OU Starts Strong At Texas Relays

March 30, 2018 | Track and Field

By: Patrick Dunn

AUSTIN —The University of Oklahoma track and field team began competition at the 91st Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays Thursday and Friday at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.

OU head coach Jim VanHootegem recapped the first two days, “Certainly, there were some good things that happened the past two days. I was very pleased with the women's hammer, both those athletes had great series'. You look at Ashley (Bryant), who threw a PR last week in San Diego, she comes out and having the series she had and hitting another PR, she's ready to do some special things. Lauren Jones just keeps improving, so we were really pleased with those two.”

Thursday was highlighted by two Sooners' top-10 finishes in the women's hammer throw. Senior Ashley Bryant took home second with a best throw of 211-6 (64.46 meters) while freshman Lauren Jones placed ninth, her best mark measuring 180-4 (54.98 meters). Both marks are personal bests and place second and seventh, respectively, in OU history.

The Sooners began Friday with the men's discus, where sophomore Brad Daboub placed 12th with his best throw reaching 158-10 (48.41 meters). The women's 4x100-meter relay team of Camri Austin, Amanda Van Buren, Ja'Leesa Giles, and Leya Buchanan finished first in their heat with a time of 45.56 to advance to tomorrow's final at 1:30 p.m. CT. The OU men's 4x1 relay team of Bennie Wesley, Greg Vann, Jackson Webb, and Xavier Brown placed third in their heat and 18th overall in prelims, finishing in 40.75 seconds.

In the men's 110-meter and women's 100-meter hurdles competition, sophomore Bryce Douglas and freshman Camri Austin each placed seventh in their heats but failed to reach tomorrow's final with times of 14.50 and 13.90, respectively.

Senior Leya Buchanan tied a personal best in the women's 100-meter dash prelim. Finishing in 11.29, the time qualifies her for tomorrow's final at 2:55 p.m and stands as fourth all-time in OU history. Also competing in the event, sophomore Amanda Van Buren and junior Alexis Barnes each placed fifth in their heats, with respective times of 11.77 and 12.17.

Two personal records were set in the men's 100-meter dash. Sophomore Xavier Brown finished in a personal best time of 10.42 to take third in his heat and 19th overall in the event. Fellow sophomore Jackson Webb took first in his heat with a PR time of 10.46. Also winning his heat was senior Bennie Wesley, who finished in 10.67 seconds.

Making her season debut, sophomore Gabby Kearney placed third in section A of the women's javelin throw, her best mark measuring 166-3 (50.69 meters). In section B of the men's high jump competition, senior Carl Williams took home third place, clearing 6-8.75 (2.05 meters).

The Sooners saw two top-10 finishes in Friday's triple jump competition. Freshman Essence Thomas took fourth in section B of the women's triple jump with her best jump reaching 40-9.75 (12.44 meters). Freshman Papay Glaywulu finished sixth out of collegiate competition in section A of the men's triple jump, with a best jump of 50-9.25 (15.47 meters).

In the evening session, the Oklahoma distance medley relay teams each took home top-10 finishes. The women's team took third, finishing in 11:27.52. The men's squad finished eighth with a time of 10:00.69.

Coach VanHootegem added, “I'm looking forward to some good performances tomorrow. Overall, we're pleased with some individuals but we need better efforts than what we've had,” VanHootegem said.

The Sooners return to the track tomorrow for the final day of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays with action beginning at 10 a.m. CT.

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