OU Hosts Final Indoor T&F Meet

NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma track and field teams will be in Norman this weekend to host the Sooner Indoor. The meet is the final home meet of the 2005 indoor schedule and marks the final tune-up for the Sooners before the Big 12 Indoor Championship. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for youth.

Field events begin at 10 a.m. with the first event on the track scheduled to begin at noon.

Participating in the Sooner Indoor
Joining the host Sooners are representatives of men's and women's teams from Abilene Christian, Harding, Huston-Tillotson, Kansas, Langston, Missouri Southern, North Texas, Oral Roberts, Paul Quinn, South Plains, Southwest Christian and Texas A&M-Kingsville as well as representatives from women's teams from Arkansas, New Mexico Junior College, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M-Commerce. In addition, a number of individuals will be competing in the meet.

Getting to Mosier
There is parking available in the eastern most portion of the Duck Pond parking lot. Enter from Brooks and head to the far east end of the lot (the end closest to the Duck Pond). A pedestrian gate on the northeast corner of the John Jacobs Track Facility is open to a sidewalk that crosses over to the entryway of the Mosier Indoor Facility. Because of classes on the Norman campus, only cars of spectators/competitors parked in the east end of the lot will not be ticketed.

Access to Brooks Street is possible from north or south bound Jenkins Avenue (the street that runs on the east side of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium).

Nationally Ranked
The OU men's track and field team moved up seven spots in the sixth week of the Trackwire Top 25 poll. The Sooners are tied with Oregon for 11th in the poll that was released Feb. 16.

Arkansas continues to hold the top spot in the poll which projects a hypothetical score for the NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and NCAA qualifying competitions from across the country. The projection is generated by the Dandy Dozen, a power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event.

OU was unranked the first two weeks of the indoor season and was ranked 17th in the third poll. The Sooners dropped to 19th in the fourth poll after not competing the weekend of Jan. 29-30, then moved into a tie for 18th in the poll released Feb. 9.

The Sooners are one of seven Big 12 men's teams ranked in the top 25. Other ranked teams include Texas (sixth), Nebraska (ninth), Texas Tech (13th), Baylor and Kansas State (T-14th) and Texas A&M (tied for 23rd).

The factors used to build the Dandy Dozen include 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.

Junior DaBryan Blanton, the defending NCAA champion in the 60 meters, continues to be ranked second in the Dandy Dozen. Blanton is currently ranked fourth on the NCAA qualifying list with the 6.64 he posted at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 12. Blanton has been ranked second in each of the six Dandy Dozen lists released this season.

His win at the Tyson meet marked Blanton's 14th in 15 races in the 60, going back to the start of the 2004 season. He finished third at the 2004 Tyson Invitational in the 60 last February. He has run four races in the 60 this season and is undefeated in four attempts.

Senior Aldwyn Sappleton is ranked third in the 800 after posting a 1:47.43 at the Cyclone Classic on Saturday. The time lowered the school record by nearly a second and is the best time in the Big 12 to date. It also is an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA meet and is the best time in the country in the 800 by nearly .30 seconds. Sappleton was named Big 12 Male Track and Field Athlete of the Week on Feb. 15 after his victory over the weekend.

After ranking third for two weeks, sophomore Scott Martin is fourth in the pole vault in the Dandy Dozen list. He opened the season in 12th place and held that spot for two weeks. He moved up to fourth in the third poll and was third for two weeks after winning the J.D. Martin Invitational with a career best 17-6.5 He improved that provisional qualifying mark to 17-8.5 and finished fourth at the Tyson Invitational last Saturday. He had won his previous three competitions this season before finishing fourth in Arkansas. Martin is currently ranked fourth in the country on the NCAA qualifiers's list.

Last Year at the Sooner Indoor
In the final tune-up before the start of conference and regional action in track and field, four meet records and one facility record were broken at the 2004 Sooner Indoor. Season bests were recorded by Sooners in 15 events and one Sooner, Salah Hussein, won the 800-meter run at the Mosier Indoor Facility in front of more than 750 fans.

Hussein posted a 1:54.03 in the 800 to win the event by nearly two seconds. The mark was a season best for the OU freshman.

Erica Bartilina, who was competing unattached, set a facility record in the pole vault with a 14-0. Bartilina was a two-time Big 12 pole vault champion while competing at Texas A&M.

The four meet records were posted in the throwing events as Halee Prickett and Delisa McClain of Oklahoma State set meet records in the women's shot put and women's weight throw respectively. On the men's side, Cody Brotherton of McMurry set a meet record in the shot put and Arlev Smith of Missouri Southern put his name next to the meet record in the weight throw.

The Sooners held out a number of their student-athletes and others, including DaBryan Blanton, Aldwyn Sappleton and Laverne Jones, ran only on the relays. Blanton and Sappleton combined with Dax Thomas and Jason Stanley to post a season best for the Sooners in the mile relay with a 3:17.81.

The Last Time Out
The Sooner team split up last weekend with sprinters, vaulters and high jumpers heading to Arkansas for the Tyson Invitational and everyone else heading to Ames, Iowa, for the Cyclone Classic.

At the Tyson Invitational -- The last time he ran the 60 on the track at the Randal Tyson Track Complex, DaBryan Blanton won an NCAA title. He took another step toward defending that title Saturday night, winning the 60 meter dash at the Powered by Tyson Invitational with a season best 6.64.

That time missed the NCAA automatic qualifying mark by .02 seconds. The win extended Blanton's unbeaten string in the 60 to nine consecutive, stretching back to the 2004 Tyson meet. He is unbeaten in four races in the 60 this season.

Sooner freshman Marcus Pugh finished sixth in the 60 and fifth in the 200, recording NCAA provisional qualifying times in both of those events for the first time this season. He had a 6.72 to record the fourth best time in the preliminaries, then ran a 21.20 to win his section of the 200.

Scott Martin finished fourth in the championship pole vault with a 17-8.50, another career best and an improved NCAA provisional mark. Jon McMillian improved his season best to 6-11.75 to finish sixth in the high jump.

Kelsey Moore led the OU women, finishing sixth in the high jump after taking first in her flight with a 5-8.75. Lindsey Bourne and Jennifer Plank tied for sixth in the pole vault, clearing 12-2.75

At the Cyclone Classic -- Aldwyn Sappleton enjoys running on the track at the Lied Recreation Center in Ames. On Saturday night. Sappleton won the 800 meter title with a 1:47.43, an NCAA automatic qualifying time.

Sappleton just missed qualifying for the NCAA indoor meet last year after earning a trip in his sophomore season. He becomes OU's first automatic qualifier in 2005.

Sappleton's time marked a career best and a school record for the senior. It also is the best time posted this season in NCAA qualifying meets and in the Big 12.

Sophomore Jessica Eldridge, in her first race at the distance this season, finished second in the mile with a 4:49.47. She also ran the 800 in the meet.

Junior Tony Francis had the fifth best qualifying time in the preliminaries of the 60 meter hurdles with a 7.88, a mark that beat the NCAA provisional mark.

On Friday, junior Blake Culp recorded the eighth best time in school history in the men's 5000 during the first day of competition at the 14th annual Cyclone Classic. Culp finished 40th with a 14:58.11 in a race that featured 76 runners.

Next Up
OU will travel to the Big 12 Championships Feb. 25-26 in Lincoln, Neb. The following weekend will find Sooner athletes participating in NCAA Qualifier Meets. The actual meets and athletes to compete is to be determined.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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