OU Begins Big 12 Indoors in Lubbock

February 22, 2019 | Track and Field

By: Athletics Communications

NORMAN — The Oklahoma men's and women's track and field teams opened competition at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in Lubbock, Texas, on Friday. Day one of the championship saw OU build a hefty collection of final qualifiers, personal records and program top-10 marks.

The Sooners began the day in the women's pentathlon and men's heptathlon. Freshman Madison Langley-Walker totaled 3,586 points for a ninth-place finish overall, led by a second-place finish in the pentathlon long jump with a leap of 18-11.25 (5.77m). She moves to fifth place on OU's all-time pentathlon performance list.

Freshman Kristo Simulask and junior Hutch Helbig competed in the first four events of the heptathlon. Simulask sits atop the standings after day one with a total of 3,162. He collected a personal record with a 7.04 in the 60-meter dash and recorded the best marks of his freshman season in the high jump (6-7; 2.01m) and long jump (22-11.75; 7.00m). Helbig owns 2,633 points with three events left. The heptathlon continues Saturday morning at 11 a.m. CT with the 60-meter hurdles, followed by the pole vault and 1,000-meter run.

On the track, Oklahoma saw plenty of student-athletes qualify for Saturday's finals races. Redshirt senior Sarah Scott finished the one-mile run in 4:56.43, while freshman Luke George and junior Heath Warren qualified for the men's mile final with respective times of 4:11.77 and 4:10.89.

Junior Bryce Douglas will look to defend his 2018 Big 12 title in the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday after claiming the fastest prelim time with a personal-best 7.84. For the women, sophomore Camri Austin clocked in at 8.31 to also advance to finals.

The Sooners saw another pair of personal records in the men's 60-meter dash and 1,000-meter run. Junior Jackson Webb finished in 6.70 to qualify for the 60-meter dash finals and move to sixth on OU's all-time top-10 performance list. Sophomore Ackeen Colley recorded a personal-best time of 2:26.57, clinching a spot in the men's 1,000-meter finals.

Oklahoma will send one student-athlete to each of the 200-meter finals. All three Sooners in the men's preliminaries recorded personal-best times: junior Xavier Brown (21.34), Webb (21.31) and sophomore Joseph Sheffield (21.17). Sheffield advances to Saturday's finals. On the women's side, sophomore Dai'Lyn Merriweather clinched a spot in the finals, running the dash in a PR 23.74 and moving to ninth in program history.

Sophomore Jai'Lyn Merriweather just missed the cut in the women's 400-meter dash, but she moved on to OU's all-time program marks list at eighth with a time of 54.27. In the women's 60-meter dash, Austin also missed the qualifying mark, but led the Sooners with a personal-record time of 7.52.

Several field events came to a close on Friday as well. Sophomore Lauren Jones earned sixth place in the women's weight throw with a toss of 57-4.75 (17.49m), while senior Sydney King took home fourth place in the women's pole vault, clearing 13-6.5 (4.13m).

The Sooners grabbed fourth and sixth place in the men's weight throw courtesy freshman Bayley Campbell and sophomore Edward Jeans, respectively. Campbell threw it 60-3 (18.36m), while Jeans improved his fourth-place spot on OU's all-time top-10 list with a personal-best toss of 59-1.5 (18.02m).

In the long jumps, freshman Langdon Williams and Langley-Walker led the Sooners. Williams leapt 23-4.75 (7.13m) in the men's competition, while Langley-Walker jumped 18-10 (5.74m) in the women's.

Just two weeks after breaking a 28-year old school record, freshman Haley Herberg finished runner-up in the women's 5,000-meter run, clocking in at 16:22.50. Senior Jacob Janzen ran the men's 5,000 meters in 15:04.79.

In the distance medley relays, George, Warren, Colley and freshman Zac Martin teamed up to finish in a sixth-place 10:11.97. Freshman Elise Boisvert, Dai'Lyn Merriweather, freshman Jordyn Kaplan and Scott paired up to take seventh with a time of 12:18.26 for the women's team.

Through the first day of competition, both the men's and women's teams sit at sixth place. The men own 11 points, while the women have tallied 16.5.

The Big 12 Indoor Championships continue Saturday with a variety of field events and a full slate of finals on the track. The heptathlon resumes at 11 a.m., while the women's shot put, men's triple jump and women's triple jump begin at 1 p.m. Live results will be available at PTTiming, and FloTrack will continue its live stream of the championship for subscribers.

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.

Big 12 Indoor Championships Day Two Schedule
Saturday, Feb. 23
Time	Event - Sooners
11 a.m.	Men's Heptathlon 60-Meter Hurdles - Kristo Simulask, Hutch Helbig
11:45 a.m.	Men's Heptathlon Pole Vault - Kristo Simulask, Hutch Helbig
1 p.m.	Women's Shot Put - Faith Ette, Meia Gordon, Lauren Jones
	Men's Triple Jump - Golden Eke, Papay Glaywulu, Roman Mason, Garry Williams
	Women's Triple Jump - Nicole Ezeoke, Allanah Lee, Essence Thomas, Symone Washington
2 p.m.	Women's 60-Meter Hurdles (Final) - Camri Austin
2:10 p.m.	Men's 60-Meter Hurdles (Final) - Bryce Douglas
2:30 p.m.	Men's 60-Meter Dash (Finals) - Jackson Webb
2:40 p.m.	Women's Mile Run (Final) - Sarah Scott
2:50 p.m.	Men's Mile Run (Final) - Luke George, Heath Warren
3 p.m.	Men's Heptathlon 1,000-Meter Run - Kristo Simulask, Hutch Helbig
4 p.m.	Men's 1,000-Meter Run (Final) - Ackeen Colley
	Men's Shot Put - Cooper Campbell, Bradley Daboub
	Men's High Jump - Hutch Helbig, Kristo Simulask
	Women's High Jump - Madison Langley-Walker, Falyn Reaugh
4:30 p.m.	Women's 200-Meter Dash (Final) - Dai'Lyn Merriweather
4:40 p.m.	Men's 200-Meter Dash (Final) - Joseph Sheffield
4:50 p.m.	Women's 3,000-Meter Run (Final) - Elise Boisvert, Haley Herberg, Jordyn Kaplan, Morgan Long, Sarah Scott
5:15 p.m.	Men's 3,000-Meter Run (Final) - Andrew Doherty, Zach Gentry, Luke George, Jacob Janzen, Derek King, Brendan Taylor, Heath Warren
5:40 p.m.	Women's 4x400-Meter Relay - Kennedy Blackmon, Dai'Lyn Merriweather, Ja'Leesa Giles, Jai'Lyn Merriweather, Madison Langley-Walker
5:55 p.m.	Men's 4x400-Meter Relay - Xavier Brown, Zac Martin, Zac Tucker, Isaiah Levingston, Jackson Webb, Joseph Sheffield, Ackeen Colley