Ten Advance to NCAA Championships

May 31, 2008

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Ten athletes and one relay from the University of Oklahoma track and field program automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships with their performances at the NCAA Midwest Regional Saturday at Ed Weir Stadium. The Oklahoma women finished fifth overall in the team standings with 46 points.

Sophomore Latoya Greaves and senior Shardae Boutte led the way with a win in the women's 100-meter hurdles and men's triple jump, respectively, while other athletes picked up seven top-three finishes. The top five finishers in each individual event final and top three relays in each final automatically advance to the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Boutte entered the weekend ranked first nationally and did not let the Midwest Regional crowd down, extending his own program record with a personal-best jump of 55 feet flat (16.76 meters) on his first jump of the event. The jump is the fifth longest of any level, professional or collegiate, on U.S. soil this season. Boutte, who predicted the exact distance of his winning jump, claimed his fourth event title of the year and has strung together two consecutive wins after claiming the event's title at the Big 12 Championships.

Regional Central | Results

Boutte's jump also eclipsed the U.S. Olympic Trials "A" qualifying standard of 54-8.00 (16.66), automatically qualifying the senior for the Olympic Trials to be held June 27-July 6 in Eugene, Ore. Boutte joins Scottesha Miller (200-meter dash) as the second OU athlete this season to meet an "A" standard.

"I said I was going to do it (55 feet) before I jumped. It feels good to get over a barrier," said Boutte. "The fact we trained through this meet and lifted weights here helped. Next week Coach (Jeremy) Fischer said we're supposed to peak and go even farther. There are other guys out there who have jumped this distance before and to know that I can test them when I'm on the top of my game is a good feeling."

Boutte's teammate Tydree Lewis also qualified for the NCAA Championships with a fifth-place finish in the event. Lewis recorded a personal best jump of 52-11.50 (16.14) to take fifth. Lewis sits in third in the Oklahoma record books.

Greaves entered the meet as the top-ranked female hurdler in the Midwest Region and eighth nationally after claiming the event's title at the Big 12 Championships. The program record holder in the event continued her impressive streak of fast times with a time of 13.17 to pick up her eighth individual win of the season.

"I was kind of tired but I went out there and made it to nationals. That was the aim today," said Greaves. "I'm very determined and I don't like to lose. I'm going to the NCAAs wanting to win. I'll go out there and try my best. That's basically the game plan."

The Jamaican will be joined by her country and classmate in the race as Latoya Heath finished fifth in the event to grab the final automatic qualifying spot with a time of 13.63.

The women's 4x400-meter relay comprised of Tijahnni Newton, Jalesa Walker, Greaves and Leslie Cole took second in the event with a season-best time of 3:35.65. Cole, the anchor leg, entered the final 100 meters in fourth position but quickly passed runners from Houston and Texas Christian to take second behind Baylor. The time is the seventh fastest in Oklahoma program history.

Toni Smith took third in the women's triple jump, extending her Oklahoma program record in the event. The senior and two-time All-American leapt a distance of 44-0.00 (13.41) to top her previous program record of 43-11.25 (13.39) set at the Big 12 Championships on May 18. Smith has a personal best of 44-5.25 (13.54) with the mark coming in wind-aided conditions, thus taking it out of consideration for record-keeping purposes.

Sheldon Leith qualified for his second consecutive NCAA Championships with a season-best 13.79 in the men's 110-meter hurdles with a third-place finish in the event. Leith will have familiar company in the event as all five qualifiers from the Midwest Region are from Big 12 institutions.

Leslie Cole recorded a third-place finish in the women's 400-meter dash with a time of 52.66. The junior enters the NCAA Championships seeking her fourth All-America honor and second this season after earning the honor in the 400 at the 2007 Indoor Championships.

Senior Jessica Eldridge qualified for her fourth career NCAA Championships in the 1,500-meter run with a fourth-place finish in Lincoln. Eldridge's season-best time of 4:18.82 gave the three-time All-American another chance to add honors to her already decorated resume.

Marcus Pugh qualified for the NCAA Championships in two events, recording top-five finishes in both the 100- and 200-meter dash. Pugh's time of 20.75 in the 200 was good for third while his 10.37 in the 100 came in fifth to claim the final qualifying spot out of the Midwest Region.

The women's 4x100-meter relay, missing the anchor leg in Miller, took fourth with a time of 44.84. Ti'Anca Mock filled in for Miller, who pulled a hamstring on Friday, to form the quartet along with Cole, Jalesa Walker and Missy Barnes.

The relay will now wait for a seemingly guaranteed at-large selection into the NCAA Championships. The relay entered the weekend ranked seventh nationally and all six relays ranked ahead of OU automatically qualified in their respective regions.

Redshirt freshman Jacob Boone narrowly missed advancing to the NCAA Championships with a sixth-place finish in the men's 1,500-meter run, posting a time of 3:45.27.

Katherine Johnson tied a season-best height in the high jump, clearing the height of 5-7.25 (1.75), en route to a ninth-place finish.

The 10 Sooners who qualified will compete in the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, June 11-14, in Des Moines, Iowa. The event will be held at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University.

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