McMillian Finishes 13th in NCAA High Jump Final

AUSTIN, Texas -- OU freshman Jon McMillian came very close to making school history Saturday night at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium. The Choctaw freshman finished 13th in the high jump after clearing the first height of the competition, 6-10.75, on his first attempt.

He went out of the competition on the second height, 7-0.25, and all three of his attempts at that height were very close to being successful. He brushed the bar on his first attempt. He was over the bar on his second attempt but kicked it off with his heels. He also hit the bar with his heels on his third and final attempt.

McMillian had easily cleared the first bar, sailing over on his first try at the height.

Because of his clearance of that bar on his first attempt, he finished 13th in the competition. The top eight finishers plus the top eight Americans in every event earn All-America honors. Three of the athletes who finished ahead of McMillian are international student-athletes, leaving the freshman two spots shy of All-America honors. He needed to clear 7-0.25 and 7-1.50 to earn All-America honors. He cleared 7-1.50 on Thursday to advance to tonight's final.

Had he earned All-America honors tonight, he would have been OU's first All-American in the high jump since 1987 and the first true freshman in school history to earn the award.

His final clearance tonight marked the fourth time this season for him to clear 6-10.75 and the first time since April 17 to not clear at least 7-0. He also cleared 6-10.75 while competing in the same facility for the Texas Relays in early April.

Using Laverne Jones' sixth-place finish in the 100-meter dash on Friday, the Sooner women tied for 56th overall. UCLA won the women's title beating LSU, 69-68, in a race that came down to the final event of the competition. Arkansas won the men's title, beating Florida, 65-.50-49.

While the NCAA meet marks the end of the collegiate track and field season, several Sooners will continue to compete over the summer. Aldwyn Sappleton, Dwayne Duhaney and Nicola Maye are scheduled to travel to the Jamaican Olympic Trials in two weeks.

Jessica Eldridge and Yolanda Goff are slated to compete in the U.S. Junior Nationals, also in two weeks. DaBryan Blanton has qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in mid July and Jones has been named to the U.S. Virgin Islands' Olympic team and her current OU coach, Shanon Atkinson, will serve as her coach for the Olympics and will make the trip to Athens as well.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

McMillian Finishes 13th in NCAA High Jump Final

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