Sooners Look for Strong Marks at Stanford

April 30, 2016 | Track and Field

By: Akilah Laster

NORMAN - Oklahoma track and field teams are headed west for the weekend in hopes of improving times and marks before heading into the championship season.

Nearly 50 OU entries are ready for the 21st Payton Jordan Invitational, a premier site for competitive distance races and qualifying Olympic marks in Stanford, Calif. Action begins on Sunday, May 1, at 1 p.m. (CT) with the men's javelin, women's hammer throw and section four of the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Events continue through the day with the men's 5,000 meter, the final event for the Sooners, slated for an 8:30 p.m. start.

At last year's meet, two world-leading marks, seven U.S.-leading marks, nine collegiate-leading marks and three national records were set.

That is good news for the Sooners who currently have 22 student-athletes on the roster with NCAA-qualifying marks. OU is looking to keep the momentum going after sweeping its lone home meet a week ago, accumulating multiple personal best and a record-setting performance.

"We are excited to head to Stanford, Calif., for several reasons, one is that Stanford is a team we respect and we want to compete against them on their home track," said head coach Jim VanHootegem. "It is also a great honor to compete in a meet named after Payton Jordan who made a significant contribution to our sport including being the head coach of perhaps the greatest US Olympic track and field team ever at the 1968 Olympics."

Sunday will be the second time some of the Sooners have competed at Cobb Track and Angell Field this season. Several OU distance runners produced stellar results at the Stanford Invitational at the beginning of April. Of the several PR marks set by OU's entries, the trio of Dan Schubert, Brittany Tretbar and Dylan Blankenbaker, still hold a top-48 spot on the NCAA qualifying list.

Schubert, currently with the highest position among Sooner distance runners, ranks 16th in the 10,000-meter run with a 29:06.90. He will finish the day for OU in his first collegiate outdoor 5,000, running in section four. Junior Blankenbaker, currently 48th in the 5,000 (13:58.97), will race in section three of the steeplechase - he won the event at the Battle on the Bayou on April 9. Liam Meirow will compete in the opening section of the steeple, his second of the season as well.

Tretbar is the lone distance runner for the women's team with a national qualifying mark as she ranks 47th (34:24.21) in the 10,000, although teammate Elena Arriaza is on the bubble, ranked 49th (34:25.15) in the same event. The duo will compete in section four of the 5,000at 8:10 p.m. Sunday.

In addition to the distance runners, OU has entries in 15 field events throughout the day. OU's men's javelin trio, Tyler Renton, Garrett Snow and T.J. Noonan, and women's hammer throw threesome, Julia Reedy, Sarah Tolson and Ashley Bryant, open the day for the Sooners. The hammer throw remains the strongest event for Oklahoma with all three entries posting NCAA qualifying marks.

Both the men and women's pole vault competition should be noteworthy events as well for the Sooners with seventh-ranked and OU program-record holder, Mackenzie Shell (14-5.50), competing along with teammate Meagan Gray. In the men's division, Tanner Williams is looking to improve his 39th-ranked mark of 17-1.00 and is also aiming for a spot in the program's record books. Junior Everette Favor hopes to continue his momentum from the John Jacobs home meet. It marked his season debut and he cleared multiple heights for the first time since last season.

Sprints open at 1:14 p.m. and will feature two OU women's 4x100-meter relays. The Sooners' 25th-ranked foursome, Bianca Brazil, Ama Pipi, Daye Shon Roberson and Leya Buchanan, are looking to improve on their season-best 44.38 time to move back into national qualifying ranks. The top 24 relays advance to the NCAA Championship. The other 4x1 quartet includes Hailey Patterson, Baileh Simms, Mia Mukes and Brianna Rodriguez. Rodriguez and Patterson will also compete in the long jump at 2 p.m.

Trae Armstrong and Bennie Wesley will represent OU in the men's 100-and the 200-meter dashes. They will be joined in the 100 by long jumper Greg Vann. Armstrong's 100 time of 10.35 is currently 38th in the NCAA.

The meet is the final competition for the Sooners before the Big 12 Championship begins on May 13 in Fort Worth, Texas.

"For our team, this is our last chance to fine-tune some things in a regular season competition prior to the upcoming Big 12's and NCAA's and so we look to maximize it against the best in the nation in preparation for the championship meets," VanHootegem said.

Live results of the Payton Jordan Invite are available at Record Timing, while a webcast is available for paid subscribers on FloTrack. A full recap will be posted after the end of competition on SoonerSports.com.