Bryant, Mock Claim Big 12 Titles

May 16, 2009

LUBBOCK, Texas — While veteran athletes are usually counted on to step up in post-season action, it was two Oklahoma underclassmen who claimed titles at the 2009 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday night. Sophomore Ti'Anca Mock completed the Big 12 sweep of the long jump when she won the outdoor version of the event while redshirt freshman Luke Bryant claimed the men's discus title in his first year of collegiate competition. While the two were taking turns standing atop the awards stand, 10 OU athletes qualified for Sunday finals as all running events were preliminaries Saturday at the Terry and Linda Fuller Track Complex.

Mock won the Big 12 indoor title in February and the program record holder in the both indoor and outdoor claimed her second Big 12 title of the year Saturday with a jump of 21-2.00 (6.45). Mock let everyone know early on that she planned on picking up the outdoor title as she recorded her winning jump on her first attempt of the night.

Saturday night was just the second time this outdoor season that Mock has competed in the long jump, opening her year up at last week's Sooner Twilight by breaking the program record and jumping to second in the nation with a jump of 21-9.50 (6.64). The jump snapped a 15-year program record of 21-4.75 (6.52) set by Kim Roland in 1994.

“It feels great to be able to compete like this. I had no idea I would come out like this the last two weeks, the rest certainly helped,” said Mock. “Even though I won with the first jump, I was still trying to go farther to put pressure on everyone else. The first is usually my best jump, but I would rather finish with a stronger jump. I'll do it at the NCAA Regional since it's at home in Norman.”

Mock's win was OU's second conference title in the long jump, each coming in the last three years as Scottesha Miller won the event in 2007. Miller joined Mock in picking up team points for OU in the event with a seventh-place finish, recording a season-best distance of 20-3.75 (6.19). Miller was not done on the day, however, as the junior qualified for the finals of the 100-meter dash with a regional qualifying time of 11.59, the sixth-fastest time of the prelims.

Oklahoma Outdoor Conference Champions

Like Mock in the long jump, Bryant gave notice that the event was his to win with the winning throw of 189-2 (57.66) on his first attempt. Besides a foul on his fourth attempt, Bryant eclipsed the regional qualifying mark on every attempt. Bryant's win gives OU its 11th conference title in the men's discus and the first since Ed Wade in 1988.

“I went out with my first throw and wanted to put the pressure on everyone else. I was able to get a solid throw on my first attempt and it forced the rest of the guys to try to catch me, it was close,” said Bryant. “It feels good to do this in my first year. It's been my main focus since I've came to OU, to win the Big 12 Championship. All of my work paid off.”

Bryant was joined by another first-year Sooner in picking up team points in the event as freshman Colin Quirke finished eighth in the event with a throw of 179-2 (54.60).

Long jumpers Adrian Wiltshire and Neelon Greenwood gave the Sooner men an additional five team points as they finished fifth and eighth respectively. Both leapt season-best distance as Wiltshire covered a distance of 24-11.75 (7.61) on his third attempt while Greenwood came in with a jump of 24-5.75 (7.46) on his opening attempt.

Leslie Cole easily advanced in the 400-meter dash as the top seed, winning the fourth and final heat with a time of 52.20, breaking a 22-year old facility record in the process. Cole pulled away from the field with relative ease entering the final 100 meters of the one-lap race to break the previous Fuller Track recorded of 52.71 set by Rice's Tanya McIntosh in 1987.

The 400 is one of two finals that Cole will participate in on Sunday as the senior also qualified in the 200-meter dash. Cole's 23.22 was the second fastest of the first heat and the fastest of all at-large qualifiers. Cole will be joined in the finals by Miller who grabbed the eighth and final qualifying spot, crossing the line in a regional qualifying and season-best time of 23.63.

Latoya Heath recorded a personal best 13.38 in the 100-meter hurdles to advance to Sunday's finals as she finished second in the first heat. Heath, who will have the third seed in the finals, entered the meet with a previous season best of 13.47. Heath will be joined by Demeeka Jones who grabbed the eighth and final spot with a time of 13.89. Jones entered the meet ranked 12th in the conference and moved up with a fifth-place finish in the first heat.

Jacob Boone and Rob Sorrell each qualified for the Sunday finals of the men's 1,500-meter run as they finished fifth and eighth, respectively, in Saturday's prelims. Boone's 3:50.09 came after running the second fastest lap of any competitors, 59.95. Sorrell closed with a final lap of 59.11 and finished the race in a time of 3:49.96.

Amanda Mayfield used a second-place finish in the first heat of the 800-meter run to qualify for the event's final, crossing the line of the two-lap race in a time of 2:10.24, the fifth fastest of all competitors.

Eric Bailey advanced to the finals of the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.89, the fifth fastest of the prelims. Bailey will attempt to win his second conference title of his career after winning the 2008 Big Sky Conference title in the 400 hurdles as a member of the Weber State program.

Oklahoma action at the 2009 Big 12 Championships picks back up Sunday at 11 a.m. with Gary Jeffrey Jr. in the men's javelin. Action on the track begins at 5:30 p.m. with the women's 4x100-meter relay.

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