Men's DMR Shatters Program Record

March 6, 2009

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Oklahoma men's distance medley relay broke the Oklahoma program record and recorded an NCAA automatic qualifying mark Friday night at the Alex Wilson Invitational hosted by Notre Dame. The quartet of Scott Cooper, Jarell Warren, Chris Sweeney and Jacob Boone finished ninth but more importantly recorded a fast enough time, 9:31.38, to automatically qualify for next weekend's NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The four shattered the previous OU record in the event, 9:42.35, set by Tony Clement, Zach Dawson, Brayon Brown and Robert Sorrell in 2008. Cooper opened the race on the opening 1,200-meter leg with a 2:55 split. Warren then took over with a 47-second 400-meter leg before handing off to Sweeney who covered his 800-meter leg in 1:50. The baton was then held off to Boone for the mile anchor leg, an event Boone holds the OU program record in. The junior did not disappoint, running a sub-four-minute mile with a time of 3:58.

The quartet finished ninth in what has to be one of the fastest distance medley relays in NCAA history. With just three programs entering the weekend having already recorded NCAA automatic qualifying times, the Alex Wilson Invitational saw 15 teams eclipse the automatic qualifying marks.

OU entered the weekend ranked No. 10 nationally with a provisional mark of 9:42.43 run on Feb. 14 at the Tyson Invitational. The time is the third fastest in Oklahoma program history.

Athletes are automatically selected for inclusion with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark or they must hit an NCAA provisional qualifying mark to be considered as an at-large selection. Individual events have a minimum field of 14 competitors while relay events have a minimum field of 10 relays.

Warren will now head to Ames, Iowa where he will join Eric Bailey, Zach Dawson and Mookie Salaam to form the 4x400-meter relay in Saturday's Iowa State Classic.

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