OU Looks for Solid Performances at Big 12s

February 25, 2016 | Track and Field

By: Athletics Communications

AMES, Iowa - The Oklahoma track and field teams began competition just over a month ago and in that time the Sooners have established program records, set career marks and produced nationally (and globally) competitive performances. This weekend, OU track and field members will have a chance to add more accomplishments to their 2016 resume as the teams head to Ames, Iowa, for the Big 12 Championship.

"We put ourselves in a good position by going up against outstanding competitors, including those in the Big 12 throughout the season," said head coach Jim VanHootegem. "We've gone up against most of the top-25 teams in the country this year and have had some outstanding performances. We're definitely battle-ready as far as that goes.

"We have a lot of veterans in going into competition this week and so we're not asking a lot of our athletes to do anything super human," he continued. "We're just asking them to do what they've already done."

Action is slated to begin Friday at 10 a.m. CT with sophomore and team captain Makayla Stephens opening for OU in the pentathlon. The men's events commence at 11 a.m. on Friday with the heptathlon.

Sooners Thomas Cheval and Steven Jazdyk will be featured in the seven-event competition. Cheval, OU's program record holder in the event, leads the conference headed into the weekend. His 5,671 points rank him 11th on the NCAA qualifying chart.

Combined Events (Top-10 Conference Rankings for OU)
Event	Athlete	Mark	Position
Pentathlon (W)	Makayla Stephens	3,517 points	7th
Heptathlon (M)	Thomas Cheval	5,671 points	1st

"Particularly on the men's side, having two guys in there is an advantage," VanHootegem said. "It's not going to be easy, but one leads the conference. Hopefully, Thomas can come out with the title. Steven scored as a freshman last year and even though he's struggled a little bit with injuries this year we definitely think he's a person that can pick up some big points. The combination of those two guys is a great way to get things going."

The majority of events will take place in the afternoon on Friday, with field events scheduled to open at 3 p.m. and running events at 3:10 p.m. The field events open with the women's weight throw and pole vault, while the women's mile is the first of 20 running events on Friday.

OU pole vault record-holder Mackenzie Shell will be the lone Sooner entry in the event, while the weight throw will see five Sooners in action. Julia Reedy, Jessica Woodard and program-leader Sarah Tolson were Big 12 scorers in 2015, but it will be the first occasion for sophomores Chamaya Turner and Ashley Bryant to compete in this particular event at conference.

Throws (Top-10 Conference Rankings for OU)
Event	Athlete	Mark	Position
Weight Throw (W)	Sarah Tolson	63-9.5	3rd
	Julia Reedy	63-6.25	4th
	Jess Woodard	59-2.00	8th
	Chamaya Turner	58-6.50	9th
Weight Throw (M)	Charles Nguyen	62-8.00	5th
Shot Put (W)	Jess Woodard	54-6.00	5th
	Avione Allgood	54-1.25	6th
Shot Put (M)	Chase Sammons	61-7.00	4th

The OU trio Abbey Mace, Sarah Scott and Belle Wallace will participate in the mile.

"Mackenzie is right on the bubble of being a national qualifier, but she's going to have to make that next mark this weekend," the head coach said. "She has some outstanding women to compete against and although she's one of the nation's best, so are four of five of the other people from the Big 12. She just needs to go out and display the things that she's worked on and let the environment carry her to get competitive - that's what you live for.

"For the women's weight group, it's obviously an advantage when you're drawing energy from your teammates and you're out there with the people that push you every day in practice," he added.

Distance Events (Top-10 Conference Rankings for OU)
Event	Athlete	Mark	Position
800 Meter (M)	Allen Eke	1:50.99	10th
1,000 Meter (W)	Belle Wallace	2:51.35	7th
	Kelsey McKee	2:51.46	8th
Mile (W)	Belle Wallace	4:47.56	8th
Mile (M)	Jacob Burcham	3:57.46	1st
	Dylan Blankenbaker	4:04.34	8th
5,000 Meter (W)	Elena Arriaza	16:30.25	6th
	Brittany Tretbar	16:57.30	9th
5,000 Meter (M)	Dan Schubert	14:14.23	2nd
	Will Hogston	14:38.77	6th
Distance Medley Relay (W)	Wallace, Stephens, Long, Tretbar	12:08.82	7th
Distance Medley Relay (M)	Eke, Armstrong, Goldberg, Burcham	9:27.70	2nd

Running events on the opening day will largely consist of preliminary rounds with the exception of the men's and women's 5K and distance medley relays.

The men's DMR begins at 9 p.m. and will be a race to watch as the Sooners look to recapture the conference title after coming in second a season ago. Heading into the 2015 Big 12 Championship, OU captured back-to-back titles in the DMR, but was unable to keep the streak alive. This year's foursome of Allen Eke, Trae Armstrong, Jacob Goldberg and Jacob Burcham is coming off a program-record performance on Feb. 20 and has established itself as one of the fastest collegiate quartets to have ever run the race.

OU's DMR is currently sixth in the nation and second in the conference behind last year's conference winner, Oklahoma State.

"The men's distance medley race is always good and it'll be good again this year," said VanHootegem. "We've been in that mix for certain, but I don't think it's just limited to us and OSU. It'll be a fun one to finish us off on Friday night."

Other notable races will be the men's mile and the women's 400-meter that will respectively feature Burcham, whose 3:57.46 performance leads the league and ranks eighth nationally, and Daye Shon Roberson, who ranks second in conference and 10th on the NCAA qualifying chart.

Roberson's 400 contest could potentially be a faceoff with Texas' Courtney Okolo, who leads the conference and the nation. In 2015, Roberson ran a 53.40 and finished in fifth just behind Okolo's 53.23.

Roberson also looks to defend her top position in the conference in the 200. Her time of 23.14 ranks seventh in the nation.

Sprint Events (Top-10 Conference Rankings for OU)
Event	Athlete	Mark	Position
60 Meter (W)	Daye Shon Roberson	7.36	4th
60 Meter (M)	Trae Armstrong	6.70	4th
	Bennie Wesley	6.80	9th
60-Meter Hurdles (W)	CeCe Jackson	8.44	7th
	Olivia Haggerty	8.56	10th
60-Meter Hurdles (M)	Thomas Cheval	8.17	7th
200 Meter (W)	Daye Shon Roberson	23.14	1st
400 Meter (W)	Daye Shon Roberson	52.62	2nd
4x400 Relay (W)	Pipi, Demerson, Mukes, Baker	3:39.81	4th
4x400 Relay (M)	Yount, Goldberg, Meirow, Eke	3:21.71	9th

Sprinters Leya Buchanan, Ama Pipi and Mia Mukes will also contend in the 200, while Payton Baker will compete in the 400.

"In the 400 [Daye Shon] has gone through it at a high level and she's experienced in the race and on Iowa State's track," the third year head coach said. "She knows the 400 is her thing, but the 200 might be her pleasure. I think that's a race she kind of likes because she can just let it loose and go.

"For her, it's about managing things well and qualifying [to the conference finals and to NCAAs] and managing things well throughout the meet," he said of the outdoor All-American.

Saturday competition will start at 11 a.m. with two of the final three events in the heptathlon. Field events open at noon with women's high jump and men's triple jump.

Hayden McClain ranks 13th nationally and second in conference in the triple jump and hopes to take the title after placing second the last two years. Freshman teammates Josh Foster, Marcus Mitchell and Greg Vann will also compete in the triple jump.

Horizontal and Vertical Jumps (Top-10 Conference Rankings for OU)
Event	Athlete	Mark	Position
Triple Jump (M)	Hayden McClain	52-8.75	2nd
	Marcus Mitchell	47-10.5	9th
Long Jump (W)	Baileh Simms	20-5.00	5th
Long Jump (M)	Greg Vann	24-5.50	5th
	Thomas Cheval	24-4.25	6th
Pole Vault (W)	Mackenzie Shell	14-0.50	4th
Pole Vault (M)	Tanner Williams	16-11.50	7th
High Jump (M)	Carl Williams	6-11.75	6th
	Shonderius Howard	6-9.75	9th

"I'd like to see it be a competitive event and I could see it being a competition where multiple people take the lead throughout the event," VanHootegem said. "Hayden's a junior and I think it's time for him to put himself in those position where he's challenging others."

Finals for all the running events are scheduled for Saturday and will begin at 1:30 p.m. with the women's 60-meter hurdles.

The meet will be the final opportunity for teams to post marks and times to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships to be held March 11-12 in Birmingham, Ala. The top 16 individuals and top 12 relays will advance to the big meet.

"We'd like for people to do what they've done before and maybe the exciting environment of conference competition and the level of Big 12 may bring out a little bit more," the coach said. "If people are able to replicate their efforts from during the season, maybe the environment pushes them to a level that they can qualify for the national meet."

Live streaming of the Big 12 Championship will be available at FloSports Live Stream and live results can be found at DeltaTimining.com. A full recap will be available at the end of action each day on SoonerSports.com.