Selected Sooners at Three NCAA T&F Qualifier Meets

NORMA -- With the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships just over a week away, 11 Sooner student-athletes and four coaches are on the road this weekend, competing in NCAA Qualifier meets.

This weekend is the final opportunity for athletes to post qualifying marks for the 2005 meet. The deadline for submitting marks is 5 p.m. central time Saturday. Declarations for the meet must be made by 1 p.m. Monday, March 6, and the final field will be announced later Monday or Tuesday.

Who's Traveling ...
Co-head coach Jill Lancaster and triple jumper Lucretia Rimmer are headed to Virginia Tech for Saturday's meet. Rimmer has a provisional mark of 41-8.5 which ranks 31st. To move into the top 15, she would need a jump of 42-11.75.

Co-head coach Rodney Price and assistant coach Tom Williams are headed to Ames, Iowa, for the Iowa State qualifier with seven athletes. Five of the seven have provisional marks but need improvement to assure a themselves a spot in the NCAA. Those with provisional marks include: Kelsey Moore, tied for 23rd with a 5-10, needs a 5-11.25 to move into the top 10;
Tony Francis, tied for 30th in the 60 hurdles with a 7.88, needs a 7.80 to move into the top 10;
Jason Stanley, tied for 20th in the 60 hurdles with a 7.84, needs a 7.80 to move into the top 10;
Austin Landreth, tied for 31st in the pole vault with a 17-0.75, needs a 17-7 to move into the top 10;
Marcus Pugh, tied for 16th in the 60 with a 6.70, needs a 6.68 to move into the top 10.

Also competing in Ames are a pair of Sooner vaulters, Lindsey Bourne and Jennifer Plank. Neither has a provisional mark but both have shown in the past the ability have big jumps in competition. To get into the top 10, the duo would need to clear a height around the 13-7 mark. Bourne's best this season is a 12-6.25 while Plank's season best is 12-9.5.

The final set of Sooners on the road includes assistant coach Rodney Rothoff, milers Jessica Eldridge and Catherine Odell and freshman Brayon Brown, who is entered in the 800. They will be running in the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on Saturday. None of the three have hit the provisional standard but the track at Notre Dame is a good one for times in the middle distance and distance races. Eldridge and Odell need a 4:42.00 to hit the top 10. Eldridge's best in the mile this season is a 4:49.05 while Odell has recorded a 4:59.16. A 4:44.00 would get them into the top 15. Brown has a season best of 1:49.74 and a 1:48.29 would break the top 10.

All marks are based on the most current NCAA events list which was released on March 2.

Who's In ...
Two Sooners, Aldwyn Sappleton and DaBryan Blanton, have recorded automatic qualifying times and are definitely in the NCAA field. Sappleton continues to have the top time in the country in the 800 with a 1:47.43, a time he recorded on Feb. 12 at the Cyclone Classic. Blanton is ranked third in the country with a 6.61, a time he posted in the Big 12 semifinal on Feb. 25.

Sophomore Scott Martin is currently tied for fourth in the country with a 17-9.25. While the mark is not an automatic qualifying one, it ranks high enough on the list that Sooner coaches believe he will be in the field. Another sophomore, Jon McMillian, is ranked 10th in the high jump with a 7-2.25. Again, it is not an automatic mark but coaches believe it is high enough on the list to get McMillian in the meet. Martin and McMillian both got their current bests last weekend at the Big 12 Championships. Martin was second in the pole vault while McMillian was fourth in the high jump.

Nationally Ranked
The OU men's track and field team moved to 12th place in the eighth week of the Trackwire Top 25 poll. The Sooners are just three points shy of the top 10.

Meanwhile, junior DaBryan Blanton, the defending 60-meter NCAA champion, moved to the top spot in the Dandy Dozen after his second place finish at the ninth annual Big 12 Championships last weekend.

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 fifth poll. After a solid weekend of performances on Feb. 11-12, OU jumped seven spots in the poll, moving into a tie for 11th in the sixth poll before taking over sole possession of 11th in the seventh poll of the season.

The Sooners are one of seven Big 12 men's teams ranked in the top 25. Other ranked teams include Nebraska (fourth), Texas (ninth), Texas Tech (T-13th), Kansas State (15th), Texas (T-22nd) and Baylor (T-24th).

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.

Blanton, who posted an NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 60 with a 6.61 in the conference semifinals, moved up to first after the previous number one runner, Tyson Gay, skipped the Southeastern Conference meet and is day-to-day because of an injury. Blanton had been ranked second in each of the previous seven Dandy Dozen lists released this season.

Blanton finished second in the Big 12 final last Saturday, marking the first time this season for him to finish second in the 60. He has won six of seven races in the 60 this season after winning 10 of 11 races in 2004. He is currently ranked third in the country on the NCAA qualifier's list.

Senior Aldwyn Sappleton is ranked third in the 800 in the Dandy Dozen after posting a 1:47.43 at the Cyclone Classic on Feb. 12. He jumped into the rankings for the first time on Feb. 15 after the ISU meet. The time lowered the school record by nearly a second. 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 the Cyclone Classic.

Sappleton won the 2005 Big 12 title in the 800, slipping around a pack of runners on the next-to-last curve, then sprinting down the home stretch to win by more than a second. His winning time set a meet record and beat the two runners currently ranked ahead of him in the Dandy Dozen.

Sophomore Scott Martin, who finished second at the Big 12 meet in the pole vault with a 17-9.25, remains fourth 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. He dropped to fourth in the sixth poll after that performance and remained fourth in the seventh week of the poll after winning the Sooner Indoor with his fifth NCAA provisional mark in five competitions.

The win at the Sooner Indoor was his fourth in five competitions this season. His mark at the Big 12 meet was another career best and marks the sixth time in six competitions for Martin to record an NCAA provisional qualifying mark this season. Martin is currently tied for fourth in the country on the NCAA qualifiers's list.

The Last Time Out
Senior Aldwyn Sappleton established himself as one of the frontrunners for the upcoming NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships by winning the 2005 Big 12 800-meter title with an impressive come-from-behind victory Saturday. Sappleton, who has the best time in the country in the 800 already in the book, set a Big 12 meet record with a 1:48.25 in the win.

Sappleton, who was fourth when the final lap of the race started, worked his way around a pack of runners on the next to last curve by moving to the outside. He improved to second by the final curve, then sprinted down the home stretch to win the race by more than a second.

His win helped the OU men finish an all-time school best of fifth with 67.33 points, also an all-time school best in Big 12 competition. It also was the first time in Big 12 history for the Sooner men to produce a conference champion in the 800 and was Sappleton's second conference title in his career. He won the indoor 600-yard run in 2002.

Junior DaBryan Blanton finished second in the 60-meter dash, just getting edged at the line in a photo finish that was decided by .004 seconds. He then came back two hours later to finish second in the 200, lowering his NCAA provisional qualifying time in that event to 21.06. Marcus Pugh finished seventh in the 60 and came in third in the 200 to help the Sooners.

Jon McMillian recorded an NCAA provisional mark in the high jump, clearing 7-2.25 to finish fourth. Jason Stanley closed the most successful Big 12 meet of his Sooner career, finishing third in the 60-meter hurdles with an NCAA provisional time of 7.89. Tony Francis was fifth in the hurdles.

Senior Dan Strong overcame a slip at the start of the 60-meter hurdles, the first of the final three events in the heptathlon, to finish eighth. Strong, who had a 10-point edge over the ninth place competitor heading into the final event, ran a career best in the 1000 of 2:46.54 to finish fourth overall in that event and put nearly 200 points between himself and the ninth place finisher. Tydree Lewis was eighth in the triple jump.

Kelsey Moore tied for second in the women's high jump to lead the OU women Saturday. It marked the first time in her career for the Yukon senior to score in Big 12 competition. Sophomore Jessica Eldridge finished fourth in the mile and junior Jennifer Plank tied for sixth in the pole vault, also a career best finish in conference competition.

Kerri Ann Mitchell was seventh in the 200 and the women's 1600-meter relay, on the strength of a sprint to the finish by anchor leg Ashley Johnson, finished eighth. Overall, the OU women were 11th in the team standings. In results from the first day of competition, sophomore Scott Martin, perfect through four heights, posted a career best of 17-9.50 to finish second in the pole vault.

Martin easily cleared his first four heights in the competition but hit the bar with his foot on the way up on each of his three attempts at 18-0.50. His final height is an NCAA provisional mark and left him 3.25 inches from an automatic qualifying mark, 18-0.50, the mark that won the competition.

Senior Austin Landreth, who won the competition a year ago, finished tied for eighth with a 16-5.50. Landreth cleared the height that finished sixth but had more misses to lower his overall finish.

The men's distance medley relay team of Salah Hussein, Andrew Crabbe, Brayon Brown and Jason Coleman finished second. Hussein took the opening leg for OU on the relay and had the Sooners in third place after 1200 meters. OU remained in the top four for the rest of the race before anchor leg Coleman sprinted the last 50 meters to move OU into second place. The time of 9:50.41 is the third best time in school history.

Blanton, the defending national and Big 12 champion in the 60 meter dash, posted the best semifinal time in the 60 Friday night with a 6.61. That time is an automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Blanton came back three hours later to record the best qualifying time in the 200 with a 21.16. It was his first race at 200 meters this season and the time is an NCAA provisional qualifier. The mark also is an indoor career best for Blanton and ranks as the fourth best time in school history. Pugh recorded the fifth best time in the 60 semifinals with a 6.70 and the third best time in the 200 with a 21.34. The time in the 60 is an NCAA provisional mark and is a career best for Pugh.

The Sooner women scored points in the distance medley relay with a fifth place finish. The quartet, composed of Eldridge, Johnson, Clementine McCutchen and Catherine Odell, held the lead through the first two legs of the race before falling behind. It was the second solid performance of the day for Eldridge, who ran the opening leg of the relay and gave the Sooners a 40-meter lead. Earlier, she had posted the fastest qualifying time in the mile with a 4:49.05, a season best for her by just over .40 of a second.

Strong was in eighth place in the heptathlon with a career best first day total of 2804. Strong established career bests in the 60 with a 7.55 and tied a career best in the high jump with a 6-5.

Next Up
The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships are set for Friday and Saturday, March 11-12, in Fayetteville, Ark. Those Sooners who have automatic marks or who are invited with provisional marks will attend the meet. That marks the conclusion of the 2005 indoor season.

OU will open the 2005 outdoor season on March 17 when the combined event athletes participate in the Hurricane Invitational. The remainder of the team will take a few days off for spring break on the Norman campus (March 12-20) and return to competition on Saturday, March 25. The squads will split between the Dr Pepper Invitational in Waco and the Stanford Invitational in Palo, Alto, Calif.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Selected Sooners at Three NCAA T&F Qualifier Meets

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