OU Leads Going into Last Day of Big 12s

Saturday, May 14

Fort Worth, Texas

10:00 AM

University of Oklahoma

Big 12 Outdoor Championships

OU Leads Going into Last Day of Big 12s

May 14, 2016 | Track and Field

By: Akilah Laster

FORT WORTH, Texas - It did not rain but the Big 12 Championship medals poured in for the Oklahoma track and field teams on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.

OU's eight entries competing across six event finals on day two walked away wearing conference scoring medals that celebrated multiple top-eight or better finishes.

The success in the finals put both Sooner teams at the top of team scores. The men maintain their first-place position with 54 points, just ahead of K-State (46). The women, who trailed Kansas by one point heading into day two of the meet, now lead with 46.5 points, are also ahead of K-State (37).

"It feels good to be at the top of the leader board going into the last day, obviously we have a lot of work to do," said head coach Jim VanHootegem. "There were great efforts across the boards in the finals where we picked up a lot of points today."

Chase Sammons finished shot put as the Big 12 runner-up, behind Iowa State's Jan Jeuschede. After leading into the final attempt, Sammon's mark of 61-1.25 was surpassed by .75 inches to drop the Sooner senior to second.

Baileh Simms finishes third in the long jump.

Both divisions of the long jump produced points for OU with Baileh Simms finishing third and Greg Vann fourth in their Big 12 outdoor debut. Vann PRed with a 24-11.75 mark.

Freshmen pole vault duo Mackenzie Shell and Meagan Gray brought home medals after finishing third and seventh, respectively. Gray cleared 13-3.50 to demolish her previous best of 12-10.25.

Throwers Jess Woodard (56-9.25) and Avione Allgood (52-8.25) opened the day with third and seventh-place efforts, respectively, in the shot put. The final round proved fruitful as both Sooners produced PRs on their last attempt.

Makayla Stephens also picked up a fifth-place medal at conclusion of her second Big 12 heptathlon.

Jess Woodard throws a PR on her final attempt to seal third at the Big 12 Championship in the shot put.

"We continued to be pleased with the effort of our team," VanHootegem said. "A lot of people are coming out having season bests or are right at their season best and that's what we've talked about all season long."

While some Sooners finished, others were happy to advance to running finals on Sunday.

OU's quartet of 1,500 runners - Jacob Burcham, Allen Eke, Belle Wallace and Kelsey McKee - all qualified for the finals scheduled for 5:20 p.m. (women) and 5:30 p.m. (men) Sunday. Wallace ran a best 4:22.02.

Freshman Blake Yount closed the day for the middle distance runners with a 1:50.32 in the 800 to continue to Sunday's final at 6:55 p.m.

Olivia Haggerty advanced to 100-meter hurdles final with a PR 13.25 and CeCe Jackson (13.78) joined her. Haggerty's time moves her to second all-time at OU.

PRs and final qualifications also highlighted the 100-meter races as Leya Buchanan (11.49) and Ama Pipi (11.55) both advanced along with Trae Armstrong, who matched his 10.35 best to qualify in the men's division. Bianca Brazil also ran a new best 11.84, but did not make the final.

Pipi (23.59), Daye Shon Roberson (22.86) and Armstrong (21.08) will all pull double duty on day three as they progressed to the 200 final.

Trae Armstrong advanced to the 100 and 200 finals on Sunday.

Roberson (53.69) also will compete in the 400 final, where she placed second a season ago.

"It's a long season and people have had opportunities to grow, but now is the time for everyone to come together at the same time," the third-year head coach said. "We qualified very well, much better than we have in the past, so we have a lot of people who have scoring opportunities tomorrow."

In addition to the individual finals on the track, relay finals and the last wave of field events will take place Sunday.

Action opens at 11 a.m. with the Sooner threesome, Woodard, Kate Foster and Jenny Carmichael, contending in the discus. Sammons will compete in the men's division at 1:30 p.m. Woodard (176-5.00) and Foster (170-7.00) rank fifth and eighth in conference, respectively, while Sammons (186-10.00) has the third-best mark in the men's division.

The men's high jump competition at 3:30 p.m. and men's triple jump at 5 p.m. will each feature Sooner trios. OU's Carl Williams, who holds the fifth spot in conference with a 6-11.75, Garrison LeRock and Shonderius Howard will compete in the high jump, with the triple jump to feature conference-leader Hayden McClain and freshmen duo Marcus Mitchell and Vann.

All-Americans Allgood and Liz Herrs will end the day for the field events battling orb out in the javelin at 6 p.m. The two share a pair of conference titles in the event - Herrs won in 2014 and Allgood in 2013.

Belle Wallace ran a  PR 4:22.02 in the 1500 to advance to the final round Friday.

Allgood (182-8.00) is ranked second in the league, while Herrs (174-8.00) follows in third.

Events on the track begin at 4:30 p.m. with the women's 4x100-meter relay featuring Brazil, Pipi, Roberson and Buchanan. The group's 44.38 time is the third best in the conference.

The Sooners also have three entries in the steeplechase - Sarah Scott, Dylan Blankenbaker and Liam Meirow. Scott will race at 4:50 p.m. while the men's division begins at 5:05 p.m.

The three-day meet concludes with the women's and men's 4x400-meter relays. OU's Pipi, Roberson, Demerson and Baker are vying for the title after finishing second a season ago.

"We've brought great energy, now it's about sustaining that energy," VanHootegem said. "Yesterday was a 13-hour day; today we were out here 11 hours. We've had a lot of energy from top to bottom, but we have to be able to do that one more day."

Live results are available at deltatiming.com while the running events on Sunday will be streamed live on Fox Sports Go. A full recap will be available at the conclusion of the meet on SoonerSports.com.