Bookout Finishes Fourth in the Shot Put

NORMAN, Okla. -- Redshirt sophomore Kevin Bookout had the longest day of any Sooner track and field athlete Friday, but in the end, he may have had the best. Bookout threw a season best of 60-6.75 to finish fourth in the shot put and earn a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif., June 8-11.

His previous best this season was 59-2.75, last posted May 14 at the Big 12 Championships.

OU junior DaBryan Blanton won his heat in the preliminaries with the day's best time, 10.35, to advance to Saturday's final in the event. The final is scheduled for 6:07 p.m. at the John Jacobs Track.

Blanton is also scheduled to run the second leg of OU's 400-meter relay in the final at 5:07 p.m. Saturday. He will be joined on the relay by Daniel Bridges, Marcus Pugh and Josh Scott.

Bookout was originally scheduled to start competition in the discus at noon but heavy rain showers pushed the start of that event back an hour. He eventually finished 17th with a 162-10, then had to wait more than six hours for the start of the shot put competition. Originally scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., that competition began at 8:15 p.m.

“Kevin has had some huge throws in practice since the Big 12 meet,” said Sooner throws coach Ed Wade. “He had some warmup throws today in excess of 62 feet. I really think he is on the verge of a huge throw and we will be looking for one of those at nationals.”

The Sooner sprinters led the way on Friday as both the men's and women's 400-meter relays, Blanton in the men's 100 and Kerri-Ann Mitchell and Yolanda Goff in the women's 100 advanced to Saturday's finals. The men's relay advanced with the seventh fastest time, a season best of 40.07. The women's relay, Mitchell, Goff, Ashley and Larica Urbina, also had the seventh fastest time in the preliminaries with a 45.06. The women's 400-meter relay is the first event on the track on Saturday, scheduled for 5 p.m. The top three relay teams in each regional earn the automatic berths in the NCAA Championships, scheduled for June 8-11 in Sacramento, Calif.

Goff finished fifth in the women's 100 with an 11.67 and Mitchell was sixth with an 11.71 to advance to the eight woman final on Saturday. Their final in the 100 is set for 6 p.m.

For Blanton, Goff and Mitchell, the goal is to finish in the top five of their events to earn the automatic berth in the NCAA field.

Sophomores Jessica Eldridge and Catherine Odell will run in women's 1500-meter run at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday. With only 11 qualifiers, the preliminary in the 1500 was cancelled, setting up a final only.

OU also will have five field event finalists on Saturday. Kelsey Moore is scheduled to compete in the high jump at noon while Austin Landreth and Scott Martin are scheduled to compete in the men's pole vault at 3 p.m. Triple jumpers Nicole Moore and Tydree Lewis start their competition at 6 p.m.

The news wasn't as good for the rest of OU's first-day competitors. Jennifer Plank was one of five vaulters who did not clear the opening height of 12-0 in the pole vault. Jon McMillian was one of seven competitors who did not clear the opening height of 6-9 in the men's high jump. Tony Francis fell while attempting to clear the eighth hurdle in the men's 110-meter high hurdles preliminaries and senior Aldwyn Sappleton, who missed the Big 12 meet with an injury and has only been able to train on a limited basis for the last two weeks, was fifth in his heat of the 800 and 13th overall with a 1:52.19.

Action resumes Saturday with the women's discus and women's high jump scheduled for 12 p.m. Men's pole vault, men's hammer and women's javelin are set to start at 3 p.m. Events on the track begin at 5 p.m. with the women's 400-meter relay and continue through the men's 1600-meter relay which is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. The women's shot put and men's and women's triple jump finals are scheduled for 6 p.m.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Bookout Finishes Fourth in the Shot Put

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