OU Men Lead Big 12s on Day One, Women 2nd

Friday, May 13

Fort Worth, Texas

9:00 AM

University of Oklahoma

Big 12 Outdoor Championships

OU Men Lead Big 12s on Day One, Women 2nd

May 13, 2016 | Track and Field

By: Akilah Laster

FORT WORTH, Texas - It's as easy as one, two, three.

Oklahoma's javelin trio proved that as they swept through Big 12 competition taking the top-three spots on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.

Senior Tyler Renton recorded his first Big 12 title in his final conference appearance on a 236-9.50 performance while senior Garrett Snow, last year's champion, followed as the runner-up (220-2.00) and T.J. Noonan (198-7.00) finished third.

The threesome accounted for 24 of the 41 points credited to the men's team score. That fave OU the lead heading into Saturday, ahead of Kansas (33) by eight points.

The Sooner women are second in team competition heading into day two with 20 points, a large part due to the efforts of another throwing threesome. OU trails Kansas (21) by one point.

T.J. Noonan completes the sweep for OU finishing third behind teammates Garrett Snow (second) and the Big 12 javelin champion, Tyler Renton.

"The throws have to be contested before the running events and they have to be the ones that come and set the tone," said head coach Jim VanHootegem. "I think they take pride in coming out and setting the tone for the team. T.J. Noonan stepped it up, although he's been a scorer for us, but to help get the one, two, three sweep in the javelin is very impressive."

Julia Reedy (203-2.00), Ashley Bryant (200-9.00) and Sarah Tolson (194-7.00) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, to open the day for OU in the hammer throw and earn 15 points for the Sooner.

The coaches were particularly impressed with Bryant who recorded three PRs in her first outdoor conference appearance.

"One strong performance that comes to mind is Ashley Bryant," said VanHootegem. " She had three of six attempts that were over her lifetime best. It's that type of performance that shows someone is ready for the Big 12s. Others didn't necessarily have their best day, but they came and secured the points."

Ashley Bryant recorded three PRs in her Big 12 Outdoor debut to finish fourth.

Both the men's and women's 10K also added significant points to the respective team scores behind the efforts of Dan Schubert, Eric Alldritt, Brittany Tretbar and Elena Arriaza.
Schubert (30:20.24) and Alldritt (30:27.02) combined for 11 points after finishing third and fourth, respectively, while Tretbar (35:36.99) and Arriaza (35:55.68) finished fifth and eighth to combine for five points.

"It was fantastic to see Dan and Eric step up to go three-four in the 10K," the head coach said. "Everyone is coming out to score or putting themselves in a good position."

Tanner Williams finished seventh in the pole vault earning two points after clearing 17-0.75, just shy of his PR 17-1.00. Everette Favor (16-6.75) finished ninth.

The day was also highlighted by combined event competition as heptathlete Makayla Stephens and decathlete Steven Jazdyk both recorded a pair of PRs. Stephens recorded bests in the 100-meter hurdles (14.02, 976 points), finishing first, and shot put (38-4.75, 641 points). She heads into Saturday in second place with 3,219 points, 87 points behind Texas Tech's Natalie Thompson. The sophomore captain earned 783 points (5-4.50) in the high jump and 819 points in the 200 (25.75) to close the day. Stephens opens Saturday at 10 a.m. in the long jump.

Makayla Stephens heads into Saturday in second place in the heptathlon.

"She had a great first day, but it's all about closing it tomorrow," VanHootegem said. "The nature of the combined events is the first day shows your talent and the second day shows if you're a real heptathlete or decathlete. Sitting in second is great for a first day and she gave a strong effort in all of her events. She stepped up today."

Jazdyk won the 100-meter dash to open the day with a 10.81 PR and also posted a best in the shot put (38-2.25) before retiring from competition due to injury.

Saturday will also be a day of running prelims and more field event finals.The Sooners expect to pick up additional points from the field entries with the women's and men's shot put and long jump, and women's pole vault.

The women's shot put begins at 4 p.m. and will feature Avione Allgood and Jess Woodard, both indoor conference scorers - sixth and seventh, respectively. Woodard is coming off an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championship that earned her first-team All-America honors in the same event. Chase Sammons finished third in conference a season ago and is hoping to climb the podium in his final appearance at the Big 12 meet. The men's division is slated for a 6 p.m. start.

While Sammons is celebrating his finale, pole vaulters Mackenzie Shell and Meagan Gray are making their Big 12 outdoor debuts. Shell, OU's program-record holder, heads into competition ranked second with a mark of 14-5.50, earned at the John Jacobs Invitational at the end of April.

Also making their first appearances in Big 12 outdoors are Baileh Simms and Greg Vann, who will compete in the women's and men's long jump, respectively. Both competitions will open at 5 p.m. Simms' 20-6.50 mark ranks fourth in the Big 12, while Vann's 24-7.25 PR is the sixth best in the conference.

Dan Schubert finished third in the 10K to close the day for the Sooners.

For the running events, it is all about advancing to Sunday's finals. Events on the track begin at 5:30 p.m. with the 1,500-meter run prelims that feature Kelsey McKee and Belle Wallace. McKee is coming off of a 4:22.15 PR performance at the Payton Jordan Invitational on May 1 and looks to keep that momentum going. Jacob Burcham and Allen Eke will run in the men's section of the race following the women's competition.

OU's sprint corps will have a busy evening with the women's 110-meter hurdles opening at 6:10 p.m. and the men's 200-meter dash, the final event of the night scheduled for an 8:55 p.m. start. The Sooners will have nearly a dozen entries competing within that timeframe, beginning with Olivia Haggerty and CeCe Jackson in the hurdles.

The largest group for the Sooners will be in the women's 400-meter race with Payton Baker, Daunicia Demerson, Mia Mukes and Daye Shon Roberson scheduled to run at 6:25 p.m. Roberson heads into competition ranked second in the conference and fifth in the NCAA West Region. Roberson is also the conference leader in the 200 with a time of 22.65. The women's 200 is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. and will also feature Sooners Leya Buchanan and Ama Pipi, who's 23.50 is the eighth best in the Big 12.

Also pulling double duty is Trae Armstrong, who will run in the men's 100-meter at 7:10 p.m. with Bennie Wesley and then close the day for the Sooners in the 200.

"We are just thrilled with our team today and looking forward to tomorrow with more finals and move into qualifying," VanHootegem said.

Live results are available at Delta Timing, while the running events on Sunday, May 15 will also be streamed live on Fox Sports Go. A full recap will be available at the conclusion of action each day on SoonerSports.com.