Completed Event: Track and Field at TCU Alumni Invitational on March 21, 2025 ,
Final
Track and Field
at TCU Alumni Invitational
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Track & Field at Big 12 Championships
May 12, 2006 | Track and Field
NORMAN, Okla. It's the event that's been marked on the calendar for 365 days. The Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships are on tap for the Oklahoma Sooners this weekend in Waco, Texas.
Hosted by Baylor University, it is the 10th anniversary of the Championships, which begin Friday, May 12, and crown men's and women's team champions Sunday, May 14.
After Oklahoma's men's and women's teams finished 10th and 12th, respectively, last year, a new coach and a new attitude were brought to the Sooners, who have seen only improvement since.
|
The OU women's team tied for fourth with Baylor at this year's conference indoor championships. The men's team finished ninth, an astonishing accomplishment considering it only used 10 athletes none of which were named DaBryan Blanton or Kevin Bookout.
Though indoor mile Big 12 champion Jessica Eldridge and point scorers Catherine Odell and Toni Smith are redshirting the outdoor season, the women's team still has impressive junior sprinter Yolanda Goff, who enters the meet ranked No. 3 in the 100-meter dash.
The men's will rely on the speed of Marcus Pugh and the pole vaulting skills of All-Americans Chip Heuser and Scott Martin.
Pugh is ranked second in the 100-meter dash and seventh in the 200. Heuser and Martin have both cleared a height of 17 feet, 8.50 inches in competition this season, though both can go much higher.
Several other Sooner rank in the top 10 in their respective events including a trio of men in the 110-meter hurdles -- Tony Francis, Jason Stanley and Dermillo Wise and women's triple jumpers Portia Nash and Lucretia Rimmer.
Of course, All-American shot putter Kevin Bookout will be looking for gold, as well as men's javelin specialist Cale Drumright, who has bested his personal record twice in the last month.
Freshman Amy Backel kicks off the Sooners' participation in the Big 12 Championships. Backel starts Friday morning with the women's heptathlon.
Problem Solvers: Beyond The Game - Kennedy Clarke
Wednesday, July 02
TF Highlights: NCAA Outdoor Championships Day 4
Saturday, June 14
TF Highlights: NCAA Outdoor Championships Day 3
Friday, June 13
TF Highlights: NCAA Outdoor Championships Day 2
Thursday, June 12
