Track Teams Post Record Finishes

AMES, Iowa The University of Oklahoma men's and women's track and field teams posted record finishes at the Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championships Saturday night.

Oklahoma's men were third overall with 80.5 points, the best since the formation of the conference in 1996-97. The OU women finished fourth overall with 74.5 points.

“Both the men's and women's teams were very tough and that was exciting to watch,” OU head coach Martin Smith said. “The men's team, especially, overcame some adversity on Friday and showed a true competitive spirit that lasted all day.

“I'm excited for the future of the Oklahoma Sooners.”

Complete Results

On the men's side, Texas and Nebraska tied for the team title with 93 points each. Texas A&M women ran away with the women's title, beating Texas 141-104.

Marcus Pugh won his first Big 12 title with a 6.68 run in the finals of the 60-meter dash. Pugh also took sixth in the 200, running in 21.16.

“It feels great to win," Pugh said. "It's been a long time coming. Last year I didn't even make the finals and freshman year I was supposed to go third and I ended up going sixth, so this is a great feeling.

"Last year I battled a lot of injuries in the indoor season, so this year I just had to come out stronger. My coach and I hit the weight room hard this summer to get stronger, to get my start down and that was about it. That was our race. We knew if we got the start time down that there would be a lot of people that wouldn't be able to run with us."

Kevin Bookout also won his first Big 12 gold medal after winning the men's shot put with a 61-11.75 (18.89) toss.

"This is my first indoor season so everything has been new for me," Bookout said. "This is one of the goals I set for myself but so is being an All-American. That's all I'm thinking about now."

The OU men's 4x400-meter relay of Brayon Brown, Zach Dawson, Jacobi Mitchell and Frankie Wright preserved the team's third-place finish as Wright passed on the backstretch of the final leg to finish sixth overall at 3:08.93.

Toni Smith broke her own school record in the triple jump with a 43-3.00 (13.18) leap to place second overall.

Kristi Cook finished runner-up in the women's 800, timing a 2:08.96.

Tijahnni Newton ran the second fastest time in the women's 400 final, recording a personal best 54.35.

Jessica Eldridge was third in the women's mile run at 4:42.87.

Sooners finished third and seventh in the men's triple jump as Tydree Lewis jumped 51-5.00 (15.67) and Frankie Green jumped 48-4.75 (14.75).

OU's women's 4x400-meter relay of Shquanda Meylor, Leslie Cole, Jhavonne Pope and Tijahnni Newton was fourth overall at 3:39.59.

Yolanda Goff was fifth in the women's 60-meter dash at 7.41. Goff was sixth in the women's 200 after running a personal best 23.83.

Logan Jones (1:50.83) and Brayon Brown (1:51.04) ran fifth and sixth in the men's 800.

Zach Dawson was fifth in the men's 600-yard run, clocking 1:10.18.

Kevin Snyder was fifth in the men's high jump, posting a personal best clearance of 6-11.75 (2.13).

Katherine Johnson tied for sixth in the women's high jump at 5-8.00 (1.73).

Rob Sorrell was sixth in the men's mile at 4:09.18.

Ashley Storm was sixth in the women's 1,000-meter run at 2:53.64.

Jasmine Still was seventh in the women's 600-yard run at 1:22.36.

Mitch Henry scored 5,246 points to finish eight in the heptathlon.

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