Jones Finishes Sixth in NCAA 100-Meter Final, Becomes a Six-TIme All-American

AUSTIN, Texas -- Laverne Jones became only the second woman in OU school history to earn at least six NCAA All-America certificates after she finished sixth in the 100-meter dash Friday night at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

Jones finished the race with an 11.36. Lauryn Williams of Miami won the national title with a 10.97, the fastest wind-legal time in the world to date this year and the fifth fastest time ever by a collegian.

Jones got a great start and ran even with Williams through the first 30 meters of the race. Williams then pulled away from the field, winning by nearly .20 seconds. The 11.36 by Jones is her third fastest wind-legal time this season and the fourth fastest in any conditions for Jones this season.

“I got a great start and ran with Lauryn for the first part of the race,” said Jones. “We had great conditions to run in tonight and running in a race like that is so exciting. You just have to go into a race like this with confidence, do what you have been doing all along, be calm and not try to do things differently.

“I'm glad I made the finals and I proved to some people that I could compete with these runners. I was happy to finish sixth overall and I am satisfied with what I did tonight.”

The last Sooner woman to earn at All-America honors in at least six individual events was Kay Gooch, who earned All-America honors in seven events. Gooch also was an All-American in the indoor 3200-meter relay. She earned All-America honors twice in cross country, twice in the outdoor 5,000, twice in the indoor 3,000 and once in the outdoor 3,000, adding her last honor in 1994.

Jones becomes the first Sooner woman in school history to earn All-America honors in six individual events in just two years. She was a two-time All-American in the indoor 60 and the indoor 200 and earned the honor once in the outdoor 200 to go with her award in this year's outdoor 100.

She entered the meet ranked fifth in the 100 and had the eighth best time after Thursday's weather-delayed prelims. Last year, she finished 12th in the 100 at the NCAA meet.

Tonight's race closes a successful senior season for the St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands senior. She was the Big 12 runner-up in the outdoor 100 and 200, the NCAA Midwest Regional runner-up in the 100 and the 200 and she set the NCAA Midwest Regional record in both the 100 and the 200. She also owns the OU school record in the 100, tying the 11.25 Thursday night in the prelims, and she holds the school record in the 200.

“When I came to OU two years ago, I never dreamed my collegiate career would end like this,” Jones added. “I have had a great time competing and it has been a great pleasure to compete for the Sooners. I'll take a few days off and then begin training for the Olympics.”

She will represent the U.S. Virgin Islands in the 2004 Olympic Games, becoming the first Sooner woman in school history to compete in the Olympics.

Freshman Jon McMillian will compete in the high jump finals Saturday night on the final day of the meet. He is scheduled to begin competition at 7 p.m.