Herrs, Reedy Earn All-America Honors

EUGENE, Ore. - Perhaps the tweet of Kate Foster telepathically reached her teammate Julia Reedy.

Just before Reedy's sixth and final attempt in the hammer throw competition Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., Foster tweeted emphatically “Imma need Jules (Reedy) to bust a PR so I can flip out.”

Reedy, a first-time national competitor, did just that. She earned first team All-America honors for her fifth-place finish and established a program record while doing it. Reedy's 211-4.00 mark demolished the previous OU record of 209-9.25, which she also owned.

"She pretty much embodied everything we talked about in our team meetings leading up to this,” said head coach Jim VanHootegem. “She's been a great competitor all year and for her to come and get fifth place out of the first flight in a wonderful series and finish with a school record, nothing could be better.

Reedy won her flight on the first throw with a mark of 208-2.00. She ranked her fourth going into the final round. She began her final three attempts with marks of 209 feet or better before throwing her record-breaking mark.

“She was focused the whole way through and had a smile on her face,” VanHootegem said. “Everything we'd ever want to see we saw with Julia in this competition.”

Overall, it was a great day for Sooner throwers. Liz Herrs' third-place finish in the javelin added another All-American for OU. Herrs, a two-time All-American after Thursday, finished 10^th a year ago. On her final throw of the 2015 competition, she recorded a 185-1.00 mark, nearly 20 feet further than last season's finish.

“She got off to a rough start with a foul,” VanHootegem said. “She got it together and went hard on that last throw. That was really fun to see. We knew she was capable all along.”

Daye Shon Roberson competed in both the 400-meter relay and 400-meter dash on the second day of the meet. She advanced to the 400-meter final set for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. after finishing second in her heat. That finish gave her an automatic entry in the final with a time of 51.76.

No sophomore slump for Roberson, who competed in the 4x400-meter relay a year ago. Her quick progress has impressed her coaches.

“It's fantastic for Daye Shon to make the final especially when you look at it in comparison to a year She didn't even run open events at the conference meet or regional meet as a freshman,” VanHootegem said. “I hope she now sees that she is a major contender for this final. She needs to go out and take a bit more command.”

Her performance was just shy of her career best 51.37, but the OU staff is hopeful that she can meet that mark in the finals. She will take the fifth best time into Saturday's race.

“At the end of the day, she got an automatic qualifying spot and she'll be one of the people who has an opportunity to win,” the head coach added.

The 400-meter relay — Roberson, Ama Pipi, Erin Jones, and Leya Buchanan — finished fourth in the heat to place ninth in the semifinals with a time of 44.25. The quartet was just shy of advancing to the finals, trailing Purdue (44.20), the eighth and final qualifier, by .05 second.

Later in the program, OU's 1600-meter relay had significant lineup changes after line-up after Pipi was injured during the earlier relay. Payton Baker, Daunicia Demerson, Jones, and Mia Mukes finished with a time of 3:44.80. Only two of the four were regular members of the longer relay.

“We've come a long way with our relay program in a year,” said the second-year head coach. “When Ama goes down, we don't have the depth yet. They've had a great season and have done some great things.”

Brandon Doughty will return to the track tomorrow to compete in the final of the 3,000-meter steeplechase which scheduled for 4:57 p.m. Doughty is coming off of a career-best and record-setting performance with his 8:41.26 in his semifinal race on Wednesday. He goes into the race with the fifth best time in the semis and will be the lone Sooner to compete on Friday.

Live results will be available at Flash Results. Additional information about the NCAA Championships is available at the University of Oregon website. To watch the Championships, visit the ESPNsite.

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Players Mentioned

Payton Baker

Leya Buchanan

Daunicia Demerson

Brandon Doughty

Erin Jones

Mia Mukes

Ama Pipi

Julia Reedy

Daye Shon Roberson

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics