Oklahoma T&F: By the Numbers

April 03, 2017 | Track and Field

By: Athletics Communications

NORMAN The University of Oklahoma women's track and field team ranks as the No. 22 team in the country, as announced by the USTFCCCA (United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) on Monday afternoon.

That ranking is due in part to the achievements that the women have produced in the first three weeks of outdoor competition, amassing an impressive amount of top-ranking results. Selected results from last year's team are also considered for the ranking. Prior to today, the last rankings that came out were the USTFCCCA Preseason Team Rankings two weeks ago on March 20.

Also released on Monday were the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Regional rankings. Regionally, the women own the top spot in the Midwest, while the men rank third.

In total, the Sooners have 25 athletes (15 of whom are female student-athletes) and three women's relay teams throughout 19 events that are ranked in the top-20 of the NCAA Div. I West Outdoor Qualifying list, according to the latest TRFFS data. Three of those results are also the best in the Big 12 Conference. The top 48 athletes per event and top 24 relay teams advance to the west preliminary, while the top 24 multi-event athletes advance straight to Eugene.

Making these standings all the more noteworthy is that several of the student-athletes are represented in the rankings in multiple events. Trae Armstrong is eighth in the 100-meter dash with 10.39, run at Baldy Castillo Invitational and 19^th in the 200-meter dash with 21.04, also from the Baldy Castillo Invitational. Hayden McClain is sixth in the triple jump with 51-11 from this past weekend's Texas Relays and eighth in the long jump with a mark of 25-0.5, achieved at Baldy Castillo.

Jess Woodard has produced a top-20 mark in both the discus (16^th, 173-4, Bobby Lane) and the shot put (13^th, 51-5.75, Texas Relays). Ama Pipi has the second-best time in the 400-meter dash with 52.96 from Bobby Lane, but has also been a part of the relay teams that have produced the 10^th-best and 15^th-best 4x400-meter relay times in the West division, and the 12^th-ranked in the 4x100-meter dash. Likewise, Leya Buchanan is eighth in the 100-meter dash with 11.41, run at Bobby Lane Invitational, but is also a member of the 4x100-meter relay team that ran the 12^th-fastest time. Mia Mukes is 20^th in the 400-meter hurdles with her 1:00.06 at the Bobby Lane Invitational, and she is a member of the 4x400-meter relay. Daye Shon Roberson, Payton Baker, and Daunicia Demerson are all part of several relay teams that place within the top-20 in the west region.

There are also several events in which multiple OU competitors are ranked within the top-20. Pipi, Mukes, Demerson and Baker, are 10^th with their 3:35.51 time from the Texas Relays, but Pipi, Roberson, Demerson, Baker, also hold the 15^th spot with 3:37.48 from the Baldy Castillo. Medinah Spencer sits at 19^th in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.03), run at the Baldy Castillo Invitational, with Mukes behind her in 20^th. The Sooners have three of the top-20 results in the pole vault with Everette Favor (tied for 12^th, 17-0.75, Baldy Castillo), Meagan Gray (tied for 14^th, 13-7.75, Texas Relays), and Kenzie Shell (17^th, 13-5.25, Baldy Castillo). The long jump includes several Sooners in addition to McClain. Greg Vann's mark of 24-5.75 at the Baldy Castillo places him 17^th,and, on the women's side, Baileh Simms is tied for fifth with her 20-5.25 at the Texas Relays. Sitting behind Woodard in the shot put is Meia Gordon at the 14^th spot, with 51-1.5, produced this past weekend at the Texas Relays. In the hammer throw, Charles Nguyen is 20^th on the men's side with his mark of 202-6 (Bobby Lane Invitational), and Ashley Bryant is 10^th on the women's side with her showing at the Baldy Castillo of 200-7.

The Stanford Invitational this past Friday pushed Dylan Blankenbaker and Isabella Rose into the top 20. Blankenbaker has the ninth-best time in the 5,000-meter with 13:56.45, and Rose is 17^th in the 10,000-meter run with her result of 34:31.43.

In addition, the Texas Relays proved to be a productive for Dean White in the high jump, Olivia Haggerty in the 100-meter hurdles and Makayla Stephens in the heptathlon. White's clearance of 7-0.50 tied him for 11^th. Haggerty ran a 13.39 in the preliminary round of the 100-meter hurdles, which qualified as the 13^th-fastest time. The 5,052 points that Stephens earned put her tied for 17^th in the heptathlon.

Rounding out the list of top marks for the Sooners are Gabby Kearney, 10th in the javelin with her season-opening mark of 166-7, and Grayson Haws, who is 14^th in 800-meter run with 1:49.79, Those both came from the Baldy Castillo Invitational. The 4x100-meter relay team of Bianca Brazil, Pipi, Roberson, and Buchanan are 12^th with their time of 44.35 at the Bobby Lane Invitational.

Within the Big 12 Conference, Pipi's 400-meter time, Simms' long jump mark and Blankenbaker's 5,000-meter result all qualify as the top mark among all competitors.

The Sooners will be in action again this Saturday as they head to Los Angeles, Calif., and the campus of UCLA to compete in the Rafer Johnson/ Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational.