OU Closes Out Successful Run at Penn Relays

Saturday, April 25

Philadelphia, Pa.

8:00 AM

University of Oklahoma

Penn Relays

OU Closes Out Successful Run at Penn Relays

April 25, 2015 | Track and Field

By: Athletics Communications

PHILADELPHIA – Keeping a trend intact, the weather was a challenge on the final day of the 121^st annual Penn Relays. And it was a challenge that the Oklahoma Sooners once again answered in a successful way.

The final day of the meet was a day that had the Sooners competing in five events, three relays and two field events.

“We came into the meet wanting to see how we handle this unique but difficult environment,” head coach Jim VanHootegem explained. “We are still a pretty young team. I think we did well the first two days and we did fairly well today. I think we answered the physical and the next step is the mental endurance. I saw some loss of concentration today but the mental part of competition is the natural progression.

“Overall, I was very pleased with our performances in the Penn Relays. This was the first time for our staff to bring OU student-athletes to Phildelphia. We had some expectations and I think we handled that well. We will build off the performances here and work on keeping our concentration through the full meet.”

The highlight of the day for the Sooners was probably the first event as OU ran in the Championship of American 4xmile relay. Easily one of the more anticipated events, few had the Sooners among the teams to watch coming in. Junior Brandon Doughty, running the anchor leg, changed that expectation.

It's like the line from the song New York, New York – if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. This is a very intense multi-day meet and you don't have many of those in the regular season. However, you have that in the postseason and you need to experience it to be able to handle it. I think we got that experience in this meet.
Jim VanHootegem, head coach

Alex Deir ran the opening leg for the Sooners in this unique relay. Each member of the relay ran a mil and Deir handed off to Jacob Burcham. As the race developed, there was a lead group and a second group which was where OU found itself early on. Dylan Blakenbaker took the third leg for the Sooners and OU was still in the second pack when he passed the baton to Doughty.

Doughty, still running in the second pack, took advantage of the lead pack's unwillingness to keep up the pace. He sprinted out of the second pack and blew past the lead pack to take the lead over the favored Oregon Ducks and the eventual winner Villanova.

The Sooners finished seventh with a 16:24.62 to start the day for OU.

“A lot of people use this meet to prepare for conference, regionals and the NCAA final,” VanHootegem said. “Actually, I think this meet is harder. You know what your ideal competition environment is but you rarely have ideal. Your success is dependent on how you handle the less than ideal.

“It's like the line from the song New York, New York – if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. This is a very intense multi-day meet and you don't have many of those in the regular season. However, you have that in the postseason and you need to experience it to be able to handle it. I think we got that experience in this meet.”

The focus shifted to the high jump and freshman Carl Williams. Williams cleared the opening height on his third attempt but missed all three attempts at 6-9.75 to finish eighth.

Hayden McClain, who finished ninth in the long jump on Friday, competed in the Championship of American triple jump on Saturday. He had a foul on his first attempt, then posted a 49-10.5 on his second attempt. That effort would prove to be his best in the competition and he finished ninth overall.The final two events for OU were the Championship of America men's 4x800 relay and women's 4x400 relay. Led by Zac Randall's 1:49.14 spilt on the second leg, the Sooners finished seventh with a 7:25.09. Malcolm Wankel ran the opening leg for OU and Jacob Goldberg took the third leg and Allen Eke ran the anchor leg

The women's 4x400 finished ninth with a 3:43.72. Once again, the Sooners had to make a late change as freshman Mia Mukes stepped in to run the anchor leg. OU opened with Ama Pipi and Daunicia Demerson had the second leg. Payton Baker, typically the anchor leg, ran the third leg for OU.

“You have to be able to deal with injuries and that's why you have alternates,” VanHootegem added. “We had a true 400 runner step into the 4x100 at the Penn Relays and a freshman take over the anchor leg in the 4x400 in the Penn Relays. I was pleased with how our relays handled the challenges.”

The Sooners will head to Austin, Texas, Saturday, May 2, to close out the regular season at the Longhorn Invitational. Two weeks after that, the postseason begins with the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 15-17.