Sooners to Take Nine to NCAAs

NORMAN - What does an 800-percent increase look like? It mirrors the Oklahoma track and field teams' indoor-season success.

The Sooners have declared nine student-athletes for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 10-11 in Birmingham, Ala., improving from one NCAA qualifier a year ago. Additionally, all nine of OU's qualifiers will be making their debut at the national indoor meet.

OU will be represented across a combined seven events in the men's and women's divisions, including one relay. On the women's side, Daye Shon Roberson, Jess Woodard and Mackenzie Shell will compete in the 200-meter dash, shot put and pole vault, respectively.

"To be able to have that many athletes going to nationals it's a big step up for the program," said OU head coach Jim VanHootegem. "It's also nice to have balance between the events and it shows the range and broadness of our program to compete at a high level.

"Some people have some NCAA experience from outdoors, but these are mostly newcomers," he continued. "They just have to understand that they've earned that position and they just need to go and do what got them there. There are little things we need to do better, but certainly there is a lot of growth in a lot of areas and we're continuing to build a foundation. As a whole team we're looking at building for outdoors."

Roberson has had a strong campaign across sprinting events so far in 2016 after holding top-16 positions in the 60, 200, and 400 at various points in the season, but ultimately qualified in the 200 (9th, 23.14).

Woodard went into Big 12 competition ranked 18th but had a big-time performance, recording two personal bests last weekend in Ames, Iowa, that pushed her to 12th on the qualifying list. Her 55-7.00 replaced her previous 54-6.00-career mark as third best in program history.

Sooner pole vault record-holder Shell found herself on the cusp of national eligibility ranked 17th after the Feb. 28 NCAA deadline, but she moved to the 16th spot after one athlete ranked ahead did not declare. She will be the only freshman to compete for OU at the championships.

"Jess has just been on a steady climb the last two years and Daye Shon proved herself at the NCAA level last year in the 400," VanHootegem said of his women qualifiers. "Mackenzie was in a position where she would've been really disappointed had she not gone. But to get in, hopefully she'll take advantage of the opportunity."

On the men's side, the remaining six entries will spread across the distance medley relay, mile, heptathlon and triple jump. OU's quartet of Allen Eke, Trae Armstrong, Jacob Goldberg and Jacob Burcham are set to compete in the DMR and head into competition ranked sixth on the NCAA qualifying chart. The foursome's 9:27.70 tops the Sooners' all-time list and the group is the first to return to the indoor championships in the DMR since 2013.

Burcham, OU's anchor for the DMR, will also compete in the mile in Birmingham. He achieved a rare sub-4:00 minute mile time at the Husky Classic in Seattle, on Feb. 13 to become only the seventh Sooner to cross the threshold and the 466th U.S. male to achieve it. The junior's 3:57.46 time is second best in OU history and ranks 10th on the NCAA chart.

Thomas Cheval and Hayden McClain round it out for OU contenders. Both are coming off their first Big 12 titles in the heptathlon and triple jump, respectively, however, their season qualifying marks came from previous meets. Cheval, who erased a 15-year-old program record, tallied 5,671 points at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., on Jan. 30 to finish the season ranked 15th, while McClain's 52-8.75 recorded at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., on Feb. 13 holds the same ranking.

"Jacob has put himself in a position, with his consistency going all the way back to the cross country season, that he can really do something special at this meet," VanHootegem said. "With Thomas and Hayden, if they can have a good meet they can be in a position to be All-Americans.

"The DMR is coming off of impressive performances and that's a good sign heading into this meet because that event, in particular, will be competitive for us," he added.

Each year since VanHootegem took over the OU program in 2013-14, the Sooners have improved. In his first year, the teams did not have any NCAA indoor qualifiers. Last year, sprinter Hannah Cunliffe qualified in the 60 in 2014-15.

For more information on OU track and field, follow the team on Twitter @OU_Track and like their page on Facebook (OUTrackandXC).

Players Mentioned

Trae Armstrong

Thomas Cheval

Allen Eke

Jacob Goldberg

Hayden McClain

Daye Shon Roberson

Kenzie Shell

Jess Woodard

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University of Oklahoma Athletics