Sooners Dominant in Season Opener - University of Oklahoma

Saturday, January 17

Norman

10:30 AM

University of Oklahoma

J.D. Martin Invitational

January 17, 2015 | Track and Field

By: Athletics Communications

NORMAN – Junior Chase Sammons competed for the first time as a Sooner and his first competition was quite successful as OU hosted the 15^th annual J.D. Martin Invitational. Sammons, who transferred from Tulsa and sat out last season, won the men's shot put with a throw of 62-3.00, a mark that ranks second all-time in school history.

Sammons' performance was one of many highlights in an outstanding first meet for the Sooners, according to second-year head coach Jim VanHootegem.

“A large number of people stood out to me,” said VanHootegem. “I was really happy with the women's weight throwers and Charles Nguyen did a great job in the men's weight throw. Four of his throws were better than his lifetime best coming in. You can't ask for someone to do much better than that.

“As a general group, I was really pleased with our freshmen,” VanHootgem added. “We had a lot of freshmen really step up and show that they are going to do really well at this level. One standout among the freshmen was Payton Stumbaugh. She's a heptathlete and ran the hurdles today. She also had a nice opener in the shot put. I'm really excited to see her compete in the heptathlon in a couple of weeks at Arkansas. The freshmen, across the board, did a great job.

The depth in several events helped OU win both the men's and women's competition at the meet. The OU men scored 166 points to beat Grambling (125), Oral Roberts (55), North Texas (53) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (50). The Sooner women were even more dominant, scoring 222 points. Southern Methodist (73) was second followed by Grambling (62), Central Oklahoma (56), North Texas (50), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (40) and Oral Roberts (33).

“People were stepping up all around, like Avione Allgood, who had a great day in the shot put. A few of her teammates who are redshirt freshmen really started off their careers well. Even though it is their second year in school and they have had a year of training, it was their first time to put on a jersey and they went out there and had good performances as well.”

“I was happy with the people on the track,” he continued. “I thought we ran very competitively. We were very competitive in the straight away races. I thought some of the young distance runners had a good chance to shine today. I'm just very happy across the board.”

Depth was the story of the day for the Sooners and the women used that depth to their advantage. OU had winners in the weight throw – Sarah Tolson; 600 – Lane Maguire; 60-meter hurdles – Stumbaugh; shot put – Allgood; 400 – Daunicia Demerson; 1000 – Kelsey McKee; pole vault – Sarah Hall; and the mile relay (Demerson, Ama Pipi, Payton Baker, Mia Mukes).

In eight events, the Sooner women had several top placers including one, two, three in the 1,000 (McKee, Belle Wallace, Sarah Scott) and the shot put (Allgood, Chamaya Turner, Jess Woodard); one-two in the 400-meter dash (Demerson, Mukes) and 60-meter hurdles (Stumbaugh and Olivia Haggerty); one, three, four, five in the 600 (Maguire, Marissa Codispodi, Jessica Martin, Jordan Norris); two, three, four in the 60-meter dash (Erin Jones, Leya Buchanan, Daye Shon Roberson); two, four in the long jump (Schuyler Wood, Makayla Stephens); one, two, four in the weight throw (Tolson, Julia Reedy, Jessica Woodard).

For the Sooner men, wins were posted by Jacob Goldberg in the 600; Kyle Polman in the mile; Nguyen in the weight throw; Carl Williams in the high jump; Liam Meirow in the 1000; Trae Armstrong in the 60 dash; and Sammons in the shot put.

Like the women, the OU men had multiple events with several top finishers. Those included one, two, three in the 600 (Goldberg, Scott Petersen, Hunter Heaton); one, two in the 60 dash (Armstrong and Mike Wells), in the mile (Polman, Will Hogston), in the 1000 (Meirow, Dylan Blankenbaker) and in the shot put (Sammons, Austin Perry); one through five in the high jump (Williams, Josiah Hunter, Garrison LeRock, Shonderius Howard, Landon Sharp).

It was a record-setting day for both teams as five women and three men, excluding first-time collegiate competitors, set PRs. Those included Armstrong in the 60, Bianca Brazil in the 60; Hogston, mile; Bryce Perry and Olivia Taylor, women's mile; Tolson in the women's weight throw; Allgood in the women's shot put; and Nguyen in the men's weight throw.

The marks posted today also moved several Sooners onto the all-time top 10 lists or improved their position on those lists. Those efforts included Sammons, second in the men's shot put; Armstrong, seventh in the men's 60; Tolson, up to second in the women's weight throw; Allgood, up to fifth in the women's shot put; Stumbaugh, fifth in women's 60 hurdles; Wells, eighth in the men's 60 dash; Chamaya Turner, eighth and Woodard, 10^th in women's shot put.

The Sooners head to College Station, Texas, for the Texas A&M Quad Saturday, Jan. 24, as the indoor season continues.