OU Looks to Advance to Eugene at West Prelims

May 24, 2017 | Track and Field

By: Allison Weiss

NORMAN — With the regular season and the Big 12 Championship behind them, the attention of the qualifiers from the University of Oklahoma track and field teams turns to the NCAA West preliminary round in Austin, Texas, scheduled for May 25-27.

Held at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas, the three-day competition will feature 34 Sooner entries, including two relay teams.

The top 48 athletes and 24 relay teams have qualified for the preliminary rounds. The ultimate goal now is to be among the top 12 in their event or to be among the top 12 relay teams at either the East, held in Lexington, Ky., or the West preliminary rounds to qualify for the NCAA Championship.

“I consider this the most important meet on our schedule,” says head coach Jim VanHootegem. “Our goal as a program is to qualify as many people as we can for the finals in Eugene, Ore. This is where we do that. It is not a destination, but an opportunity to qualify for the best meet held every year in the United States.

“That said, the magnitude of this meet is big, but the intensity is different than the Big 12 meet. At Big 12, the intensity level is strong from start to finish and the athletes have tons of support when they are competing. This meet does not feature that intensity level. Our athletes must bring their own intensity to their events.”

Representing OU in the throws will be Ashley Bryant and Charles Nguyen in the hammer throw, T.J. Noonan and Gabby Kearney in the javelin and Jess Woodard and Meia Gordon in the discus and shot put. Woodard enters the prelims with the top mark in the shot put this season, a 60-3 that she recorded at the Big 12 Championship to win the title. Nguyen (215-5), Gordon (discus 183-1, shot put 53-4.50) and Woodard (discus, 179-11) are all coming off of personal-best performances at the Big 12 Conference meet. Nguyen, Bryant and Woodard are all making return appearances to the West Prelims and Bryant and Woodard turned that competition into a trip to Eugene a year ago.

The jumps group will have a good representation as well with Sooners in the pole vault, long jump, triple jump and high jump events. Meagan Gray (13-9.75), Kenzie Shell (13-5.25) and Everette Favor (17-11) will take to the air in the pole vault. Both Gray and Favor recorded their marks in the conference meet, and Gray and Shell will be making their second appearance at prelims. Four of OU's entries are in the long jump with Hayden McClain (25-5.25), Thomas Cheval (24-7), Greg Vann (24-5.75) and Baileh Simms (20-10). McClain is also in the triple jump, coming into the event as the Big 12 champion with a personal-best mark of 54-8, which is second in the region. Dean White is the lone entry in the high jump, after Carl Williams was unable to compete due to injury. White enters the competition with a height of 7-0.5.

To advance to Eugene, Ore., in the pole vault and high jump, there will be a five-alive format until fewer than nine are at a given height. However, the top 12 overall finishers advance. For the other events, including the javelin, hammer, shot put, discus, long jump and triple jump, there will be a single round of three attempts with the top 12 finishers earning their place in the championship.

On the track, OU will have a good mix of sprinters and distance runners throughout all three days of competition. Starting on day one will be the first rounds of the 400-meter hurdles with Mia Mukes (59.98), Medinah Spencer (59.62) and Bryce Douglas (52.28). Moving into the evening, Leya Buchanan (11.15), Amanda Van Buren (11.52) and Trae Armstrong (10.36) will run the first rounds of the 100-meter dash and Grayson Haws (1:49.79) will be in the first round in the 800-meter run. To close out the first day will be the semifinals of the 10,000-meter run with Brittany Tretbar (34:15.78), Isabella Rose (34:31.43) and Elena Arriaza (34:54.92).

Day two will feature Olivia Haggerty in the 100-meter hurdles, entering with a personal -best time of 12.99, Ama Pipi (a PR of 22.83) and Buchanan (23.40) in the 200-meter dash and Dylan Blankenbaker (8:49.48) and Sarah Scott in the steeplechase. Scott broke her own school record in her last steeplechase race, crossing the line at 10:23.42.

The quarterfinal round of the womens' 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams bookend day three with the quarterfinal rounds of the 100-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash in between for the Sooners.

For the sprints and hurdles group and Haws, there will be six heats of eight, with the top three from each heat plus the next six times advancing to the quarterfinals. From the quarterfinal, the top three from each quarterfinal plus the next best three times advance to Eugene. For Blankenbaker and Scott in the steeplechase, there will be one round of three heats with the top three from each heat plus the next best three times advancing to the championship. Arriaza, Rose and Tretbar will have one round with one heat and the top 12 advance to the championship.

Relays will be one round as well, comprised of three heats. The top three from each heat and the next best three times advance.

Several OU student-athletes will be making return appearances to the West prelims. The returnees include Armstrong, Woodard, Noonan, Buchanan, Pipi, Roberson, and Blankenbaker, making their third consecutive trip. McClain has qualified in the triple jump four years as has Nguyen in the hammer throw. For Haggerty, Arriaza, Bryant, Gray, Shell, Scott, Simms and Tretbar, this will mark their second appearance on this stage.

Given the experience and exposure to the level of competition already for many of the Sooners, there is a certain level of familiarity with what is required to advance to the championship.

However, no matter how well the student-athlete has done on this stage in the past, or how well they've done this year, that doesn't change the message that the fourth-year head coach will deliver to his team prior to the initial day of competition.

“My message to our team will be that you have to possess a strong desire to continue the season for two more weeks. We've worked on the skills since September, so they are there. We just need a lot of 'want to.'”

A recap will be posted at the conclusion of each day at Soonersports.com. Live results can be accessed at http://live.pttiming.com/?mid=1236. Updates will also be provided throughout the day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (OU_Track). The meet will be streamed for free with the links available on the meet headquarters page housed at texassports.com: https://hookem.at/NCAAWest17. Weather info will be available at the UT Twitter account @TexasTFXC.

SOONER ENTRIES
Event	Name/Competition Date (First)
100m	Leya Buchanan/ May 25, 6:30 p.m. (first round)
100m	Amanda Van Buren/ May 25, 6:30 p.m. (first round)
100m	Trae Armstrong/ May 25, 6:55 p.m. (first round)
100mH	Olivia Haggerty/ May 26, 4:30 p.m. (first round)
200m	Ama Pipi / May 26, 7:30 p.m. (first round)
200m	Leya Buchanan/ May 26, 7:30 p.m. (first round)
400mH	Medinah Spencer/ May 25, 4:30 p.m. (first round)
400mH	Mia Mukes/ May 25, 4:30 p.m. (first round)
400mH	Bryce Douglas/ May 25, 5 p.m. (first round)
800m	Grayson Haws / May 25, 8:35 p.m. (first round)
3000 SC	Sarah Scott / May 26, 8:20 p.m. (quarterfinal)
3000 SC	Dylan Blakenbaker/ May 26, 9 p.m. (quarterfinal)
10,000m	Brittany Tretbar / May 25, 9 p.m. (semifinal)
10,000m	Isabella Rose / May 25, 9 p.m. (semifinal)
10,000m	Elena Arriaza/ May 25, 9 p.m. (semifinal)
HJ	Dean White / May 27, 6 p.m. (first round)
TJ	Hayden McClain/ May 27, 3 p.m. (first round)
SP	Jess Woodard / May 27, 6 p.m. (first round)
SP	Meia Gordon /May 27, 6 p.m. (first round)
DT	Jess Woodard /May 26, noon (first round)
DT	Meia Gordon/ May 26, noon (first round)
HT	Charles Nguyen/May 25, 3:30 p.m. (first round)
HT	Ashley Bryant /May 25, 11 a.m. (first round)
JT	T.J. Noonan/May 25, 11 a.m. (first round)
JT	Gabby Kearney /May 25, 3 p.m. (first round)
LJ	Hayden McClain/ May 25, 4:30 p.m. (first round)
LJ	Thomas Cheval/ May 25, 4:30 p.m. (first round)
LJ	Greg Vann/ May 25, 4:30 p.m. (first round)
LJ	Baileh Simms/ May 25, 7:15 p.m. (first round)
PV	Everette Favor/ May 26, noon (first round)
PV	Meagan Gray/ May 25, 11 a.m. (first round)
PV	Kenzie Shell/ May 25, 11 a.m. (first round)
4x100 Relay	Van Buren, Pipi, Roberson, Buchanan / May 27, 6 p.m. (quarterfinal)
4x400 Relay	Pipi, Roberson, Demerson, Baker/ May 27, 9:25 p.m. (quarterfinal)