Relay the Message! OU Sends 13 to NCAAs

Saturday, May 28

Lawrence, Kan.

12:00 PM

University of Oklahoma

NCAA West Preliminary Round

Relay the Message! OU Sends 13 to NCAAs

May 28, 2016 | Track and Field

By: Akilah Laster

LAWRENCE, Kan. - On the sunniest day at the NCAA West Prelims in Lawrence, Kan., Oklahoma's track and field women's relays highlighted the final day of action.

OU's 4x100 and 4x400 squads will make consecutive trips to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 8-11 adding five more to the Sooners' travel party. The teams finished the weekend with 13 national qualifiers with 11 scoring opportunities across 10 events, an improvement from 11 competitors in 2015.

Daye Shon Roberson and Leya Buchanan

Leya Buchanan (in front) and Daye Shon Roberson are making a second trip to the NCAA Outdoor in the 400- and 1,600-meter relays. Roberson also will run in the 400.

The 4x100 relay, featuring Bianca Brazil, Ama Pipi, Daye Shon Roberson and Leya Buchanan, ran a 44.68 to advance with the ninth best time of the day.

The Sooners 4x100 relay will move on to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 8-11.

Pipi, Roberson, Daunicia Demerson and Payton Baker make up the 4x400 group that finished 12th with a time of 3:35.36. Mia Mukes, who was a part of the Big 12 champion 4x400 quartet, will travel as an alternate.

"The relays are a big part of our program and are really key for us," head coach Jim VanHootegem said. "For the group that moved on, they all did what they needed to do. We also saw a few like Trae Armstrong and Olivia Haggerty that, even though they didn't advance, were definitely at their best. You can never be upset with that."

Pipi also earned her first NCAA berth in an individual event, advancing in the 200 on Saturday. Her PR, a 23.20 recorded today, is sixth on OU's all-time list.

Roberson also qualified individually in the 400 for the second year in a row on Friday.

Junior Trae Armstrong also ran a PR in the 200 on Saturday, but his time of 20.85 was not enough to advance.

Jess Woodard finished the weekend with another NCAA invite. She advanced in the shot put, recording a 55-7.00 to finish fifth overall. The sophomore was a first-team All-American in the shot put during the 2016 indoor season.

Jess Woodard will make consecutive trips to the national championship, this year in the shot put. She competed in discus a season ago.

Woodard also qualified a season ago in the discus, but fell short this season. She was scheduled to compete on Friday night in the event, but it was rescheduled to Saturday morning due to inclement weather.

Kate Foster (169-8.00) concluded her collegiate career with a 16th-place finish in the discus. Her career best, 170-7.50, is seventh all-time at OU.

Thrower Chase Sammons also completed his OU career after finishing 15th (181-10.00) in the discus and 27th (58-4.00) in the shot put. He leaves with the third-best discus mark (63-8.25) and the fifth-best shot put mark (186-10.00) in school history.

"The seniors will be missed and are always welcomed back to OU," VanHootegem said. "They were a special group and a big part of establishing what we're trying to do here."

The travel party has gotten bigger and so have the teams' goals. Last season, the Sooners returned to Norman with three first-team All-Americans. This season they expect to collect a few more.

For more information on OU track and field, follow the teams on Twitter @OU_Track, like the OUTrack and XC page on Facebook and check out SoonerSports.com.