Ash Advances to NCAA 110 Hurdles Final

June 10, 2010

EUGENE, Ore. — Ronnie Ash remained undefeated and the nation's top ranked 110-meter hurdler as he took the next step in defending his NCAA title in the event by qualifying for Saturday's finals Thursday at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Ash lead a group of five Oklahoma athletes and one relay in front of an NCAA second day record 11,172 fans in the second of four days of the competition.

Ash's time of 13.32 was just one hundredth of a second off his season best of the 13.31 he ran to capture the Big 12 Championship on May 16 as he easily won the event's second heat, beating Texas' Keiron Stewart by three-tenths of a second. LSU's Barrett Nugent was Ash's closest competitor in the semifinals of the event, clocking a time of 13.52 in the first heat of the event. Ash, a junior from Raleigh, N.C., remains the world's third ranked hurdler in the world this season.

The field for the 110 hurdles finals will be what many expected as the nation's top seven in the event all advanced with Southern California's Oscar Spurlock the only finals qualifier who was ranked out of the top eight, at No. 20, entering the meet.

One day after qualifying for Friday's 100-meter dash final, Mookie Salaam returned to the track Thursday in the semifinals of the 200-meter dash. Unlike the 100, however, the sophomore failed to advance to the finals of the event, narrowly missing the eight-man finals by five-thousandths of a second. Salaam and Florida State's Brandon Byram each clocked a time of 20.87 but once the times were broken down to the thousandths, Byram edged Salaam with a time of 20.862 to 20.867.

Despite the finish, Salaam was still able to earn All-America honors by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) who awards the honor to the top eight finishers and extends it to the top eight American born athletes.

Like Salaam, Scottesha Miller also returned to Hayward Field after competing in yesterday's 100-meter dash. While the senior had a better finishing place at 14th, the Daytona Beach, Fla., native missed advancing to Saturday's finals in the event as she clocked a time of 23.79. While she has one remaining indoor season left, Miller closes her Oklahoma outdoor career as a three-time All-American while owning the Oklahoma program records in the 100 and 200 and the 2007 Big 12 Championship in the long jump.

After redshirting the 2009 season, Latoya Greaves returned to the NCAA Championships in the 100-meter hurdles for the second time in three years, but the result was not as the Jamaican had hoped for as she finished 15th overall with a time of 13.31. Greaves finished fifth in the event in 2008 and will return for another shot in 2011 senior season. The Kingston, Jamaica, native currently ranks fourth in the event among athletes from the island nation.

Wearing knee high white socks, Kevin Schwab closed out the day on the track by finishing 17th in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 29:35.07. The time is the second fastest 10K for Schwab this season after running the second fastest 10K in program history, 29:27.90 at the Big 12 Championships on May 14.

The race caps an impressive first track and field year for Schwab, who has been on campus since the fall of 2007 but redshirted the 2008 season before being awarded a medical redshirt in 2009. The redshirt-freshman from Mustang, Okla., earned All-Big 12 honors in both the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 10K after doing so in the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs during the indoor season. Schwab was also All-Big 12 in cross country along with NCAA All-Midwest Region.

Later in the day after a constant rain soaked the ground, the quartet of Daniel Nix, Remuro Henry, Jarell Warren and Eric Bailey took to the track in the men's 4x400-meter relay and finished 21st with a time of 3:10.54.

OU action at the event resumes Friday at 4 p.m. PST with K.P. Singh in the men's hammer throw.

Oklahoma Final Results:
Men's 10,000-Meter Run: 17. Kevin Schwab 29:35.07
Men's 200-Meter Dash: 9. Mookie Salaam 20.87
Women's 200-Meter Dash: 14. Scottesha Miller 23.79
Women's 100-Meter Hurdles: 15. Latoya Greaves 13.31
Men's 4x400-Meter Relay: 21. Daniel Nix, Remuro Henry, Jarell Warren, Eric Bailey 3:10.54

Oklahoma Finals Qualifiers:
110-Meter Hurdles: Ronnie Ash 13.32