2016 Track and Field: Sprints Preview

December 16, 2015 | Track and Field

By: Akilah Laster

With a new season comes new expectations.

The 2016 track and field season, that opens with the J.D. Martin Invitational on Jan. 16, will be no different. The Sooners look to build upon success from last season and the sprints groups will do so under the tutelage of two new coaches.

During the summer, assistant coach Ronnye Harrison joined the Sooner track and field staff. Harrison, the former head coach of Portland State University, will lead the sprints, hurdles, and relays. He will be joined by Katherine Hoskins, who was in charge of the the men's and women's sprint events as an assistant for McNeese State prior to coming to OU this past August.

Harrison, a technician and a teacher, has brought his unique coaching style and personality to the team.

"My coaching style is probably more emotionally involved in every aspect of [my student-athletes'] training," Harrison said. "I believe in working from the inside out, asking every one of them to see what drives them, and then that leads to how I am going to coach them.

"Some athletes need lots of feedback, some athletes need very little feedback," he continued. "They are all different and I respect those differences."

Sophomore Leya Buchanan, an Ontario, Canada native, was the anchor on the NCAA qualifying 4x100 relay last season.

Both the men's and women's sprint groups will feature mostly familiar faces, with 13 returning runners, a mid-year enrollee and one transfer to complete the teams.

The women return a solid group from last year with five outdoor national qualifiers in Leya Buchanan, Ama Pipi, Daunicia Demerson, Payton Baker, and All-American Daye Shon Roberson. Buchanan, Pipi, Roberson, and Erin Jones were national qualifiers in the 4x100 in 2015, and, with the graduation of Jones, the Sooners need to fill that spot.

Roberson, Pipi, Demerson, and Baker earned a trip to the NCAA Championships after running a 3:33.33 in the West regional prelims. That time placed them fourth on OU's all-time list. Mia Mukes was an alternate for the relays.

Junior Daye Shon Roberson was one of four All-Americans for the Sooners last outdoor season. She earned third place at the NCAA championship in the 400-meter dash. She will look to improve upon that success starting with the indoor season.

Roberson got little rest at the NCAA meet as she also ran the 400-meter dash. Her third-place finish earned her All-America honors and her time of 51.74 placed her second on OU's all-time list.

"There is one easy possibility and that is that Daye Shon will make it to the conference finals and make it to the NCAA Indoor," Harrison said. "The 4x4 relay also has that potential, and then we have a number of athletes who I believe could possibly be finalists in the 60 and or 200 in conference."

Expectations will be greater this season for Roberson as one of 10 team captains. However, Harrison hopes that leadership will come from each member of his group.

Junior Payton Baker ran the anchor leg of the national qualifying 4x400 relay for the Sooners in 2015. She is pictured above with Daunicia Demerson (right) at the Texas Relays in March of2015.

"I actually look to everybody to participate in some way," Harrison said. "The people who are captains in our program in regards to my group are Daye Shon and Trae (Armstrong). I need them to be the leaders in the sprint group on the tough days. When everyone is tired and not feeling it, they need to be that motivation.

2016 marks the senior season for Geo Tamez, a native of Mexico. Tamez, a hurdler, is the lone senior of the sprints-hurdles-relays group.

"Outside of Trae and Daye Shon, I think Bennie Wesley is a very popular person," the coach added. "I think he is very positive. Actually, I could say that for almost the entire hurdle group. Payton is very supportive, and she's another athlete I'm really excited for in terms of her first competition. She's put in a lot of work."

Newcomers Alexis Barnes and CeCe Jackson will have a chance to make an immediate impact on the team. Barnes will join the Sooners in January and is an AAU All-American in the 4x400 and a three-time National Junior Olympic finalist. Jackson, who has made her name as a hurdler, came from Portland State where she was a two-time NCAA regional qualifier in the 100-meter hurdles in 2014 and 2015.

 Junior hurdler Olivia Haggerty looks to expand her role on the team in 2016.

Hurdlers Geo Tamez and Olivia Haggerty saw limited action last season as Tamez ran in four meets during the indoor and outdoor season while Haggerty ran in three meets. Sprinter-hurdler Bianca Brazil competed during the indoor season in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles in two meets, then missed the outdoor season with an injury. Harrison hopes to see their roles expand this year.

"There's an outside chance that one of them could make it to nationals, but I haven't seen how they handle the stress of competition yet," Harrison said of the trio. "In the hurdles, CeCe, Bianca, and perhaps Olivia could make the conference finals."

Bianca Brazil competed in the 60-meter hurdles and the 60-meter dash during the indoor season, but sat out during the outdoor season.

The quartet of men sprinters will look to Armstrong, who was an NCAA regional qualifier in the 100-meter dash last season and last year's top finisher for the men, to set the tone. Armstrong also scored at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship in the 400- and 1600-meter relays.

Junior Trae Armstrong is one of 10 captains for the track and field team. He was the top finisher for the men sprint corps last season as a NCAA regional qualifier in the 100-meter dash.

The other returning Sooners for the men are sophomores Wesley and Mike Wells. Both were part of the 400-meter relay that finished eighth in the conference meet in 2015. Wesley was also a regional qualifier in the 100-meter race as a freshman.

Wells, a St. Louis native, saw limited action last year due to an injury. However, his commitment to rehabbing, training, and improving his nutrition has him ready to return this season.

Sophomore Mike Wells is ready to start the 2016 season, after being limited in competition during his freshman year because of injury.

"The potential for the men's group this year is to be in the finals of the Big 12," Harrison said. "There's a chance for one or two of them to make it to nationals. I definitely believe that, within this conference, I'll have two of the in that group make it the conference final."

While roles will expand for many Sooners, the coaches are excited to see the team in actual competition after four months of training. Harrison hopes to use their lone home indoor meet to gauge and measure the readiness of his team for the remainder of the season.

"I expect every athlete that I have spent time with since August to do well in the first meet," Harrison said. "We'll see if we're going to be better than my expectations or not quite up to my expectations. It's not necessarily the time they run, but how they handle the meet as a whole.

 Sophomore Bennie Wesley was an NCAA regional qualifier in the 100-meter dash last season.

"If they do well, that's easy to see what's going on there," he added. "If they don't do so well. that's where, as a coach, I learn where they are at."

The Sooners have experience on their side with only two freshmen in the men's and women's sprint-hurdle group. However, Harrison does not believe past performances always guarantees future success.

"The word experience, as it relates to ability, is really hard to match up from year to year," Harrison said. "I think we have experience this year, but, without knowing the competitive experience of going to this meet or that meet, it is really difficult to gauge the experience we have as a group.

"We have the potential that all of the runners in our group will do extremely well. Until I see them in competition, I can't have complete confidence and say with certainty that they are going to do well. I'm excited for that opportunity to arrive."

The Sooners have taken a break for final exams and the semester break and will return to Norman on Jan. 5.