OU Qualifies 32 Plus Relays for Prelims

May 21, 2015 | Track and Field

By: Athletics Communications

NORMAN – A sign of the continuing improvement in the University of Oklahoma track and field program was the announcement of the qualifiers for next week's NCAA East and West prelims.

Invitations went out to the top 48 individuals and the top 24 relays. A total of 32 Sooners and two relays will be heading to Austin with the chance to advance to the NCAA Championship. The top 12 individuals and relays in Austin and in the East prelims, to be held in Jacksonville, Fla., will earn a trip to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 10-13.

By comparison, a total of 20 Sooners and no relays made the trip to the prelims a year ago for what is the first round of the NCAA competition.

Action in Austin begins on Thursday and continues through Saturday, May 30. Field events open the action each day at noon and running events start at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, 5 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday.

Medical scratches must be made by 4 p.m. central time on Sunday. The final day to add replacements for medical scratches is Monday by 7 p.m. central.

SOONER QUALIFIERS
Event	Name/Competition Date (First)	Mark	Rank
100	Trae Armstrong/May 28, 6:55 p.m. (prelim)	10.36	25th
100	Bennie Wesley/May 28, 6:55 p.m. (prelim)	10.43	35th
200	Trae Armstrong/May 29, 8:25 p.m. (prelim)	21.05	47th
800	Zac Randall/May 28, 8:35 p.m. (prelim)	1:49.96	39th
800	Jacob Goldberg/May 28, 8:35 p.m. (prelim)	1:50.08	43rd
1500	Jacob Burcham/May 28, 6 p.m. (prelim)	3:44.13	31st
1500	Alex Deir/May 28, 6 p.m. (prelim)	3:44.92	44th
1500	Allen Eke/May 28, 6 p.m. (prelim)	3:45.24	46th
3000 SC	Brandon Doughty/May 29, 8:40 p.m. (quarterfinal)	8:50.96	17th
3000 SC	Dylan Blakenbaker//May 29, 8:40 p.m. (quarterfinal)	8:52.41	22nd
10,000	Abbabiya Simbassa/May 28, 9:40 p.m. (semifinal)	29:28.10	33rd
10,000	Eric Graf/May 28, 9:40 p.m. (semifinal)	29:46.74	44th
HJ	Carl Williams/May 28, 6 p.m. (first round)	7-00.25	34th
TJ	Hayden McClain/May 30, 6 p.m. (first round)	52-6.50	6th
SP	Chase Sammons/May 29, 6 p.m. (first round)	63-8.25	6th
SP	Austin Perry/May 29, 6 p.m. (first round)	58-1.00	40th
DT	Chase Sammons/May 28, noon (first round)	186-3.00	15th
HT	Charles Nguyen/May 29, 2 p.m. (first round)	201-9.50	28th
JT	Garrett Snow/May 30, noon (first round)	241-6.00	5th
JT	Tyler Renton/May 30, noon (first round)	227-3.50	16th
JT	T.J. Noonan/May 30, noon (first round)	208-4.75	35th
100	Erin Jones/May 28, 6:30 p.m. (first round)	11.45	20th
100	Leya Buchanan/May 28, 6:30 p.m. (first round)	11.46	21st
400	Daye Shon Roberson/Friday, May 28, 7:20 p.m. (first round)	51.58	5th
400	Ama Pipi/May 28, 7:20 p.m. (first round)	54.32	45th
1500	Belle Wallace/May 28, 5:30 p.m. (first round)	4:22.81	31st
10,000	Elena Arriaza/May 28, 9 p.m. (semifinal)	34:23.93	35th
4x100 Relay	Pipi, Jones, Roberson, Buchanan/May 30, 6 p.m. (quarterfinal)	44.92	12th
4x400 Relay	Pipi, Roberson, Demerson, Baker/May 30, 9:25 p.m. (quarterfinal)	3:33.98	6th
HJ	Makayla Stephens/May 29, 6 p.m. (first round)	5-9.25	44th
SP	Jess Woodard/May 30, 6 p.m. (first round)	50-10.75	33rd
DT	Alexandra Morgan/May 29, noon (first round)	173-9.00	26th
DT	Jess Woodard/May 29, noon (first round)	173-0.003	29th
DT	Kate Foster/May 29, noon (first round)	170-2.00	38th
HT	Julia Reedy/May 28, 2 p.m. (first round)	209-9.25	7th
HT	Sarah Tolson/May 28, 2 p.m. (first round)	193-8.00	42nd
JT	Elizabeth Herrs/May 30, 5 p.m. (first round)	189-6.75	1st

The OU men are coming off a third-place finish with 107 points scored in the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship, the third best total since OU won the conference title in 2007. Since the Sooners won the men's outdoor title in 2007, the 2015 point total is the third highest.

The Sooner women, who returned to the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association's top 25 ranking at 22^nd this week, finished sixth but scored 79 points. That total is the second highest since the first Big 12 championship in 1997. The OU women scored 30 points at the Big 12 a year ago, the first year for head coach Jim VanHootegem and a majority of the coaching staff.

Chase Sammons, a double qualifier in the shot put and discus, will open the competition for the Sooners at noon on Thursday. Julia Reedy and Sarah Tolson will compete in the hammer at 2 p.m. Sammons has the sixth best mark entered in the discus with a 186-3.00 and Reedy's 209-9.25 ranks as the seventh best mark in the competition.

Elizabeth Herrs has the best mark in the meet in the javelin with her 189-6.75. Herrs, who won the 2014 Big 12 javelin title, finished second in the event at the 2015 conference meet. She ranks second in the country after a thrower from Virginia Tech, Irena Sediva, posted a better mark in the ACC Championship. Herrs earned second team All-America honors in 2014.

Other Sooners ranked in the top 12 heading to Austin include Daye Shon Roberson, fifth, 400, 51.58; Garrett Snow, fifth, javelin, 241-6.00; Hayden McClain, sixth, triple jump, 52-6.50; and the women's 1,600-meter relay, sixth, 3:33.98.

Other Sooners who earned return trips to the West prelims in 2015 include (with 2015 event) Brandon Doughty, steeplechase; Alex Deir, 1500; Abbabiya Simbassa, 10,000; McClain, triple jump; Charles Nguyen, hammer; Snow, javelin; Tyler Renton, javelin; T.J. Noonan, javelin; Alexandra Morgan, discus; and Sarah Tolson, hammer. Senior sprinter Erin Jones qualified for the 2013 meet before sitting out 2014 as a redshirt. She qualified in 2015 in the 100-meter dash and as a member of the 4x100-meter relay.

Joining Sammons as double event qualifiers are Trae Armstrong, men's 100 and 200, and Jess Woodard, women's shot put and discus. All three double qualifiers are new to competition as Sooners in 2015.