Cole Punches NCAA Ticket

Feb. 7, 2009

NEW YORK CITY — One day after breaking the school record in the 400-meter dash, OU senior Leslie Cole lowered her own record time in the event with a second-place finish in the finals Saturday at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City. Cole's time of 52.33 gave OU its fourth NCAA automatic qualifying time of the season and second of the day following Jacob Boone's performance in the mile at Notre Dame. The time also eclipsed Cole's Oklahoma record, 53.10, set in the event's prelims Friday night and is the fastest time this season in the Big 12 Conference.

On top of the 400-meter dash performance, Cole ran the second-fastest 200-meter dash in OU history, an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 23.60, in the prelims of the event to qualify for the finals as the fourth seed. It was in the finals that Cole continued to improve on her time by crossing the finish line in a time of 23.59.

Cole was not the only Sooner to qualify for the finals of the 200-meter dash as Scottesha Miller finished 10th in the event's prelims with a time of 24.05. The sophomore's time marked a personal best and the seventh-fastest in Oklahoma history. Despite qualifying, Miller was unable to compete in the finals with a hamstring injury.

Already an NCAA automatic qualifier in the long jump, sophomore Ti'Anca Mock hit a provisional qualifying mark in the triple jump for the second straight week. Mock's top jump 42-1.50 (12.84) marked a personal best and moved the promising sophomore up to No. 2 on the OU all-time performance list for the event.

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