Sooners Host 36th Annual John Jacobs Invitational

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Sooner track and field teams are back home after spending the first three weeks of the outdoor season on the road. The collegiate portion of the 36th annual John Jacobs Invitational is scheduled to open at 11:30 a.m. Saturday with the start of field events. Running events begin at 4 p.m. and continue through 7:45 p.m. when the men's 1600-meter relay is scheduled.

The high school portion of the meet opens at 8:30 a.m. Friday. with the afternoon session scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. The high school field includes the boys and girls teams from Altus, Tulsa's Booker T. Washington, Broken Arrow, Capitol Hill, Catoosa, Chickasha, Collinsville, Coweta, Edmond Memorial, Lawton MacArthur, Lawton Eisenhower, Guthrie, Idabel, Jenks, Norman, Norman North, Owasso, Sallisaw, Seeworth Academy, Shawnee, Stillwater, Tulsa East Central, Tulsa Union, and US Grant, as well as the boys' teams from Duncan, Empire, Glenpool, Midwest City, Muskogee, Tulsa Memorial and the girls' teams from Moore and Yukon.

This meet marks the return of the John Jacobs to the complex that also bears the name of longtime OU track and field coach John Jacobs. The college portion of the 2004 meet was cancelled and the high school meet was moved to Moore as construction on the complex continued.

OU reopened the renovated complex by hosting the 2004 Big 12 Outdoor Championships. As a result of the successful experience with that meet, the Sooners will serve as the host of the 2005 NCAA Midwest Regional Track and Field Championships.

Admission prices for the John Jacobs meet on Saturday is $5 for adults and $3 for youth. There is no charge for the high school portion of the meet.

Getting to the Meet
With the large crowd that is expected for Saturday's Red/White football game, parking will be at a premium for the John Jacobs Invitational. Track and field fans may park in any legal parking place on campus. Lots closest the to track and field complex include the Duck Pond lot on Brooks directly north of the complex, the multi-purpose lot on the corner of Jenkins and Lindsey, the lots east and south of Sarkeys Energy Center (at the corner of Boyd and Jenkins) and the field house lot (the corner of Brooks and Jenkins).

The Field
Joining the Sooners are the men's and women's teams from Nebraska, Texas Christian, Baylor, Texas-Arlington, North Texas, Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Barton County.

The men's field features three nationally ranked teams -- Nebraska, Oklahoma and Baylor -- while the women's field features one nationally ranked team, Nebraska. Barton County has been a dominant force on the junior college scene, winning the last seven NJCAA men's outdoor titles and the last five NJCAA women's outdoor titles.

A total of seven Olympians are entered in the meet, including former Sooners Michael Blackwood, who competed in 2000 and 2004 for Jamaica, and Laverne Jones, who competed in 2004 for the U.S. Virgin Islands. Nebraska will bring three Olympians while Baylor will bring one.

National Rankings
The OU men's track and field team were ranked 22nd in the second week of the Trackwire Top 25 list. The Sooners are tied for 22nd with North Carolina. OU opened the season tied for 22nd with North Carolina and Baylor in the first week of the poll April 5.

Arkansas, after winning the 2005 NCAA Indoor title and opening the outdoor season as the top ranked men's team, remained as the top ranked team in the second week. On the women's side, Texas jumped to the top spot, sending Tennessee, the opening week's top ranked team and the 2005 NCAA Indoor champion on the women's side, to third place. South Carolina is ranked second.

The poll 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 finished the 2005 indoor season ranked 12th after opening the season unranked. The poll proved to be an accurate prediction of NCAA finish as the Sooner men finished 12th in the 2005 NCAA Indoor, OU's best team finish since 1997.

The Sooners are one of five Big 12 men's teams ranked in the top 25. Other ranked teams include Texas (tied for ninth); Nebraska (T-16th), Texas Tech (T-20th), and Baylor (T-24th).

OU junior DaBryan Blanton, who repeated as NCAA Indoor champion at 60 meters on March 12, is ranked third on the Dandy Dozen list in the 100. Blanton, who finished second in the 100-meter invitational at the Texas Relays last Saturday, opened the season ranked third.

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.

Sophomore Scott Martin is ranked third in the pole vault in the second Dandy Dozen list after opening the season in fourth place. Martin, who finished second at the Big 12 Championships and was fourth at the NCAA Indoor with a career best 18-0.5, finished second at the Texas Relays in section A of the men's pole vault with a 17-8.50 on Saturday. The mark beat the NCAA Regional standard and ranks as the sixth best in school history.

Senior Aldwyn Sappleton is ranked eighth in the 800 for the second week in a row. Sappleton will run his first 800 of the outdoor season Saturday at the 36th annual John Jacobs Invitational. The race on Saturday, scheduled for 6:10 p.m., will feature four NCAA All-Americans, including Sappleton. All have run a 1:47.00 or better in their careers. The NCAA Regional mark is 1:50.70.

Sappleton opened the 2005 outdoor season at the Stanford Invitational, finishing fifth in the 400 in a near career best time, then ran the anchor leg of OU's 3200-meter and distance medley relays at last week's Texas Relays. His anchor leg in the 3200-meter relay helped the OU men break a 10-year old school record and the DMR time was the ninth best in school history. Sappleton finished eighth in the indoor 800 at the 2005 NCAA Championships, earning All-America honors in an indoor individual event for the first time in his Sooner career. He also won the 2005 Big 12 Indoor title in the 800 in a meet record time.

NCAA Midwest Regional Qualifiers
Heading into the fourth weekend of action in the outdoor season, the Sooners have eight NCAA Regional qualifiers -- Kerri-Ann Mitchell in the 100, Jessica Eldridge in the 5000, Jennifer Plank in the pole vault, Kelsey Moore in the high jump, Scott Martin in the pole vault, Jon McMillian in the high jump, Kevin Bookout in the shot put and Tydree Lewis in the triple jump. OU athletes will have the opportunity to compete at home in the 2005 NCAA Midwest Regional meet, to be hosted by the Sooners May 27-28 at the John Jacobs Complex.

The Last Time Out -- Texas Relays
DaBryan Blanton returned to one of the tracks where he has had the most success in his career, Myers Stadium, and earned a second place finish in the invitational 100-meter dash Saturday at the 78th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.

Blanton recorded a 10.07 to win the first of two heats in the invitational 100. Walter Dix of Florida State won the second heat with a 9.96 but neither time counted toward NCAA Regional qualifying because the wind reading in both heats was above the 4.0 that is allowable. The wind reading in Blanton's heat was 4.2 while the wind reading in the second heat was 4.5. Every time in the two heats beat the NCAA Regional mark but all were wiped out because of the wind.

Sophomore Scott Martin finished second in section A of the men's pole vault, clearing an outdoor career best of 17-8.50, a mark that moved him to sixth on the all-time OU career list. The effort also is an NCAA Regional mark in Martin's first action since finishing fourth in the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Another sophomore, Jon McMillian, also got an NCAA Regional mark with a 6-10.75 in section A of the high jump. He finished 11th with the effort in his first competition since the NCAA Indoor Championships in mid March.

In his second competition of the season, sophomore Kevin Bookout finished seventh in section A of the men's shot put. Bookout recorded his second consecutive NCAA Regional mark with a 59-2.75, an improvement of nearly 10 inches over his season-opening performance April 2. The mark also extended a string of regional qualifying marks in regular season competitions for Bookout to nine. He recorded a regional qualifying mark in all of his regular season meets in 2003 before sitting out 2004 following shoulder surgery. He opened the 2005 season with a qualifying mark at UTA.

The Sooners did well in the distance medley relays on the final day of the one of the oldest meets in the country. The OU women finished second with an 11:32.47, the second best time in school history. Making up the distance medley relay were Catherine Odell, Terrika Warren, Clementine McCutchen and Jessica Eldridge. The Sooner men were fifth in the event with a 9:56.49, the ninth best time in school history.

On Friday at the Texas Relays, Kelsey Moore picked up where she left off during the indoor season, tying for fourth. Her mark of 5-10 improved her career best by nearly three inches and is an NCAA Regional qualifying mark. The mark moved the Yukon senior into a tie for fifth place on the all-time OU career list as well.

Jennifer Plank tied for fifth in the pole vault, clearing 12-5.50 for the second week in a row. The mark, a regional qualifier, tied her career best. She recorded the mark for the first time at the UTA Invitational on April 2.

In other action Friday, junior Jason Stanley just missed the regional qualifying time in the 110-meter high hurdles, tying for 22nd with a 14.40, a time that was a career best for Stanley. Sophomore Yolanda Goff and senior Kerri-Ann Mitchell tied for 16th in the 100-meter dash with an 11.79, just missing the qualifying standard of 11.75. It marked the second week in a row for Goff to barely miss the mark as she recorded a regional time at UTA but the mark wasn't a legal one because the wind was 0.2 seconds over the allowable. Mitchell had a regional qualifying time last Saturday at UTA, running in a heat where the wind reading was under the allowable.

The women's 400-meter relay finished 15th with a 45.85, just off the regional qualifying mark of 45.80. The men's 400-meter relay finished 18th with a 40.77.

On Thursday, senior Aldwyn Sappleton sprinted the final 200 meters to help the men's 3200-meter relay finish third in the event at the Texas Relays. The quartet of Salah Hussein, Brayon Brown, Jason Coleman and Sappleton combined for a 7:24.95 to set a school record in the event. The record in the distance medley relay had stood for 10 years and marks the first school record to fall during the outdoor season.

Senior Dan Strong recorded two career bests on the final day of competition and tied another in the decathlon on his way to finishing 10th in the 10-event competition. Strong had a career best two-day total of 6,682, a mark that ranks eighth on the all-time OU career list. He also recorded a career best in the decathlon 110-meter high hurdles with a 15.48 and tied his career best in the decathlon pole vault with a 14-7.25.

The Thursday performance came one day after Strong set career bests in four decathlon events on Wednesday. Strong posted a career best first day point total of 3,475, an improvement in his previous best by 71 points. He also established career best decathlon marks in the shot put (40-2.25), the high jump (6-3.5) and the 400 (51.55).

The Sooner women finished fourth in the 3200-meter relay. The quartet of Catherine Odell, Jessica Eldridge, Clementine McCutchen and Nicola Maye ran 8:57.91. The time ranked as the seventh best in school history.

Senior Jackie Dubois made the most of her invitation to run in the 10,000 at the Texas Relays, finishing 10th in the 10,000-meter run with a 39:12.67. The mark was a career best for the Lawrence, Kan., runner and ranks as the 10th best time in school history.

Teammate Aja Clark, finishing 13th in the 10,000, posted an OU career best of 39:25.27.

The Last Time Out -- Euler State Farm/ESU Relays
In his first collegiate competition in the outdoor triple jump, freshman Tydree Lewis recorded an NCAA Regional qualifying mark with a 49-6.50 at the Euler State Farm/ESU Relays. The mark was good for third place and tied the Lovington, N.M., freshman for sixth on the all-time Sooner career list.

For the third meet in a row, sophomore Jessica Pekah recorded a career best in the discus. She was credited with a 149-9, the fifth best mark in school history. Pekah has improved her career best in the discus in every outdoor meet she has competed in this season.

Kennan Johnson finished second in the 110-meter high hurdles with a 14.61, a career best for the Sooner junior. David Wright, who had the third best time in the preliminaries, finished fifth with a 14.84.

Sooner freshman SaVita Spellmon was busy, finishing second in the long jump and tying for seventh in the high jump. Freshman Nicole Moore finished third in the triple jump with a 38-2, a mark that ranks eighth on the OU career list. She also finished seventh in the long jump.

Sooner high jumpers also had a solid day. Junior Myria Houlihan finished second with a career best of 5-5.75 and the Sooner men, Shea Shelby and Kris Glenn, tied for sixth at 6-6.75.

Next Up
The Sooners will travel to the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas, next weekend.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Host 36th Annual John Jacobs Invitational

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