Sooners Finish Second at TAMU

Saturday, January 23

College Station, Texas

12:00 PM

University of Oklahoma

Texas A&M Quadrangular

January 23, 2016 | Track and Field

By: Akilah Laster

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Big things can happen, even in a small window of time.

The Oklahoma track and field teams proved that on Saturday as one Sooner ran a nation-leading time, several earned season-best marks, and both teams improved overall during the Texas A&M Quadrangular. The quad meet, that finished in less than three hours, unique for track and field, was plenty long enough for the Sooners to show improvements as they closed out their second meet - the first on the road - of the indoor track season.

Daye Shon Roberson wowed the crowd in the 400-meter dash as she earned a career-best time of 52.62, a mark that tops the NCAA Qualifying List (as of Jan. 22). Roberson took the win down the final straightaway, sprinting past Texas A&M's Shamier Little for the win. Little, a two-time SEC champion and fourth-place finisher in the 2015 NCAA Indoor on the 400, was a silver medalist in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2015 World Championships.

Daye Shon Roberson outran Texas A&M standout Shamier Little, an indoor All-American in the 400-meter dash and silver-medalist in the 400-meter hurdles, to win the meet, earn a career best, and lead the nation in the 400.

"Nothing that ever happens in competition is going to surprise me with Daye Shon," said head coach Jim VanHootegem. "I get to see her every day in practice and I see the level at which she trains and where her motivation lies. That's the level she wants to be at and she shows up every day with that attitude."

Roberson's 400-meter win was one of seven first-place performances for the Sooners that led to an outright second-place finish for the women's team and a tie with No. 17 Texas Tech for the men with 121.50 points.

Texas A&M swept the meet, scoring 143 points in the women's competition and 172 points in the men's. The Sooner women (135) were eight points shy of first place and finished ahead of Texas Tech (121) and Arizona State (116), while the men bested Arizona State.

By comparison, the Sooners won only the men's and women's distance medley relay at the 2015 meet and both teams finished third overall.

Julia Reedy broke the OU program record with her meet-winning performance in the indoor weight throw on Saturday (63-6.25). She previously shared the 63-0.00 program record with Rylee Rackley.

"It's a good barometer of our program. You can see if you follow how we've done from one year to the next and compare previous results where we're at," VanHootegem said. "This was a team meet and it gives you an idea of what the conference championship will be like."

The other top performers for the Sooners on Saturday were Charles Nguyen (60-2.00) and Julia Reedy (63-6.25), who won the weight throw competitions. Reedy's mark set an OU program record, beating her previous mark of 63-0.00, a record she shared with Rylee Rackley.

Mackenzie Shell won the pole vault for the second consecutive meet after clearing 13-9.25 and Baileh Simms tallied another meet win in the long jump with a 19-0.50 mark.

Jacob Burcham ran the opening leg of the first-place distance medley relay at the Texas A&M Quadrangular.

"To go out there and win an event against some good teams is great," VanHootegem said. "Julia got another school record. We know school records don't come cheaply and that's fantastic. She had a tie for the record before and now to have it for herself is great."

The distance medley relays were again top performers for the Sooners. The men's quartet of Jacob Burcham, Thomas Cheval, Allen Eke, and Zac Randall finished with a time of 9:51.57. The women's foursome finished with a time of 12:08.82 on a combined effort by Belle Wallace, Makayla Stephens, Morgan Long, and Brittany Tretbar.

The day was also marked by several season- and personal-best performances. One that stood out was junior Payton Baker in the 400-meter dash. She recorded a 56.01 to finish fifth overall and also anchored the women's 4x400-meter relay. She battled at the end of the race with a Texas A&M runner before falling just shy of the win. OU's time was 3:40.74 while the Aggies' winning mark was 3:40.34. While not a win, Baker's performance impressed the coaches and her teammates with her effort.

Payton Baker's PR in the 400-meter with a time of 56.01 and her relentless performance in the final leg of the 1600-meter relay are examples of her commitment to improving, according to OU coaches.

"She personifies what we're trying to be," said the VanHootegem, who was an assistant coach with the Aggies for nine years. "She's a person who gives everything she has. If we can have an entire team doing that, then I know we're going to always be okay.

"When I talk about Payton Baker, you can see the respect the team has for her," he continued. "If I were somebody on that team, I'd want to have the same respect from my teammates. I want people to say that Payton Baker isn't the exception to the rule. Everybody should strive to be at that level."

The Sooners keep the season rolling next week as they head to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Razorback Invitational. To keep up with OU track and field, follow them on Twitter @OU_Track, on Facebook at OUTrackandXC and SoonerSports.com.