Sooners Open Outdoor Season at TCU

March 16, 2019 | Track and Field

By: Athletics Communications

NORMAN – The Oklahoma men's and women's track and field teams opened the 2019 outdoor season Saturday at the TCU Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas. The Sooners collected a total of 12 event victories in their outdoor debut.

The day started strong for Oklahoma, as redshirt junior Meia Gordon claimed the women's discus throw title in the meet's first event with a throw of 173-6 (52.88). Sophomore Lauren Jones threw it 162-10 (49.64m) to earn third place, while freshman Faith Ette came in sixth in her first collegiate outdoor meet with a mark of 146-09 (44.72m). Junior Bradley Daboub was the sole Sooner to compete in the men's discus, picking up sixth place with a throw of 155-04 (47.34m).

Gordon collected her second event victory of the day in the women's shot put. Her throw of 52-3.75 (15.94m) was good for first place, while Ette tossed it 47-2.5 (14.39m) for third place. In the men's shot put, Daboub finished second with a mark of 56-11.25 (17.35m).

Sophomore Josh Haus secured a personal record on his way to winning the men's javelin throw. His mark of 211-2 (64.37m) moves him to eighth on OU's all-time top-10 performance list.

In the women's triple jump, sophomore Essence Thomas earned first place with a leap of 43-1 (13.13m), while Najuana Strickland claimed fourth with a jump of 40-7 (12.37m) and freshman Allanah Lee leapt 40-0 (12.19m) for fifth place. Senior Marcus Mitchell took third in the men's triple jump, jumping 48-11.75 (14.93m).

Eight of the 12 Oklahoma wins came on the track. The first came in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, where seniors Zach Gentry (9:19.30) and Andrew Doherty (9:35.51) finished in first and second, respectively. Gentry's time was good for a personal record, while Doherty tied his personal-best time.

Both Sooner 4x100-meter relay teams won their races. Sophomores Camri Austin, Dai'Lyn Merriweather and Ja'Leesa Giles teamed up with freshman Kennedy Blackmon to finish the women's relay first in 45.08, while junior Jackson Webb, sophomore Joseph Sheffield, junior Xavier Brown and freshman Zac Martin finished the men's relay in 39.50 for the win and the 10^th-place spot on OU's all-time performance list.

In the men's 800-meter run, sophomore Derek King claimed a first-place finish with a personal-best time of 1:53.21. Redshirt freshman Tucker Desko took fourth, clocking in at 1:55.86. Redshirt senior Brendan Taylor won the men's 5,000-meter run in 15:09.55.

Blackmon claimed a victory in the women's 400-meter dash with a time of 55.34, while sophomores Dai'Lyn Merriweather and Giles went 1-2 in the women's 200-meter dash. Merriweather clinched first with a personal-record 23.73 (0.8), and Giles claimed second with a time of 23.77.

Merriweather and Austin went 3-4 in the women's 100-meter dash, with respective times of 11.62 (3.5) and 11.73 (3.5). Giles claimed a PR at 11.79 (1.5) on her way to sixth place, while junior Amanda Van Buren finished eighth with a time of 11.86 (3.5). All four Sooners in the men's dash finished in the top 10, led by Webb, who took fourth with a time of 10.53 (0.2).

In the women's 100-meter hurdles, Austin took home first place, finishing in 13.33 (1.9), while redshirt senior Makayla Stephens took fourth at 14.23 (1.9) and junior Mahendra McWhite finished fifth with at time of 14.25 (1.9). Junior Bryce Douglas claimed second place in the men's 110-meter hurdles, clocking in at 14.49 (1.0).

Douglas owned one of Oklahoma's eight second-place finishes on the day. In the women's high jump, Stephens claimed second place, clearing 5-6.0 (1.68m). Lauren Jones threw an outdoor personal-best 185-7 (56.57m) in the women's hammer throw to improve her spot at seventh on OU's all-time top-10 list. Sophomore Edward Jeans also took second in the men's hammer throw with a mark of 199-0 (60.67m).

The Sooners went 2-3-4 in the women's long jump, led by freshman Symone Washington's second-place leap of 19-7.5 (5.98m). Senior Hailey Patterson claimed third with a jump of 19-5.25 (5.92m), while sophomore Nura Muhammad took fourth place, jumping 19-4.25 (5.9m).

Three more Sooners finished in the top five of the men's long jump. Senior Greg Vann led the way for OU with a third-place jump of 23-9.5 (7.25m), while junior Roman Mason finished fourth with a mark of 23-6 (7.16m). Sophomore Garry Williams took fifth, leaping a collegiate-best 23-1.75 (7.05m).

Senior Sydney King cleared 13-3.75 (4.06m) in the women's pole vault for fifth place, while sophomore Abby Bilsbury took seventh, clearing 12-6 (3.81m) for a personal record and a tie for tenth on OU's all-time top-10 list.

Looking ahead, the Sooners are slated to return to Texas for the Roadrunner Invitational in San Antonio next weekend, March 21-23.

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.