Big 12 Title Highlights Day Two

February 23, 2019 | Track and Field

By: Athletics Communications

NORMAN — The Oklahoma men's and women's track and field teams closed out competition at the Big 12 Indoor Championships on Saturday. The second day of action saw the Sooners collect an individual Big 12 title, four runner-up finishes and 11 personal records.

In the first event of the day to finish, redshirt junior Meia Gordon won her first Big 12 title with a throw of 54-0 (16.46m) in the women's shot put. Freshman Faith Ette earned the first personal record of the day for the Sooners, tossing it 48-6.25 (14.79m) for fifth place.

The Sooners collected four more personal-best marks in the triple jump competitions. Sophomore Essence Thomas led the Sooner women with a fifth-place jump of 42-6 (12.95m) to stay at fourth on OU's all-time performance list. Freshman Nicole Ezeoke moved on to the list at tenth, leaping a PR 40-8.25 (12.40m). Symone Washington secured her own personal best with a mark of 40-1.5 (12.23m).

On the men's side, the Sooners went 6-7-8. Junior Roman Mason took sixth at 51-5 (15.67m), and sophomore Papay Glaywulu finished seventh, leaping 51-0.75 (15.56m). Freshman Garry Williams' mark of 51-0 (15.54m) was good for a personal record and eighth place.

Freshman Kristo Simulask led the men's heptathlon after the first four events on Friday and wrapped up the competition on Saturday in the 60-meter hurdles (8.45), pole vault (15-10; 4.83m) and 1,000-meter run (2:49.89). Simulask collected a total of 5,660 points, earning himself a second-place finish just 15 points behind the winner. He moves to second in program heptathlon history. Junior Hutch Helbig collected 3,614 points.

OU picked up two more personal-best times in the men's and women's 60-meter hurdles. Sophomore Camri Austin crossed the line in 8.21 in the women's race, tying for second on OU's all-time top-10 list. 2018 Big 12 champion Bryce Douglas earned second-place honors in this year's event, finishing in 7.78 and moving up to fifth in program history.

After qualifying with a personal-best time on Friday, junior Jackson Webb ran a 6.81 in the men's 60-meter dash finals to finish seventh. Freshman Luke George (4:15.61) and junior Heath Warren (4:20.50) took eighth and ninth respectively in the men's mile finals.

Oklahoma saw another second-place finish in the men's 1,000-meter run. Sophomore Ackeen Colley was the runner-up, clocking in at 2:25.21 and moving onto the Sooners' all-time program marks list at ninth.

The Sooners had one finals qualifier in each of the 200-meter dashes. Sophomore Dai'Lyn Merriweather represented the Sooner women, running a 23.88 for sixth place. Sophomore Joseph Sheffield took seventh place with a time of 21.39.

In the second wave of field events, a pair of Sooners finished in the men's shot put top five. Sophomore Cooper Campbell threw it a personal-best 61-2.75 (18.66m) to finish in third place and move up one spot to fourth on the program top-10 list. Junior Bradley Daboub tossed it 56-2.5 (17.13m) for fifth place. Sophomore Falyn Reaugh took sixth place in the women's high jump, clearing 5-7.75 (1.72m).

A day after claiming second in the 1,000-meter run, freshman Haley Herberg continued her success with another runner-up finish in the women's 3,000-meter run, clocking in at 9:28.39. Senior Jacob Janzen led the way for the Sooners in the men's 3,000-meter run, securing a time of 8:38.98. Redshirt junior Brendan Taylor and redshirt senior Andrew Doherty finished not far behind with respective times of 8:48.37 and 8:49.65.

To close the day, OU ran in both 4x400-meter relays. Freshman Kennedy Blackmon, along with sophomores Dai'Lyn Merriweather, Ja'Leesa Giles and Jai'Lyn Merriweather, recorded a fifth-place finish in 3:36.93 to improve their fifth-place spot on the OU all-time top-10 list. Junior Xavier Brown, freshmen Zac Martin and Zac Tucker and redshirt freshman Isaiah Levingston teamed up to take eighth place in 3:15.96 in the men's 4x4.

Overall, the OU men's team took seventh place with 57 points, while the women finished eighth with 60.5 points.

Up next, Sooners with qualifying marks will head to the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 8-9 in Birmingham, Ala. The rest of the squad will begin preparations for outdoor season, beginning Saturday, March 16, at the TCU Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas.

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