Boutte, Greaves Claim Big 12 Titles

May 18, 2008

BOULDER, Colo. -- The University of Oklahoma Track and Field program concluded competition at the 2008 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships Sunday at Potts Field on the campus of the University of Colorado. The OU men finished seventh and the women sixth on a day that saw Oklahoma athletes break five school records and claim 10 top-three finishes including two individual event titles.

In what was a repeat of the 2008 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships, Latoya Greaves and Shardae Boutte both claimed individual event titles in the 100-meter hurdles and triple jump, respectively.

The OU women tied last year's program-best sixth-place finish with 75 points while the OU men, the 2007 Big 12 champions, closed out the competition with 55 points. Host school Colorado won the men's team title with 138 points while Texas A&M grabbed the women's title with 157 points.

Boutte won his third straight Big 12 triple jump title and successfully defended his 2007 Big 12 outdoor triple jump title. Boutte's personal-best jump of 54 feet and 4.75 inches (16.58 meters) broke the senior's own program record of 53-3.75 (16.25). The jump also broke a Big 12 Championship meet record and is the nation's top triple jump of the season.

"It feels good, I was the champion last year and it's pretty good to defend your title" said Boutte. "The field was good. Texas A&M has a good group of jumpers and my teammates are also a good group of jumpers. You kind of have to keep an edge. At the same time, I was pretty confident in my previous jumps in the prelims."

Boutte knew early on the title was his, clearing the winning distance with just his second jump of the event's preliminaries. Boutte then passed on all three jumps in the finals to claim the title with his prelims mark.

Two of Boutte's teammates also contributed top-eight finishes as Tydree Lewis finished fourth with a jump of 52-8.00 (16.05) and Frankie Green took eighth with a distance of 50-2.50 (15.30).

Greaves, in her first year of competition on the Division I level, completed a sweep of the Big 12 Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the hurdles. After winning the 60-meter hurdles title at indoor on March 1, the sophomore beat the field under the cloudy skies in Boulder with a school-record time of 12.99.

Greaves jumped to the front and never looked back, shattering her own Oklahoma program record in the process. Greaves first broke the school record at the Texas Relays on April 5 with a time of 13.19.

"I was really focused today and just did what I normally do," said Greaves. "I'm happy since I won indoor. Now that I've won outdoor, I feel really good. I'm really determined and I always work hard. I don't like to lose, so I try not to. I'm going to try to run faster at the (NCAA Midwest) regional."

The Kingston, Jamaica native is looking for her first NCAA title in the event after winning a national title on the NAIA level while at Oklahoma Baptist University.

Greaves' classmate Latoya Heath took third in the event with a personal-best 13.42. The bronze medal finish gives Heath her second All-Big 12 Conference honor after claiming an honor in the triple jump at the 2008 Big 12 Indoor Championships.

Marcus Pugh ran a personal-best in the 100-meter dash, 10.16, to take second behind Texas A&M's Gerald Phiri's 10.03. Pugh's time would have been the third-fastest in OU program history had it not come with a tail wind of 2.2 meters-per-second, thus making the mark ineligible for records. Pugh currently sits fifth in the OU record books with a non-wind aided 10.28.

Pugh also finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a regional qualifying and season-best time of 20.47. The time is the fifth-fastest in Oklahoma program history.

Scottesha Miller placed her name atop the Oklahoma record books in two sprints events, taking down OU alum Laverne Jones' marks in two events. The sophomore began with the women's 100-meter dash, finishing fourth, but more importantly running an 11.21. The time bests Jones' former record of 11.25 run in 2004. The time also marks a 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials "B" qualifying standard.

Three events later Miller returned to the track and brought a pen with her, rewriting the OU record book in the 200-meter dash. Miller's time of 22.79 bested Jones 22.81, run in 2004. The time also marks an Olympic Trials "A" qualifying standard, automatically qualifying the Port Orange, Fla., native in the event to be held June 27-July 6 in Eugene, Ore.

Miller's teammate Leslie Cole took eighth in the 200 with a regional qualifying time of 23.14. Cole also placed second in the 400-meter dash, running a personal-best 51.94. The junior tied Cecile Cargill (1997) for the second-fastest time in Oklahoma program history with the Olympic Trials "B" standard qualifying time. Senior Tijahnni Newton took sixth in the event with a time of 54.09.

Senior Jessica Eldridge finished second in the women's 1,500-meter run behind Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego. Eldridge came in just behind Kipyego (4:25.00) with a regional qualifying time of 4:27.66. The second-place finish gives the three-time All-American her 10th career All-Big 12 Conference honor.

One day after finishing second in the women's long jump, senior Toni Smith took third in the triple jump. Entering the competition as the Conference's top-ranked athlete in the event, Smith jumped a season-best 43-11.25 (13.39). The jump extends Smith's school record in the event, topping her previous non-wind aided best 43-7.50 (13.34).

The women's 4x100-meter relay comprised of Cole, Jalesa Walker, Missy Barnes and Miller recorded a season-best time of 44.07 to finish third. The NCAA Regional qualifying time bested the Potts Field record prior to the event. Texas A&M took first with a meet record 42.88.

Chip Heuser tied a season-high height of 17-0.75 (5.20) to take third in the men's pole vault. The bronze medal highlights what has been a difficult season for the four-time All-American after suffering a major head injury during the indoor season.

The women's 4x400-meter relay of Newton, Greaves, Walker and Cole closed out the meet with fourth-place finish in a time of 3:38.73. The event saw OU enter the final 200-meters in fifth before Cole passed up Kansas' Crystal Manning coming out of the final turn.

Zach Dawson took fifth in the men's 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 50.67. The time moves the sophomore up to seventh all-time in the event in OU history.

Sheldon Leith also took fifth in a hurdles event, the 110-meter hurdles. Leith's season-best time of 13.95 gave the senior his fourth outdoor All-Big 12 Conference honor.

Jacob Boone took sixth in the men's 1,500-meter run with a regional qualifying time of 3:52.57. Boone's finish came one day after nearly upsetting Big 12 champion Leonel Manzano of Texas in the event's prelims.

The men's 4x100-meter relay of Lewis, Pugh, Leith and Jacobi Mitchell picked up two team points with a seventh-place finish, running a time of 40.93.

Pugh and Leith joined with Dawson and Brayon Brown to comprise the men's 4x400-meter relay that finished eighth with a time of 3:11.64.

Paul Gill picked up a team point with an eighth-place finish in the high jump with a regional qualifying jump of 6-10.75 (2.10). Gill cleared 6-8.75 (2.05) on his first attempt before taking all three attempts to clear his final height.

The OU program takes a week off before heading to Lincoln, Neb., for the 2008 NCAA Midwest Regional, May 30-31. In 2007 the Oklahoma men claimed the Midwest Regional team title while sending 14 men, a nation's best, to the 2007 NCAA Championships. Seven Sooner woman qualified for the national meet as well.

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