Sooners Sweep 3K Steeple, Post Meet Records

Saturday, April 9

Baton Rouge, La.

10:00 AM

University of Oklahoma

SEC vs. Big 12

Sooners Sweep 3K Steeple, Post Meet Records

April 09, 2016 | Track and Field

By: Akilah Laster

BATON ROUGE, La. - Behind 13 career marks, multiple victories and meet records, the Oklahoma Sooners fared well in a rare trip to Baton Rouge, La., Saturday.

The sixth annual Battle on the Bayou officially began its second day with Dylan Blankenbaker and Sarah Scott winning the men's and women's 3,000-meter steeplechase by wide margins.

Scott broke Oklahoma's program record, posting a 10:31.24, which was more than 13 seconds faster than Kansas State's second-place finisher, Kayla Doll (10:44.28). OU's previous record was established in 2011 by Annie Martin (10:31.39).

Scott, in her first career steeplechase, ran patiently and held a top-three spot for the duration of the race. As the lap count decreased, Scott picked up speed to move into second. She edged ahead in the final 800 meters where she passed Doll as the two hurdled into the water pit with a couple of laps remaining.

Blankenbaker's 9:00.76 was nearly 20 seconds faster than runner-up Colton Donahue from K-State, who finished with a 9:20.59. The OU junior, who returns as a conference scorer in the steeple, led from the beginning of the race and gradually pulled away as the 7.5-lap contest progressed.

"With Sarah coming out with a dominating performance like that and really take control of the race was very impressive," said head coach Jim VanHootegem. "In the first steeplechase of her life, she came out and broke the school record. You can't ask for anything better than that.

"Dylan was solid in his first steeple of the season and it was a good way to establish himself for the remainder of the year," he added.

Will Hogston won his first collegiate meet title the 5000-meter race with a 14:38.56.

Those early performances established a competitive tone for the Sooners as Avione Allgood and Will Hogston walked away with meet records in the javelin and 5,000-meter run, respectively, later in day.

Hogston grabbed his first collegiate meet title with a 14:36.11 time, one week after posting a PR performance (14:30.80) at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. Teammate Eric Alldritt trailed in second with a PR 14:38.56.

Allgood posted a 175-0.00 to nab her first meet title of the season. She had finished in second a week earlier at the Texas Relays.

"Will and Eric worked together and separated from the pack early on," VanHootegem said. "They took turns setting the pace and then Will took it from there.

"Avione has remained consistent coming back after being off during the 2015 outdoor season and we are happy with what we're seeing from her," the third-year head coach continued. "It's a good thing when we come back next year and people read in the program that a couple of the meet records belong to Oklahoma."

The two-day meet matched conference against conference with schools from the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences represented.

On the women's side all seven teams ranked in the top 35 on the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Computer Rankings. The No. 14-ranked Sooners were paired with No. 10 Kansas State to combine for a second-place finish (145 points) against the SEC's No. 27 Alabama, No. 11 Mississippi State and host and third-ranked LSU (165 points) and the Big Ten's No. 28 Ohio State and No. 34-ranked Purdue (95 points). The top-two finishers from each conference earned points in the unique scoring meet.

For the Sooner women, the day was also highlighted by wins in the 400-meter dash and pole vault.

Daye Shon Roberson powered through her 400-meter race to take the Battle in the Bayou meet title with a 52.24 time.

Daye Shon Roberson added seven points to the conference's score after posting a 52.24 to take the 400. Her performance moved her to fifth on the NCAA qualifying list. Roberson, along with teammates Bianca Brazil, Ama Pipi and Leya Buchanan, also ran a season-best 44.38 in the 400-meter relay to tally four more points for the Big 12 women.

Payton Baker (54.88) also scored a point on an eighth-place finish in the 400.

Mackenzie Shell earned her second meet title of the outdoor season, clearing a 13-8.25. It was the first time after three competitions that she did not clear her career-best mark of 14-1.25.

In her first runner-up finish of the season, Julia Reedy added five points of her own, recording a 211-11.00 in the hammer throw. Sarah Tolson finished third on a 192-1.00 performance.

In addition to Alldritt's PR, Sooners Allen Eke and Greg Vann posted their best marks in the 800 meter and long jump, respectively. Eke finished fourth, scoring as many points for the Big 12 men, with a time of 1:49.57, while Vann placed sixth to tally three points on a 24-2.25 effort.

In the men's division, the Big 12 finished second with OU and K-State combining for 122 points to edge the Big Ten's No. 15-OSU and Purdue duo (120) by two points. The SEC trio of No. 5-LSU, No. 8-Alabama and No. 24-Mississippi State swept the meet totaling 164 points.

The OU teams finished Saturday with 29 entries scoring and 13 career marks.

"We came here to face the types of teams we want to compete against," VanHootegem said. "We matched energy levels and brought our own energy as well. We talked about our goals for the meet and were able to go out and do that, so you have to be pleased."

The Sooners will take a break from competition next weekend, then return to action on April 22-23 at the John Jacobs Invitational, the lone home meet of the season.

OU Results
Event	Athlete	Mark	Place, Points
Long Jump (W)	Hailey Patterson	18-4.25 (PR)	15th
	Baileh Simms	20-6.50	3rd, 4
Long Jump (M)	Greg Vann	24-2.25 (PR)	6th, 3
200m (W)	Leya Buchanan	23.67 (PR)	10th
	Hailey Patterson	25.28	27th
	Ama Pipi	23.50 (PR)	7th, 2
	Brianna Rodriguez	25.47	30th
	Baileh Simms	25.66 (PR)	32nd
Pole Vault (W)	Meagan Gray	NH	--
	Mackenzie Shell	13-8.25	1st, 7
Discus (M)	Chase Sammons	162-1.00	11th
Shot Put (W)	Jess Woodard	53-6.25	2nd, 5
Triple Jump (W)	Nay Strickland	39-2.25 (PR)	7th
4x100m (W)	Brazil, Pipi, Roberson, Buchanan	44.38 (PR)	5th
1500m (W)	Lane Maguire	4:40.36 (PR)	17th, 2
	Jessica Martin	4:46.01	18th, 1
1500m (M)	Zach Gentry	4:00.90	10th, 1
100mH (W)	Olivia Haggerty	13.54 (PR)	5th, 4
100m (W)	Bianca Brazil	11.94	15th
	Leya Buchanan	11.56 (PR)	6th, 2
	Ama Pipi	11.59 (PR)	9th
100m (M)	Trae Armstrong	10.47	5th, 3
	Tyrone Glenn	10.85	14th
Discus (W)	Jenny Carmichael	153-11.00	8th
	Kate Foster	169-0.00	2nd
	Jess Woodard	168-10.00	3rd
High Jump (M)	Shonderius Howard	NH	--
	Carl Williams	6-10.25	T3, 3.5
Triple Jump (M)	Marcus Mitchell	46-5.50	3rd, 4
400m (W)	Payton Baker	54.88	8th, 1
	Daye Shon Roberson	52.24	1st, 7
800m (W)	Belle Wallace	2:10.87	10th, 1
	Kelsey McKee	2:12.55	14th
200m (M)	Trae Armstrong	21.11	4th, 3
	Greg Vann	22.17	21st
5000m (M)	Eric Alldritt	14:38.56 (PR)	2nd, 5
	Will Hogston	14:36.11	1st, 7
800m (M)	Allen Eke	1:49.57 (PR)	4th, 4
	Jacob Goldberg	1:50.75	8th
	Blake Yount	1:50.88	9th
Pole Vault (M)	Tanner Williams	16-8.00	2nd, 5
High Jump (W)	Makayla Stephens	5-3.00	12th
Hammer (W)	Ashley Bryant	FOUL	--
	Julia Reedy	211-11.00	2nd, 5
	Sarah Tolson	192-1.00	3rd
3K Steeple (W)	Sarah Scott	10:31.24 (OU Record)	1st, 7
3K Steeple (M)	Dylan Blankenbaker	9:00.76	1st, 7
Javelin (W)	Avione Allgood	175-0.00	1st, 7
	Liz Herrs	170-11.00	2nd, 5
Shot Put (M)	Chase Sammons	58-7.50	8th, 1
Hammer (M)	Charles Nguyen	189-11.00	11th, 1
Javelin (M)	T.J. Noonan	190-5.00	9th
	Tyler Renton	218-7.00	4th, 3
	Garrett Snow	213-1.00	5th
4x400 Relay (W)	Mukes, Stephens, McKee, Wallace	3:58.05	11th
4x400 Relay (M)	Goldberg, Yount, Eke, Glenn	3:25.48	12th