Completed Event: Track and Field at Battle on the Bayou on April 3, 2026 ,
Final
Track and Field
at Battle on the Bayou
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Saturday, February 20
South Bend, Ind.
11:00 AM
University of Oklahoma
at
Alex Wilson Invitational
DMR Gets OU Record and Probable NCAA Bid
February 20, 2016 | Track and Field
NORMAN - The Sooners dropped nearly 10 seconds off their men's distance medley relay time on Saturday to finish fourth at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind. More importantly, the time solidified OU's first bid to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the event since 2013.
The OU quartet - Allen Eke, Trae Armstrong, Jacob Goldberg and Jacob Burcham - raced around the 320-meter indoor track in record-breaking fashion to run a 9:27.70, the fastest time in OU history.
According to FloTrack, six of the top 12 all-time DMR marks have happened this year and four occurred on Saturday. The Sooners clocked the 12th best collegiate time to ever be recorded in the event against an extremely competitive field. They finished behind Bedlam-rival Oklahoma State, winner of the winner of the event with a 9:26.60, third best all-time. Washington finished second with a time of 9:27.19 (eighth all-time) and Michigan finished third with a 9:27.67 (11th all-time). Six of the top seven times came from the first heat, the one that included OU.
"I'm just very excited with the result and pleased to get to nationals," said assistant coach of distances Jason Dunn. "It was a very positive race and I'm happy with all four of the guys -- they did what they needed to do. They came in confident, they knew they were ready and what they were capable of.
"We certainly wanted to win," he continued. "But overall the performance was strong. Allen got us out to a good start. Jacob ran a great anchor to come from behind and put us in a strong spot."
After Eke, who ran the 1,200-meter opening leg, got things started for the group, the Sooners fell behind. Burcham ran the final. 1,600-meter leg and moved from the seventh spot to the front half of the pack, ultimately finishing fourth.
OU finished ahead of 10 other schools, including host school Notre Dame (9:31.20) and Big 12 rival Iowa State (9:32.99). The Sooners also finished ahead of Arkansas (9:39.82), ranked ninth on the national chart heading into the weekend with a time of 9:36.77.
OU's program-record time will likely move the Sooners a bit higher on the NCAA qualifying charts after heading into this meet ranked 10th nationally with a time of 9:37.28.
The previous program record-holding quartet - Frezer Legesse, Jamel Wood, Malcolm Wankel and Patrick Casey - was the last OU group to qualify for the NCAA meet with a time of 9:29.44. That mark, also recorded at the Alex Wilson Invite, was seventh in the nation at the time.
This year's mark holds special meaning for the Sooners after falling just short of national qualification the last two seasons. In 2014, the Sooners posted a season-best time of 9:32.92 at the home of the Fighting Irish to finish 13th nationally. The group missed the qualification mark by .44 second. In 2015, the Sooners again ran a season best with a time of 9:33.57 at the Alex Wilson, only to finish just behind Columbia at the meet and in the rankings as the Lions posted a 9:33.54.
"After coming just short the last couple of times, it's nice to finally get there because we were always right there," Dunn said. "It was nice to break a school record and I think it was because we ran with that confidence. We were definitely one of the catalysts in the race."
Zac Randall, an alternate for the DMR, competed in the mile and ran a career-best 4:07.00 to finish ninth.
The Sooners resume competition on Friday in Ames, Iowa, at the Big 12 Championship. To keep up with OU track and field teams, follow them on Twitter at @OU_Track, like them on Facebook at OUTrackandXC, and check out SoonerSports.com.
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