Sooners Head to Razorback Invitational

NORMAN – The next step in the 2015 schedule for the University of Oklahoma track and field teams, while in a different location, continues the trend of presenting a different test than the previous ones as more than 50 student-athletes will be competing at the annual Razorback Invitational.

Action begins in Fayetteville, Ark., at 11 a.m. Friday as the three Sooner women who compete in the pentathlon will open their five-event competition with the 60-meter hurdles. The Sooner trio, all freshmen, includes Payton Stumbaugh, Makayla Stephens and Schuyler Wood. Shortly after that, the Sooner men who will be competing in the heptathlon, Thomas Cheval and Steven Jazdyk, will begin their seven-event competition with the 60-meter dash.

The women's pentathlon, which includes high jump, long jump, shot put and 800-meter run in addition to the hurdles, concludes Friday while the heptathlon, which includes the long jump, shot put, high jump, 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run, will have four events on Friday and will conclude on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.

“We are excited about this young group – all are freshmen or sophomores,” said head coach Jim VanHootegem. “Doing a combined event is its own thing. For example, doing a jumping event as the fourth event is a different animal than doing the same event as an individual event. Since Thomas has the most experience, we are hoping he can be a leader for us out there.”

While the multi-event competitors are expected to be one of the highlights of the weekend as it is the first time this season for the multis, they are a small part of the young, yet ever improving group that VanHootegem and his staff are taking to Fayetteville.

Joining the host Sooners in the event include several ranked squads: the third-ranked Arkansas men and fifth-ranked Arkansas women; the second-ranked Florida men and top-ranked Florida women; the 15^th-ranked Florida State men and 11^th-ranked Florida State women; the 16^th-ranked Oklahoma State men and 13^th-ranked Oklahoma State women; the seventh-ranked Stanford men and 10^th-ranked Stanford women; the 10^th-ranked Texas men and seventh-ranked Texas women; the fourth-ranked Texas A&M men and third-ranked Texas A&M women; the 23^rd-ranked Iowa State men; the ninth-ranked LSU men; and the 20^th-ranked Purdue men. Other squads competing in the invitational include the Iowa State women, the Kansas men and women, the Louisiana State women, the Notre Dame men and women, the Purdue women and the Tulsa men and women.

We want to see a continuation of the energy we have seen in the first two meets. From there, we hope to see something that each person can hang their hat on when we get back on the bus Saturday night for the return trip to Norman.
Jim VanHootegem, head coach

The Friday schedule includes a mixture of prelims and finals on the track and eight field event finals. Action begins at 4 p.m. with the women's pole vault, then shifts to the track for the prelims in the women's 60-meter hurdles.

Action resumes Saturday at noon on the track with the 3,000-meter run finals. Field event finals begin at 1 p.m.

“We've had two really good competitions to open the season and get used to meet plans,” VanHootegem continued. “I'm hoping that we are going to see us settle into a better rhythm. I think our training is ahead of our results at this point. This isn't a cause of concern – we just need to get into the rhythm of competition.

“A two-day event presents a different challenge than we have gone through so far,” Van Hootegem added. “Our first two meets were one-day meets and they were relatively smaller, quicker-paced meets. This one will challenge us to expand our concentration levels further. Each student-athlete will have to be more individual about his/her preparation.”

The first two weeks of the 2015 season have been record-setting for the Sooners as marks posted in those two meets have made a number of changes in the all-time top 10 career list. Two of those who made significant improvements include Daye Shon Roberson in the women's 400 and Julia Reedy in the women's weight throw. Roberson moved into third place on the career 400 list with a 53.51 mark at last week's Texas A&M Invitational. Reedy finished second in the weight throw at A&M with a 61-9.75 and that mark moved her into a tie for second on the all-time list.

“Daye Shon's time in the 400, nationally, was the most outstanding mark but what stood out to me was Julia's effort in the weight throw,” VanHootegem said. “She didn't start off great, but made the adjustments to finish with a big PR to finish second to the defending NCAA champion. We talk about this a lot with our team. We need leaders to step up like that and set an example for rest of the team. Julia did that for us in a big time way.”

The third event in OU's seven-event indoor slate marks an continuing process for the young and talented Sooners and their head coach is looking for specific things during this weekend of competition.

“We want to see a continuation of the energy we have seen in the first two meets,” VanHootegem explained. “From there, we hope to see something that each person can hang their hat on when we get back on the bus Saturday night for the return trip to Norman.”

After three consecutive weeks of schedule, the Sooners will take a break from competition next weekend. The following weekend, Oklahoma will send student-athletes to three different competitions as OU continues to point toward the Big 12 Championships and the NCAA Championships.

To follow the meet online, go to ESPN.com. The broadcast will start at 5 p.m. on Friday and at noon on Saturday. To follow the live results, go to FlashResults.com.