that eventually dumped five-plus inches of rain on the Austin area. Ultimately, six from each flight advanced to Friday's final.

Because of the weather, the javelin qualifying, the prelims of the women's 400-meter relay and the first four events of the heptathlon were all that were completed on the first day of competition.

With the revised schedule, Laverne Jones, originally scheduled for a prelim and a possible semifinal in the 100 today, will run only a prelim on Thursday at 5:20 p.m. The final in that event is still set for Friday at 9:10 p.m.

Also scheduled to compete for the Sooners on Thursday are Scott Martin in the pole vault (2 p.m.), Jon McMillian in the high jump (7 p.m.) and Jessica Eldridge in the 1500 (7:55 p.m.) Finals in those events are set for Saturday.