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
Sooner Men Ranked 22nd in National T&F Poll
April 07, 2005 | Track and Field
NORMAN, Okla. The OU men's track and field team opened the 2005 outdoor season ranked 22nd in the first week of the Trackwire Top 25 list. The Sooners are tied for 22nd with Baylor and North Carolina.
Arkansas, after winning the 2005 NCAA Indoor title, opened the outdoor season as the top ranked team on the men's side. Tennessee, the 2005 NCAA Indoor champion on the women's side, is first in the women's ranking.
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 12 in the 2005 NCAA Indoor, OU's best team finish since 1997.
The Sooners are one of six Big 12 men's teams ranked in the top 25. Other ranked teams include Texas (tied for eighth); Nebraska (10th), Texas Tech (T-19th), Baylor (T-22nd) and Texas A&M (T-25th).
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.
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 will run his first 100 of the outdoor season this Saturday when he competes in the invitational 100 at the 78th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. Blanton opened the outdoor season last Saturday, finishing fifth in the 400 at the UTA Invite.
Senior Aldwyn Sappleton is ranked eighth in the 800 in the Dandy Dozen's first week. Sappleton opened the 2005 outdoor season at the Stanford Invitational, finishing fifth in the 400 in a near career best time. He will be running on OU's 3200-meter and distance medley relays this weekend in Austin. 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.
Sophomore Scott Martin is ranked fourth in the pole vault in the initial Dandy Dozen list. Martin, who finished second at the Big 12 Championships and was fourth at the NCAA Indoor with a career best 18-0.5, has not competed yet in the outdoor season. He is scheduled to open competition Saturday afternoon at the Texas Relays in section A of the men's pole vault.
Heading into the third weekend of action in the outdoor season, the Sooners have four NCAA Regional qualifiers -- Jessica Eldridge in the 5000, Jennifer Plank in the pole vault, Kevin Bookout in the shot put and Kerri-Ann Mitchell in the 100. 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. OU will host its only home meet of the regular season on Saturday, April 16, when the John Jacobs Invitational returns to Norman. The meet wasn't held in 2004 because of ongoing construction at the facility. Field events are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday with running events set to begin at 4 p.m. following the annual Red-White football game across the street at the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
Saturday, June 13
Friday, June 12
Thursday, June 11
Wednesday, June 10
