OU Reclaims DMR Title at Big 12s

Friday, February 26

Ames, Iowa

10:00 AM

University of Oklahoma

Big 12 Indoor Championships

February 26, 2016 | Track and Field

By: Akilah Laster

AMES, Iowa - The title is back home.

The Oklahoma track and field team closed Friday with a championship performance in the men's distance medley relay at the Big 12 Indoor Championship in Ames, Iowa.

OU was the runner-up in the race last season after winning back-to-back titles in 2013 and '14. On Friday, the Sooners reclaimed the top position on the combined effort of Allen Eke, Jacob Goldberg, Blake Yount and Jacob Burcham.

OU's relay headed into the conference championships ranked second behind Oklahoma State (9:42.30), but surpassed OSU and Texas (9:42.34) in its 9:40.15 finish.

The Sooners timed the race well and remained in the top four throughout competition. On the final exchange from first-time relay member Yount to Burcham, the Sooners held steady in third. Burcham continued patiently around Iowa State's 320-meter track, closing the gap to pass OSU into second place.

Jacob Burcham crossed the finish line to solidify the distance medley relay title for the Sooners at the Big 12 Championship on Friday. The Sooners ran a 9:40.15

With two laps remaining, the junior quickly pursued the Texas runner who was significantly ahead. Burcham took the lead just before the last lap and the Sooners finished more than two seconds ahead of the field.

"We talked about this throughout the year that the men's distance aspect of our program is really important to us," said head coach Jim VanHootegem. "It was certainly a title we wanted to get back. Everybody did a great job, but I was pleased with how Blake Yount stepped up in that situation and put Jacob Burcham in a good position."

^{_{OU Running Finals Results}}
Event	Athlete	Time	Place
5,000m (W)	Elena Arriaza	16:53.85	17th
	Brittany Tretbar	16:40.57	10th
5,000m (M)	Eric Alldritt	14:47.03	14th
	Dylan Blankenbaker	14:35.64	11th
	Alonzo Chavez	DNF
	Will Hogston	14:57.98	17th
	Dan Schubert	14:13.74 (PR)	6th
Distance Medley Relay (W)	Wallace, Mia Mukes, McKee, Scott	11:40.48	4th
Distance Medley Relay (M)	Eke, Goldberg, Yount, Burcham	9:40.15	1st

The OU women's DMR team also finished in the top half of the conference. The foursome of Belle Wallace, Mia Mukes, Kelsey McKee and Sarah Scott combined on an 11:40.48-performance to place fourth.

Sarah Scott anchored the women's distance medley relay that earned fourth place at the conference meet.

Friday's heptathlon proved to be as competitive of an event as it is unique.

Although OU posted wins in three of the four heptathlon events of the day, both Sooner entries currently trail in the standings. Thomas Cheval, the leader headed into conference competition, finished the day in second place with 3,102 points, 19 behind Iowa State's Taylor Sanderson (3,121), the 2015 Big 12 runner-up. OU's Steven Jazdyk (2,839) finished the day in seventh.

Thomas Cheval recorded a PR in the long jump to win the event. He also matched his effort in the shot put, also recording a career best.

Comparatively, Cheval won two events, while Sanderson, the all-around leader, did not win any of the four events, but never finished lower than fourth place. Cheval secured the long jump (23-4.00) and shot put (42-1.25) titles, producing PR performances in both events, but a sixth-place finish (7.10) in the opening 60-meter dash was costly. The OU heptathlon record-holder also contended in the high jump, the final event for the day, tying for third with Kansas State's Simone Fassina after clearing 6-4.75.

Jazdyk opened with a 60-meter win (6.94) and also recorded a best in the shot put with a 41-3.25 mark.

Steve Jazdyk opened the day with a win in the heptathlon 60-meter dash. He clocked a 6.94.

"Really if you look at event by event it was a back-and-forth between Sanderson and Thomas. It's going to come down to each and every event tomorrow," the head coach said. "Steven also put himself in a good event to be competitive on the final day."

The heptathlon concludes Saturday with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run. Action begins at 11 a.m. CT.

Heptathlon Big 12 Standings - Day 1^{_{(Top 5 & OU)}}
Athlete (Place)	School	_Points
Taylor Sanderson	Iowa State	3,121
Thomas Cheval	Oklahoma	3,102
Simone Fassina	Kansas State	2,931
Adam Deterding	Kansas State	2,899
Michael Samuels	Texas Tech	2,887
Steven Jazdyk (7th)	Oklahoma	2,839

In the women's combined competition, Makayla Stephens finished sixth to become a two-time Big 12 scorer in the pentathlon. Top-eight finishes in conference events earn points toward the teams' overall scores. She closed the five-event competition running a personal-best 2:24.39 in the 800-meter and recorded a personal best in the shot put (35-5.25) earlier in the day.

"Makayla did well in four of the five events with two PRs," VanHootegem said. "We're really pleased with her finish.

Makayla Stephens Pentathlon Results
Event	Mark	Place	Points
60mH	8.99	9th	912
High Jump	5-6.50	3rd	842
Shot Put	35-5.25 (PR)	4th	582
Long Jump	17-6.25	12th	654
800m	2:24.39 (PR)	6th	765
	Final	6th	3,755

The sprinters and distance runners combined to advance 10 entries to Saturday's finals, including Burcham and Eke, who qualified in the mile. Their performances were highlighted by five career bests.

Baileh Simms finished sixth in the long jump with a 20-0.25 in her Big 12 Championship debut.

"We were pleased with everyone's efforts today, maybe not all of the results," said VanHootegem. "We need to do better than that and start qualifying more for the finals. It wasn't a lack of effort and as far as people that got in we're happy with that."

OU Big 12 Championship Prelim/Semi Results- Day 1 ^{_{(in order of events)}}
Event	Athlete	Mark ^{(* - advanced to finals)}
Mile (W)	Abbey Mace	5:07.43
	Sarah Scott	5:01.23
	Belle Wallace	4:46.44 (PR)*
Mile (M)	Jacob Burcham	4:09.29*
	Allen Eke	4:15.33*
60mH (W)	Olivia Haggerty	8.64
	CeCe Jackson	8.93
60m (W)	Bianca Brazil	7.65
	Leya Buchanan	7.61
	Ama Pipi	7.55
60m (M)	Trae Armstrong	6.79*
	Mike Wells	6.93
	Bennie Wesley	6.88
600y (W)	Daunicia Demerson	1:22.78*
600y (M)	Blake Yount	1:11.67
400m (W)	Payton Baker	56.93
	Daye Shon Roberson	54.21*
1,000m (W)	Kelsey McKee	2:52.46 (PR)*
1,000m (M)	Liam Meirow	2:28.99 (PR)
	Zac Randall	2:31.21
800m (M)	Jacob Goldberg	1:51.51 (PR)*
200m (W)	Leya Buchanan	24.32
	Ama Pipi	23.90 (PR)*
	Mia Mukes	24.46
	Daye Shon Roberson	23.32*
200m (M)	Trae Armstrong	21.90
	Mike Wells	DNF
	Bennie Wesley	21.91

The field events produced several top-eight performances on Friday, with the majority of the scores coming from the weight-throw corps. Julia Reedy (63-9.00), Sarah Tolson (63-4.00) and Jess Woodard (61-0.25) placed fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively to register 10 points for the women's team. Reedy and Woodard tagged a pair of PRs on the day along with Ashley Bryant (58-6.75) and Chamaya Turner (57-0.75), who competed for the first time in the event at the conference championships.

Charles Nguyen added six of his own for the men in a third-place effort. His 62-04.50 was his second-best mark of the season.

In her first conference outing, pole vaulter Mackenzie Shell tied Laura Taylor of Kansas for sixth to score 2.5 points. Her 13-0.75 clearance is shy of her career and season best 14-0.25 that ranked 17th on the NCAA list heading into the weekend.

Hard work has paid off for Charles Nguyen who finished third in the weight throw at the Big 12 Championship.

Greg Vann recorded a career best in his Big 12 debut with a 24-7.25 in the long jump to add six points to the men's score after finishing third.

"Our field event members know that they have to come in and set the tone," the third year head coach said. "They give us our start as far as the points go. As far as Greg goes, that's a terrific finish for a freshman and he came out ready to compete.

"With Charles you can see a competitive difference with him and that has gotten him into the medaling place, which he deserves," he continued. "It has always been an all-around effort from our field events on both sides and it's no surprise, but it's still great to continue to contend."

OU Field Events Results- Day 1 ^{_{(in order of events)}}
Event	Athlete	Mark	Place
Weight Throw (W)	Ashley Bryant	58-6.75 (PR)	9th
	Julia Reedy	63-9.00 (PR)	4th
	Sarah Tolson	63-4.00	6th
	Chamaya Turner	57-0.75 (PR)	10th
	Jessica Woodard	61-0.25 (PR)	7th
Pole Vault (W)	Mackenzie Shell	13-0.75	6th
Long Jump (M)	Thomas Cheval	22-9.25	13th
	Greg Vann	24-7.25 (PR)	3rd
Weight Throw (M)	Charles Nguyen	62-4.50	3rd
Pole Vault (M)	Tanner Williams	16-6.50	10th
Long Jump (W)	Baileh Simms	20-00.25	7th

The Sooner men are currently sixth in team scoring with 22.5 points behind Texas Tech (43), Texas (41), K-State (29), Kansas (28.5) and Iowa State (28). The OU women trail in fourth with 25 points behind OSU (37), K-State (35) and Texas (34.5).

Field events resume on Saturday at noon with the women's high jump and men's triple jump. The triple jump will feature four OU entries. Running events begin at 1:30 p.m., with OU's first competition to start at 2 p.m. with the men's 60.

Live streaming will be available at FloSports Live Stream and live results can be found at DeltaTiming.com. A full recap of day two of the Big 12 Championship will be available after the conclusion of the meet on SoonerSports.com.