Ash Breaks OU Record, Punches NCAA Ticket

Feb. 12, 2010

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The 2009 national champion in the 60-meter hurdles, Oklahoma junior Ronnie Ash took another step in defending his crown Friday at the Tyson Invitational as he broke the OU record in the event and automatically qualified for this year's NCAA Championships. Along with Ash's automatic qualifying time, OU athletes recorded nine NCAA provisional qualifying marks needed to be considered as an at-large competitor in the NCAA Championships.

Despite not getting off to his best start, Ash was still able to beat seven others across the line in the finals with a time of 7.69. Ash, whose personal best is 7.63, made his move over the third set of hurdles, chasing down LSU's Barrett Nugent for the win and the school record, bettering the previous best of 7.73 run by Sheldon Leith in 2008.

“I never have started the best I've wanted to, but tonight's start was okay. It was better than the start in the prelims, but not as best as I can do,” said Ash. “Once I took off, I knew I was still in the race and just kept flowing over the hurdles. I stayed tight and kept my feet shuffling in between the hurdles and just attacked them. Once we got over the third hurdle, we were side-by-side and I pulled away. I'm going to try to get the NCAA indoor record now that I have the OU record.”

Ash's time is the second fastest in the nation, just one-hundreth of a second behind the national leading 7.68 by Jarret Eaton of Syracuse.

Ash was one of two Sooners in the finals as Malcolm Anderson finished fourth with a provisional qualifying time of 7.84. Anderson and Ash advanced to the finals with NCAA provisional qualifying times in the prelims as well. Ash was the fastest qualifier with a time of 7.77 while Anderson was fourth in 7.85.

Even though she has a Big 12 title in the long jump under her belt, Scottesha Miller dropped the field event from her list of skills this season to concentrate on the sprints and after Friday night it looks like the junior made the right choice as she lowered her PR in the 60-meter dash for a second time this season, clocking a time of 7.33 to finish fourth in the event. The time is the third fastest in Oklahoma history and the second fastest in the Big 12 this season.

Miller equaled her previous PR in the prelims of the event with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 7.35, the fifth-fastest collegiate time of the prelims.

Latoya Greaves added two provisional qualifying marks as she finished sixth in the women's 60-meter hurdles with a provisional qualifying time of 8.41. Greaves qualified for the finals with a provisional qualifying time of 8.29 in the event's prelims. It was the 2008 Big 12 hurdles champion's second-fastest time of the season behind an 8.26 ran at last weekend's New Balance Collegiate Invitational.

Sophomore Mookie Salaam finished eighth in the men's 60-meter dash with a time of 6.83. It was the prelims of the event where Salaam excelled however as he qualified for the finals with a season-best time of 6.74. The time was just one one-hundreth off Salaam's PR of 6.73. The provisional mark was the second of the season for Salaam who has the 10th-fastest 200-meter dash this season.

Junior Sarah Pappas won the women's collegiate pole vault with a personal-best height of 12-10.00 (3.91), clearing the bar in just one attempt. The mark is the fourth best in program history as Pappas inches closer to NCAA provisional mark of 13-1.50 (4.00) with a PR for the second consecutive week.

Saturday action at the Tyson Invitational begins at 12 p.m. with six different field events. Running events kick off at 12:40 p.m.