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
Track & Field Athletes Eye Big 12 Titles
February 23, 2006 | Track and Field
NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma travels to the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb., for the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, Feb. 25.
Oklahoma simply seeks improvement in the conference standings after placing a disappointing 10th (men) and 12th (women) during the 2005 outdoor championships. The Sooners were fifth (men) and 10th (women) at last year's Big 12 indoor meet.
Several Sooners are among the tops in the conference in their respective events, which should provide for a successful two days of competition for the Crimson and Cream. Among the favorites are Jessica Eldridge, Chip Heuser and Ronnie Pines, who are ranked No. 1 in the Big 12, respectively, in the women's mile, men's pole vault and men's 60-meter dash.
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Who to Watch...The Junior Class
Kristi Cook, Jessica Eldridge, Yolanda Goff, Scott Martin, Ronnie Pines, Portia Nash, Toni Smith, Dermillo Wise, Frankie Wright.
Each of these Sooners should score, and score high, in their respective events this weekend at the Big 12 Championships.
Among Big 12 athletes, this is how OU's juniors stack up:
Eldridge - No. 1 women's mile run
Pines - No. 1 men's 60-meter dash
Goff - No. 2 women's 60-meter dash
Smith - No. 2 women's triple jump
Martin - No. 3 men's pole vault
Nash - No. 5 women's triple jump
Smith - No. 5 women's long jump
Wright - No. 6 men' s long jump
Goff - No. 7 women's 200-meter dash
Nash - No. 7 women's long jump
Wise - No. 8 men' s long jump
Cook - No. 11 women's 800-meter run
Getting to Know the Sooner Coaching Staff
Martin Smith was announced as Oklahoma sixth head track & field coach on June 30, 2005, and quickly assembled impressive staff of assistants to usher in the new era of Sooner track & field.
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The 2006 Big 12 Championships Field
In 2006, the Big 12 is once again one of the toughest track and field conferences in the nation. Seven men's and three women's teams in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 20 Poll hail from the Big 12.
Men: (2) Texas, (6) Nebraska, (11) Baylor, (13) Kansas, (14) Texas A&M, (20) Texas Tech
Women: (1) Texas, (5) Nebraska, (20) Texas A&M
Next on the Calendar
Oklahoma will send athletes around the country during the final weekend of competition before the NCAA selects participants for the 2006 National Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Among these last chance qualifiers are the Norte Dame - Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind., the Washington LCQ in Seattle and the Iowa State Qualifier in Ames.
Sooners Take a Bite out of the Big Apple
Head coach Martin Smith's last minute decision to travel to New York was rewarded handily as the OU women's distance medley relay accomplished a program first when it ran under the NCAA provisional qualifying time at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational on Feb. 3.
The squad, made up of Catherine Odell, Tijhanni Newton, Kristi Cook and Jessica Eldridge, finished fourth in a loaded field at The Armory Track in Manhattan.
Their time of 11:14.63 broke the school record, set in 2004, by over 15 seconds. Odell, Cook and Eldridge ran legs on the previous record-holding relay.
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Toni Toni Toni
Toni Smith couldn't rest on laurels, not even for one week.
After breaking the school record in the triple jump with a 41-9.25 (12.73 meters) leap at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 11, Smith took it even further by jumping 42-8.00 (13.00) at home at the Sooner Indoor on Feb. 18.
Though it was the best by a Sooner, Smith set a personal best of over 43 feet while a student-athlete at Cal State Northridge.
At Arkansas, Smith was unaware she had set a new school record until the next day when she read about it on the Internet. Last week, her accomplishment was announced only minutes after her jump.
Smith is expected to be a favorite at the Big 12 Indoor Championships and would like to use the competition as fuel to jump a personal best.
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Run Ronnie Run
Ronnie Pines is making a quick impact among the Sooners' sprint corps.
The junior college transfer earned the No. 1 qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships after he ran the fastest time in the nation in the 60-meter dash (6.60) on Feb. 4 at the J.D. Martin Invitational in Norman.
The mark broke his own meet record and two-time national champion DaBryan Blanton's facility record. It also ranks as the 18th best time run in the world this year.
Having earned a guaranteed spot in the national championship field, Pines' goal is to keep lowering his 60 time and run a qualifying mark in the 200. He will undoubtedly be a favorite for the national title come March 11.
Pines is the No. 1 ranked Big 12 athlete in the men's 60-meter dash.
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Eldridge Eyes Two Medals
As one of OU's most successful athletes of all-time as a freshman and sophomore, Jessica Eldridge qualified for six national championships in two seasons and broke school records in the 800-meter and mile runs.
This season, Eldridge has anchored the women's DMR to a new school record and will look to lead the Sooners to victory in that event as well as the mile run.
The OU women's DMR is ranked No. 2 in conference behind Baylor.
Eldridge is the No. 1 ranked women's miler in the Big 12 entering the weekend.
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18 and Life
Senior pole vaulter Scott Martin turned heads in 2005 when he cleared 18-0.50 (5.50 meters) at the NCAA National Indoor Championships.
The performance earned him fourth place, second all-time in the OU records books, as he became just the sixth Sooner pole vaulter to earn All-America status.
After failing to post a height at the season-opening Arkansas Invitational, Martin wasn't disappointed as much as relieved at his performance. According to Martin, he usually has one “no height” each season and was “happy to get it out of the way early.”
Martin posted his season best at home during the J.D. Martin Invitational. The Tulsa native jumped 17-4.50 (5.30 meters), besting the NCAA provisional qualifying standard.
The Tulsa native looks to contend for a national title again this season and with the help of teammate Chip Heuser, the podium at nationals may sparkle with Crimson and Cream in 2006.
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OU's Wise Man
Dermillo Wise may soon be bringing gold to the OU trophy case.
After winning the NJCAA national penathlon championships as a freshman and sophomore at Cloud County (Kan.) Community College, the junior has bigger aims now that he is at the Division I level.
Wise long jumped to an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 24-5.75 (7.46 meters) at the season-opener in Fayetteville, Ark., and returned the next week to run the best 60-meter hurdles time by a Sooner this season and sixth all-time.
He has a season best jump of 24-6.25 (7.47) which ranks eighth among Big 12 athletes.
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King Cole
Freshman sprinter Leslie Cole is the type of trendsetter coaches like. The Idabel, Okla., native is adapting quickly to the performance required of a Divison I athlete.
In her first month of competition, Cole has cut almost three-tenths from her 60-meter dash time and eight-tenths off her 200. She already ranks No. 4 on OU's all-time performance list in the 60 meters.
These efforts are providing valuable company to junior Yolanda Goff, who is a favorite to sweep the short sprints wherever she goes.
Cole's run of 7.46 seconds in the preliminaries of the J.D. Martin Invitational missed the NCAA provisional qualifying standard by .02 seconds. The mark is the fastest ever run by a Sooner freshman.
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Cooking Up Success
Among the surprising performances to come out of the Razorback Invitational was junior Kristi Cook's sixth-place run in the 800 meters.
Her 2:13.32 run was over three seconds faster than her previous personal best and exactly five seconds better than she ran on the same track one week earlier.
The run put three Sooners in the top six of the 800 at the meet.
She lowered the time to 2:10.64 at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 11, finishing just .04 seconds back from teammate Jessica Eldridge.
Cook ran the 800-meter leg of OU's distance medley relay at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational on Feb. 3. With its 11:14.63 run, the relay broke the school record by over 15 seconds and ran under the NCAA provisional qualifying standard for the first time in program history.
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Chip on his Shoulder
After breaking his wrist and missing the entire 2005 season, sophomore pole vaulter Chip Heuser is ready to deliver on what is expecting to be a promising collegiate career.
Heuser, the 2004 USA Junior National champion, won the season-opening Arkansas Invitational after clearing 17-6.50 (5.35 meters), an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
While attempting to clear a height of over 17 feet at the National Pole Vault Summit (Jan. 18), Heuser was so high he actually kicked the bar off its supports with his foot.
He jumped a season best 17-8.50 (5.40 meters) en route to winning the event at the J.D. Martin Invitational.
The Louisville, Ky., native holds the Kentucky state high school and national Catholic high school indoor and outdoor records. The 2003 Kentucky High School Athlete of the Year also led his high school, St. Xavier, to three straight state track & field titles.
Heuser and teammate Scott Martin will be two of the favorites to win the Big 12 and national titles in 2006.
Martin is the No. 1 ranked Big 12 athlete in the men's pole vault.
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Odell Coming of Age
If you need one sure thing, count of Catherine Odell. Last season, the Enid, Okla., native had no signs of a sophomore slump as she became the Sooners' most improved distance runner and qualified for the national outdoor championships in the 1500-meter run.
After redshirting during the cross country season while getting used to new head coach Martin Smith's training program, Odell was on fire to begin 2006, putting the pressure on six-time national qualifier Jessica Eldridge during the first two meets of the season.
She currently ranks eighth in the Big 12 in the 800 (2:12.56) and ninth in the 1,000 (2:55.19) and has marks in OU's all-time top 10 in both events.
Odell, who celebrated her 21st birthday Friday, Jan. 27, will ran the opening leg (1,000 meters) on OU's distance medley relay that broke the school record by over 15 seconds and ran under the NCAA provisional qualifying standard for the first time in program history with its 11:14.63 time at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational on Feb. 3.
Oklahoma's NCAA Qualifiers
Oklahoma has established 11 provisional or automatic entries for the 2006 NCAA National Indoor Track and Field Championships. Only five Sooners competed in the championships last year. The following is a list of those qualified in 2006 with their national rank in parenthesis:
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The Sooner Indoor Revisited
In the final tune-up before the Big 12 Championships, Toni Smith proved she will be one of the favorites after breaking Oklahoma's triple jump school record for the second straight weekend.
Smith took top honors in the event Saturday, Feb. 18, at the 32nd annual Sooner Indoor at the Mosier Indoor Track.
Her leap of 42 feet 8 inches (13.00 meters) bested her previous school record of 41-9.25 (12.73) set Feb. 11 at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
In a loaded men's 60-meter dash final, Nike-sponsored DaBryan Blanton raced away with the win in a season best run of 6.2. Jamaica's Ricardo Williams was second (6.79) and Shomari Wilson was third (6.82).
Oklahoma's Yolanda Goff (7.39) finished runner-up to Sheri-Ann Brooks (7.38) in the women's 60-meter dash finals after defeating Brooks in their preliminary heat. OU's Leslie Cole took third (7.53).
Several other Sooners posted good results heading into next week's conference meet.
All-American Scott Martin won the men's pole vault competition, clearing 17-2.25 (5.24).
Tijahnni Newton won the women's 400-meter dash, running the distance in 56.66.
Nicola Maye placed first in the women's 800-meter dash with her best run of the season at 2:15.57.
Portia Nash won the women's long jump with a leap of 19-6.25 (5.95).
Shea Shelby took runner-up honors in the men's high jump, clearing a season best 6-6.00 (1.98).
Saturday, June 13
Friday, June 12
Thursday, June 11
Wednesday, June 10
