Completed Event: Track and Field at Battle on the Bayou on April 3, 2026 ,
Final
Track and Field
at Battle on the Bayou
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Sappleton Wins Jamaican Senior Title in the 800
July 08, 2004 | Track and Field
NORMAN, Okla. -- After missing the entire 2004 NCAA outdoor season because of an injury, Sooner Aldwyn Sappleton had something to prove at the Jamaican Senior Nationals in Kingston, Jamaica. After the meet was over, he had the proof he needed and a national senior title.
Sappleton, who was injured right after the indoor season, won the senior national title in the 800 with a 1:47.82, just .25 seconds off his career best, set in 2003. Sappleton had won his semifinal heat with a 1:51.17 and had the fifth fastest time heading into the final.
Sappleton had run only one race during the collegiate outdoor season, competing unattached in a meet at Tulsa in late April. He ultimately used a redshirt for the outdoor season and will have a full year of track and field eligibility remaining when classes resume at OU in August.
His time of 1:47.82 met the Olympic B standard. Sappleton will attempt to meet the A standard of 1:46.40. If he does, he will have to wait to see if he is added to the Jamaican Olympic Team.
Sappleton is a three-time All-American while competing for the Sooners and won the Big 12 indoor 600 title in 2002.
Currently, three athletes with ties to OU have been named to Olympic track and field teams. Laverne Jones will compete in the 100 and the 200 in Athens for the U.S. Virgin Islands and current Sooner assistant Shanon Atkinson will serve as her coach for the Olympics. Former Big 12 champion Michael Blackwood will compete in the 400 and the 4 x 400 relay for Jamaica while Danny McFarlane will compete for Jamaica in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles.
Blackwood won the 400-meter title at the Jamaican National Senior Championship, finishing with a 45.60. Blackwood was the top-ranked 400-meter runner in the world in 2003 and was a five-time All-American for the Sooners. He ended his two-year OU career in 2000.
McFarlane, won the 400-meter intermediate hurdles with a 48.95. McFarlane was a member of the Jamaican Olympic team in 2000. McFarlane was an eight-time All-American while competing for the Sooners. He finished his OU career in 1997.
Saturday, June 13
Friday, June 12
Thursday, June 11
Wednesday, June 10
