Mock Takes Silver in NCAA Long Jump

June 8, 2011

DES MOINES, Iowa — Ti'Anca Mock equaled her own Oklahoma record to earn second in the women's long jump and lead the OU program Wednesday at the NCAA Track and Field Championships on the campus of Drake University. Mock earned her fourth All-America honor to lead the No. 5 Oklahoma women on the first of four days of competition at the meet. OU qualified athletes in the finals for the men's and women's 100-meter dash while six other Sooners earned second team All-America honors by finishing between ninth and 16th.

Mock made a dramatic jump, literally, to the higher regions of the awards stand, using all six of her jumps to earn silver and finishing with a season-best jump of 21-9.50 (6.64) on her sixth attempt. The jump actually equaled the winning mark by Southern Mississippi's Tori Bowie, but Bowie held the tiebreaker of second-best jump over Mock, 21-9.00 (6.63) to 21-3.25 (6.48).

Mock was fourth entering the nine-woman final and fell to fifth when Bowie moved from eighth to first. It was her sixth and final attempt, however, that moved her from fifth to second. Mock had previously earned All-America status in the long jump at the 2009 and 2011 indoor championships and as a member of the 4x100-meter relay at the 2009 outdoor championships. The jump equaled the mark she used to break a 15-year old program at the 2009 Sooner Twilight. Mock entered the meet ranked No. 3 nationally with a previous season best of 20-7.25 (6.28).

Both the finals of the men's and women's 100-meter dash will have an Oklahoma athlete in action as Mookie Salaam and Candyce McGrone qualified in their respective divisions. McGrone won the first of three heats in the women's event with a time of 11.33, the fifth fastest in the prelims despite running into a headwind of 0.7 meters-per-second. OU's Shawna Anderson finished 18th overall with a time of 11.69.

Also running into a headwind was Salaam, who finished second in the third heat with a time of 10.26 against 1.1 meters-per-second headwind. The finish was Salaam's first head-to-head loss to a collegiate athlete this season, cooling his jets at the finish line with the top two athletes automatically advancing. Florida State's Ngonidzashe Makusha, who entered the meet ranked No. 2 nationally, won the heat with a time of 10.13.

Of note, defending champion and the No. 1 ranked athlete in the men's event, Florida's Jeff Demps, failed to advance to the finals, finishing 14th with a time of 10.40. On the women's side, the No. 1 and No. 2 athletes, Texas A&M's Jeneba Tarmoh and LSU's Semoy Hackett also both bowed out in the prelims.

K.P. Singh earned a second team All-America honor as he finished 10th overall in the men's discus with a throw of 178-1 (54.29). The senior from Clovis, Calif., narrowly missed advancing to the nine-man finals in the event as he was just one foot and six inches off the cut-off throw for the finals.

The quartet of Shawna Anderson, McGrone, Sherine Wells and Mock teamed to finish 16th in the women's 4x100-meter relay as they recorded a time of 44.46. By finishing in the top 16, the four all earned second team All-America status.

In the final event of the night on the track, the women's 10,000-meter run, Jessica Engel finished 16th overall in a time of 35:27.27 in just her third career 10K. The Big 12 champion in the event in her first ever 10K four weeks ago, Engel held with the lead pack for over half the race as it pulled away from the field. The junior eventually fell into her own pace to earn the 16th-place finish. Duke's Juliet Bottorff won the event in a time of 34:25.86

In the first event of the day to feature an Oklahoma athlete, Karen Shump finished 20th in the discus with a throw of 162-3 (49.45) while Brittany Borman was 24th after fouling on her three preliminary attempts.

Oklahoma Final Results
Men's Discus: 10. K.P. Singh 178-1 (54.29)
Women's 100-Meter Dash: 18. Shawna Anderson 11.69
Women's 10,000-Meter Run: 16. Jessica Engel 35:27.27
Women's 4x100-Meter Relay: 16. Shawna Anderson, Candyce McGrone, Sherine Wells, Ti'Anca Mock 44.46
Women's Long Jump: 2. Ti'Anca Mock 21-9.50 (6.64)
Women's Discus: 20. Karen Shump 162-3 (49.45); 24. Brittany Borman - Foul

Oklahoma Finals Qualifiers
Men's 100-Meter Dash: Mookie Salaam 10.26
Women's 100-Meter Dash: Candyce McGrone 11.33