OU Travels to Lincoln for Big 12 Indoor Meet

NORMAN -- The Sooner track and field teams will leave Wednesday for Lincoln, Neb., and the ninth annual Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships. This marks the fifth consecutive time for Nebraska to host the Big 12 Indoor meet and the sixth overall (1997, 2001-2005).

Other host sites for the conference indoor meet have been Lied Recreation Center, Ames, Iowa (1998, 2000); and Ahearn Field House, Manhattan, Kan. (1999).

Competing in Lincoln

All 12 schools sponsor men's and women's track programs. Each team may enter up to 26 men and 26 women in the meet.

The Meet Schedule

Action begins at 9:30 a.m. Friday with the first event of the women's pentathlon. The first event of the men's heptathlon is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Running events begin at 2 p.m. Friday with four finals set for Friday. Field events begin at 2:45 p.m. Friday and all five are finals.

Action resumes Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with the first of the three remaining events in the heptathlon. Running finals begin at 3 p.m. and end at 6:45 p.m.with the men's 1600-meter relay. There will be seven field event finals on Saturday with the first beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Ticket Information

A reserved two-day pass is $12. The single-day admission prices are $7 for reserved; $6 for general admission - adult and $4 for general admission - student. Tickets are available by calling (800) 8BIGRED.

Past History

The Husker men and women swept the 2004 event. Overall, the Nebraska men have won all but one conference indoor title -- Texas won the event in 1999. On the women's side, NU (1997, 2000, 2001, and 2004) and UT (1998, 1999, 2002 and 2003) have won four championships apiece.

The Sooners' History

The Sooners are returning two champions from the 2004 meet. Junior DaBryan Blanton won the indoor 60 conference title on his way to the NCAA Championship in the event. Senior Austin Landreth became OU's second conference indoor pole vault champion in four years. Senior Aldwyn Sappleton won the 600-yard title in 2002 as a redshirt freshman.

In total, the Sooner men have won 8 individual titles. In addition to the ones listed above, Sooner winners include Roxbert Martin in the 400 in 1997; Michael Blackwood in the 400 in 1999; Ryan Kite in the 600 in 1997; Michael Westlund in the pole vault in 2001; and Justin Conkling in the heptathlon in 2001. OU also won the 1600-meter relay in 1997.

The best finish for the Sooner men in the Big 12 Indoor meet has been sixth. OU finished sixth with 55 points in 1997, the first year of the meet, and was sixth last year with 58.5 points.

The Sooner women have tied for seventh in 1998 with 45 points nad finished seventh in the 2001 meet with 51 points. The Sooner women have won three individual titles Staneshia Bell in the 60 in 2000; Janel Hayes in the long jump in 2001 and Leslie Dunlap in the pole vault in 2002.

The OU women were eighth in 2004 with 37.5 points.

More Devaney Quick Facts

Capacity: 5,000
The Devaney Center Track is now in its 30th season of competiton.
Hydraulic-banked track installed in 2000 ($2.979 million improvement).
One of three of these tracks in the nation and only one of seven in the world.
Mondo USA manufactured the track in Gallo d' Alba, Italy -- it traveled over 6,000 miles to Lincoln.
The facility annually hosts some of the largest and most prominent meets in the country, including the first-ever NCAA Midwest Regional in 2003, the first Big 12 conference championship and five consecutive league meets (2001-05).

Nationally Ranked

The OU men's track and field team took over sole possession of 11th place in the seventh week of the Trackwire Top 25 poll. The Sooners have 19 points in the poll, just missing the top 10 by one point.

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. The Sooners moved into a tie for 18th in the sixth poll before moving into a tie for 11th in the sixth poll.

The Sooners are one of seven Big 12 men's teams ranked in the top 25. Other ranked teams include Texas (sixth), Nebraska (seventh), Baylor and Kansas State (tied for 15th), and Texas Tech (tied for 18th) and Texas A&M (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 seven Dandy Dozen lists released this season.

His win at the Tyson meet on Feb. 12 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 Feb. 12. The time lowered the school record by nearly a second and is the best time in the Big 12 heading into the championship. It 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 at Iowa State.

After ranking third for two weeks, sophomore Scott Martin remained 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 on Feb. 12. Martin won the pole vault title at the Sooner Indoor on Jan. 22 to give him four wins in five meets this season. Martin is currently tied for fourth in the country on the NCAA qualifiers's list.

Last Year at the Big 12 Indoor

DaBryan Blanton in the 60 and Austin Landreth in the pole vault won Big 12 titles during second day action of the eighth annual Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship.

Senior Laverne Jones closed her amazing weekend of competition with second place finishes in the 60 and the 200 and she ran the opening leg of OU's sixth place 1600-meter relay.

Nebraska won the men's and women's titles. The Sooner men finished sixth, tying the previous all-time best finish for OU. The Sooner men finished sixth in 1997, the first year of the Big 12 Conference. The OU women finished eighth in 2004, just half a point point away from tying an all-time best finish and just 4.5 points from a top six finish.

Blanton's winning time in the 60, 6.67, was an NCAA provisional mark but fell short of the 6.57 he posted in semifinal action on Friday. His semifinal time was the second fastest by an American this season until Saturday's USATF National Indoor. After that event, Blanton's 6.57 dropped to the fourth fastest in the country. It also set a Big 12 meet record and is the all-time best mark in the Big 12.

Landreth, who won the NCAA Regional title last May in Lincoln, returned seven months later to win the conference indoor pole vault title with a 17-5.75. The mark was a season and career best for the Elk City junior and beat the NCAA provisional standard. OU also got points in the pole vault from Scott Martin, who tied for sixth, with a 16-6. Martin is a freshman from Tulsa.

Jones broke her own school record in the 60, running a 7.24. She had set the record Friday in the semifinals when she set a Big 12 meet record with a 7.27. That mark fell in the final. She then ran a 23.46 in the 200, another NCAA automatic time but not her season best in the event.

Aldwyn Sappleton, the 2002 Big 12 champion in the 600, finished second in the 800 with a 1:49.41. The time beat the NCAA provisional standard and was a season best for Sappleton by nearly two seconds.

The men's 1600 meter relay, with Sappleton taking the second leg and Blanton running the third leg, posted a season best 3:10.41 to finish third. Dwyane Duhaney ran the opening leg and Dax Thomas ran the anchor leg on the relay which posted an NCAA provisional mark for the first time this season.

Enid freshman Catherine Odell finished third in the 1000 meter run with a career best 2:49.83 and Choctaw freshman Jon McMillian established a career best in the high jump, clearing 7-0.25 to finish fourth. Odell's time lowered her career mark by nearly seven seconds. The Sooner women got points in the 800 from sophomore Nicola Maye, who finished fifth with a 2:10.40, and freshman Jessica Eldridge, who was seventh with a 2:11.71.

Enid junior Dan Strong held steady in the heptathlon, finishing seventh with 4,926 points.The final score is a career best for Strong by more than 300 points and ranks as the second best mark all-time in school history. Salah Hussein finished eighth in the men's 1000 with a 2:29.35.

The women's 1600 meter relay, with Jones running the opening leg and Maye taking the third leg, finished sixth with a season best 3:47.82. Terrika Warren ran the second leg and Ashley Johnson ran the anchor leg.

The top eight finishers in each event earned All-Big 12 honors. The OU men produced 17 All-Big 12 honorees, including those with multiple honors, and the Sooner women produced 14 All-Big 12 honorees, again including the multiple honorees.

The first day of the championship was one for Sooner sprinters as Jones and Blanton posted the fastest times in the preliminary and semifinal rounds of the 60-meter dash to lead the way into Saturday's final.

Blanton's time of 6.57 improved his previous season best by .07 seconds. It ranks as the second fastest time on the NCAA qualifying list as well. Blanton's attempt to double in the 200 was stopped when he was disqualified in his heat of the 200 Friday evening.

Not to be outdone, Jones posted a school record with her 7.27 in the 60 semifinal. The time is an automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Indoor and broke the meet record of 7.29 she had tied in the prelims. Jones later posted the second fastest qualifying time in the 200 with a season best mark of 23.31, also an NCAA automatic qualifying mark.

The Sooners got points in the first day of competition in the men's long jump, the men's distance medley relay, the women's pole vault and the women's distance medley relay. Senior Robert Smith recorded a season best 24-3.5 in the long jump. The mark improved his previous season best by nearly a foot and earned him a fourth place finish. Senior Cory Crosby finished sixth in the long jump with a 23-11.75.

Senior Leslie Dunlap finished tied for sixth in the pole vault with a 12-7.5. Four vaulters went out at that height with two tying for fourth with one miss and two tying for sixth with two misses.

The men's distance medley relay finished third with a 9:53.03, also a season best. The women's distance medley relay finished fifth with an 11:39.81..

The Last Time Out

Sophomore Scott Martin returned to his winning ways in OU's last meet (Feb. 19), picking up his fourthwin in five competitions in the final home meet of the 2005 indoor season at the Mosier Indoor Facility, the Sooner Indoor.

Martin cleared 17-6.5 to record his fi fth provisional qualifying mark of the season and win the pole vault competition at the meet. Martin then took three attempts at 18-0.5, an automatic qualifying mark, and just barely missed on all three tries.

Martin's performance was just one of several qualifying marks for the host Sooners, even though OU held out a number of athletes with just one week before the Big 12 Indoor Championships. Senior Austin Landreth finished second in the pole vault with a 17-0.75 to record his first provisional mark of the season. Junior Lucretia Rimmer won the women's triple jump with a 41-8.50 to post her first provisional mark of the season.

The mark by Rimmer is a career best by 11 inches and puts her in the top five in the Big 12. It also is the second best mark in school history.

Sophomore Jessica Eldridge returned to winning form as well, taking the title in the 1000-meter run with a 2:51.13. The mark is a career best for Eldridge. She also set meet and facility records with her effort.

Other Sooner winners included LaDonna Moore in the 60-meter hurdles with a 7.87; Jon McMillian in the men's high jump with a 6-11; Kelsey Moore in the women's high jump with a 5-7.25; and Jason Baird in the men's triple jump with a 48-3.50.

Next Up Sooner athletes will be participating in NCAA Qualifier meets next weekend. The actual meets and athletes to compete is to be determined.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Travels to Lincoln for Big 12 Indoor Meet

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