Renton Tops OU Program Mark by Large Margin

Saturday, March 19

Tempe, Ariz.

10:00 AM

University of Oklahoma

Baldy Castillo Invitational

Renton Tops OU Program Mark by Large Margin

March 19, 2016 | Track and Field

By: Akilah Laster

TEMPE, Ariz. - Hot temperatures can make for hot performances, and it was 90 degrees on Saturday.

In the blazing Tempe, Ariz., heat, Tyler Renton demolished Oklahoma's javelin record by nearly 15 feet on his second attempt of the day at the Baldy Castillo Invitational.

Renton's 252-2.00 effort was enough to finish the meet in second without participating in the finals. The previous record, 241-6.00, was held by teammate Garrett Snow, who finished the day in seventh with a mark of 229-10.00.

Renton ended the 2015 season as an NCAA regional qualifier and his previous best of 229-6.00 ranked second on the program list.

"It's almost unheard of to break a school record by the distance he did at a school like OU," said head coach Jim VanHootegem. "Coach (Bryan) Blu(Blutreich) says that Tyler has been due for this kind of performance. I'm kind of speechless about a senior PRing by so much. What a great start."

T.J. Noonan and Steven Jazdyk finished 12th and 15th, respectively

Renton's win helped the Sooners to a fifth-place finish in the collegiate standings with 59 points. The Sooner women finished third with 104 points. Collegiate scoring was determined by deleting all club and unattached athletes, adjusting the finishes and assigning traditional meet points.

Freshman Mackenzie Shell, OU's indoor pole vault record holder (14-1.25), challenged the outdoor program record on Saturday. In her outdoor debut, Shell fell short of the 14-3.25 program record, ultimately clearing 14-1.25 to land second on OU's all-time list and take the meet title.

OU Field Events Results- Day 2
Event	Athlete	Mark	Place
Discus (W)	Jenny Carmichael	155-5.00 (PR)	11th
	Kate Foster	164-2.00	7th
	Jess Woodard	165-01.00	6th
Discus (M)	Chase Sammons	180-10.00	4th
Long Jump (W)	Brianna Rodriguez	18-5.75	10th
	Baileh Simms	20-2.25	2nd
Long Jump (M)	Josh Foster	20-2.25	18th
	Greg Vann	23-6.25	7th
High Jump (M)	Shonderius Howard	6-9.75 (PR)	8th
	Carl Williams	6-11.75	T-2nd
Pole Vault (W)	Sydney King	12-1.50	10th
	Mackenzie Shell	14-1.25 (PR)	1st
Pole Vault (M)	Tanner Williams	17-0.75 (PR)	3rd
Javelin (W)	Avione Allgood	182-8.00	2nd
	Liz Herrs	174-0.00	3rd
	Makayla Stephens	106-9.00	20th
Javelin (M)	Steven Jazdyk	164-7.00	15th
	T.J. Noonan	192-9.00	12th
	Tyler Renton	252-2.00 (PR)	2nd
	Garrett Snow	229-10.00	7th
Triple Jump (W)	Nay Strickland	38-7.75	3rd
Triple Jump (M)	Marcus Mitchell	47-9.00	4th

Prior to Shell's performance Saturday, the next closest mark to the record was 13-8.50. OU's program mark has been untouched since 2012 when All-American Alexandra Acker cleared it at the national meet to finish fifth.

Despite being nervous, Shell proved to be a clutch performer after she cleared 13-9.25 on her third and final attempt at that height. That last ditch effort advanced her to her best mark of the day, which she soared over on the second attempt. The Port Huron, Mich., native then fell short at 14-5.2 5.

"The biggest thing is her consistency," VanHootegem said. "Not every single meet is about a PR, but obviously she managed to match her indoor best. She certainly pursued that school record and to come out and win the competition is great."

The day was also highlighted by personal-best performances in the sprints group that recorded - PRs. Daye Shon Roberson posted an 11.49 in the 100-meter dash, the top time for the Sooner women in the event, to finish fourth and become 10th on OU's all-time list. The 100 also saw top personal performances for Ama Pipi (11.73) and Trae Armstrong (10.35), who finished fourth in the men's division.

The 200-meter races ended with three additional Sooners recording new bests. Daunicia Demerson ran a 24.29 and Mia Mukes ran a 24.45 to finish 15th and 18th, respectively. Payton Baker set lows in the 200-and 400-meter dashes, clocking a 24.77 and 54.76, respectively. She finished second overall in the 400.

"Anybody that can come out and set a PR understands that it's the ultimate judge of how they're doing," the head coach said. "Payton, specifically, continues to be a model for the program. What everybody sees is her competitive spirit; there's nothing better someone can have than the respect of teammates and she has the respect of the team."

OU Running Events Results- Day 2
Event	Athlete	Mark	Place
100m Hurdles (W)	CeCe Jackson	14.29	5th
	Makayla Stephens	14.36	6th
110m Hurdles (M)	Steven Jazdyk	16.11	20th
4x100 Relay (W)	Brazil, Pipi, Roberson, Buchanan	44.62	2nd
4x100 Relay (M)	Jazdyk, Wesley, Armstrong, Vann	40.51	6th
400m (W)	Payton Baker	54.76 (PR)	2nd
400m (M)	Jacob Goldberg	48.79	11th
100m (W)	Bianca Brazil	11.95	12th
	Ama Pipi	11.73 (PR)	8th
	Daye Shon Roberson	11.49 (PR)	4th
	Baileh Simms	12.02	14th
100m (M)	Trae Armstrong	10.35 (PR)	4th
	Bennie Wesley	10.52	9th
200m (W)	Payton Baker	24.77 (PR)	26th
	Leya Buchanan	24.54	19th
	Daunicia Demerson	24.29 (PR)	15th
	Mia Mukes	24.45 (PR)	18th
	Makayla Stephens	25.77	38th
	Nay Strickland	25.73	37th
200m (M)	Bennie Wesley	21.54	15th
4x400 Relay (W)	Pipi, Roberson, Demerson, Mukes	3:38.49	2nd

The field events also produced additional PRs including Shonderius Howard (6-9.75) in the high jump, Jenny Carmichael (155-5.00) in the discus and Tanner Williams (17-0.75) in the pole vault.

While Baileh Simms did not achieve a personal best, she led for the majority of the long jump competition to finish second and become seventh on OU's all-time list.

"We came away from the meet pretty healthy and had a good week of training," he said. "Now it's time to get back to real life, school and competing week in and week out. We'll have a lot of opportunities coming up."

Spring break is over, but outdoor competition is just beginning for the Sooners as they head to Arlington, Texas, on Saturday for the Bobby Lane Invitational.