OU T&F Successful in Season Opener

Saturday, January 12

Lubbock, Texas

TBA

University of Oklahoma

Texas Tech Corky Classic

January 12, 2019 | Track and Field

By: Athletics Communications

LUBBOCK, Texas — The University of Oklahoma track and field teams began their 2019 indoor season on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas, at the second annual Corky Classic.

The Sooners compiled eight event victories on the day, led by program top-10 marks by senior Sydney King in the women's pole vault, junior Meia Gordon in the shot put, junior Mahendra McWhite in the 60-meter hurdles, sophomore Falyn Reaugh in the high jump and both sophomore Lauren Jones and junior Camille Burge in the weight throw.

“We were happy with the overall efforts,” OU head coach Jim VanHootegem said. “It was fun to get a track meet in, and overall, it was a good day. We had some national-level performances with Falyn Reaugh and Meia Gordon and some other great performances with Sydney King and Papay Glaywulu. It was also fun to see the PRs. To see Langdon Williams in the long jump and Camille Burge in the weight throw — those were fun, too.

“We're pretty pleased with the PRs and with people who came really close to figuring something out today,” VanHootegem continued. “As a coach, when we do this, now I'm excited about practice. We see we're not coaching effort, we're coaching execution and can begin to fine-tune things. We're looking forward to our home meet next weekend and getting on with our season.”

Gordon started OU off strong at the meet, winning the women's shot put mark of 54-2.75 (16.53 meters), which was an indoor personal best and moves her to fourth all-time in program history. Jones took second in the event with a throw of 46-11.75 (14.32 meters). Sophomore Cooper Campbell saved his best throw for last in the men's shot put, claiming the win with a final throw of 58-2.5 (17.74 meters). Junior Brad Daboub placed fourth with a toss of 54-2.5 (16.52 meters).

In the women's pole vault, King placed second with a personal record, clearing the bar at 13-8.25 (4.17 meters). King's mark moves her to second on the Sooners' all-time top-10 list. Sophomore Abby Bilsbury also claimed a top-five finish with a height of 12-0.5 (3.67 meters).

The Sooners went 1-2 in the women's triple jump with sophomore Essence Thomas claiming first with a jump of 40-9.75 (12.44 meters). Freshman Allanah Lee took second with a leap of 39-4 (11.99 meters).

OU saw another win and pair of top-five finishes in the men's triple jump. Sophomore Papay Glaywulu won the event with a jump of 52-0 (15.85 meters) with Garry Williams taking second and Marcus Mitchell placing third with respective jumps of 48-11.75 (14.93 meters) and 48-10.75 (14.89 meters).

Junior Heath Warren brought home another Oklahoma victory in the men's mile, crossing the line in 4:12.33. Three other Sooners finished in the top five with freshman Luke George (4:18.13), junior Zach Gentry (4:19.08, a new personal-best) and senior Jacob Janzen (4:19.94).

In the 600-yard run, Isaiah Levingston placed fourth, clocking a 1:14.34. More top-five finishes came in the women's 60-meter hurdles with sophomore Camri Austin taking second in 8.38. McWhite (8.59) and freshman Madison Langley-Walker (8.62) finished sixth and seventh. McWhite also moves on to Oklahoma's all-time performance list at tenth. On the men's side of the 60-meter hurdles, defending Big 12 champ in the event Bryce Douglas claimed fourth in 8.06. Freshman Kristo Simulask crossed the line in 8.55 to take eighth.

The women's 400-meter race brought in another first-place finish for OU with sophomore Myah Bowen finishing in 58.47. Two Sooners placed in the top five of the 60-meter dashes. Sophomore Camri Austin (7.57) took fifth place on the women's side, while junior Jackson Webb (6.86) also took fifth place in the men's dash. Austin, freshman Kennedy Blackmon (7.72) and senior Hailey Patterson (7.70) all recorded individual bests.

Langley-Walker claimed fifth place with a leap of 19-0.5 (5.80 meters) in the women's long jump, while Patterson (5.28m) and freshman Symone Washington (5.70m) both set indoor personal records. In the men's long jump, the Sooners earned another top-five finish in sophomore Langdon Williams 23-10 (7.26 meters).

Two Sooners set indoor personal records in the women's weight throw with Jones taking second place with a throw of 59-1.5 (18.02 meters) and Burge taking third with a toss of 57-3.5 (17.46 meters). Jones moved to seventh on OU's all-time list, while Burge moved to tenth.

Oklahoma collected another victory in the men's 1,000-meter run as sophomore Ackeen Colley earned first place with a time of 2:27.31. Freshman Tucker Desko finished in 2:33.10 for a third-place finish.

In the 200-meter dashes, a combined four Sooners recorded personal-best times: freshman Sydney Dillard (25.26), junior Mahendra McWhite (25.01), sophomore Dai'Lyn Merriweather (24.17) and sophomore Joseph Sheffield (21.46). Merriweather's time was good enough to earn her second place in the women's dash, coming in just behind sophomore Ja'Leesa Giles, who took first place with in 24.11. Oklahoma went 3-4-5 in the men's race, led by Sheffield and followed by juniors Xavier Brown (21.54) and Jackson Webb (21.59).

Reaugh continued to climb the Sooners' all-time top-10 list with her leap of 6-0.75 (1.85 meters) in the women's high jump. Her mark moved her from fourth to third on the list and earned her a second-place finish.

The women's 4x400-meter relay team, comprised of sophomore Ja'Leesa Giles, freshman Kennedy Blackmon, sophomore Dai'Lyn Merriweather and sophomore Jai'lyn Merriweather, finished in third place clocking in at 3:45.91. In the final event of the meet, Zac Tucker, Zac Martin, Caleb Johnson and Isaiah Levingston, earned the all-freshman men's 4x400-meter relay team fourth place at 3:18.24.

The Sooners return to the track next weekend to host their first indoor meet of the season with the Sooner Challenge quad meet Saturday, Jan. 19, inside the Mosier Indoor Facility. The action will begin with the women's weight throw at 10 a.m. and admission is free.

For more information on Oklahoma track and field, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Track) and like Oklahoma Sooners Track & Field and Cross Country on Facebook.