University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooner Track and Field Signs Five During Early Signing :: OU adds sprinters and jumpers to the roster.

Sooner Track and Field Signs Five During Early Signing :: OU adds sprinters and jumpers to the roster. Sooner Track and Field Signs Five During Early Signing

OU adds sprinters and jumpers to the roster.






Nov. 29, 2001

Norman - Five high school seniors have signed NCAA letters of intent to attend the University of Oklahoma on track and field scholarships according to OU's co-head coaches Jill Lancaster and Rodney Price. This concludes OU's signees for the early signing period.

Signing with the Sooners were Chelsea Mallory of Fairview; Natasha Franklin of Austin, Texas; Larica Urbina, also of Austin; Lucretia Rimmer of Kansas City, Mo.; and Shannan Wilburn of Everman, Texas.

Mallory, who is currently playing basketball for Fairview, is the defending Class 2A state champion in the high jump. She is coached in track and field by Lyle Welsh.

Franklin and Urbina are teammates at Reagan High School in Austin. Franklin is a 100- and 200-meter sprinter and was a relay specialist as a junior for Reagan. She is one of the top 200-meter sprinters in Class 4A in Texas. Urbina, also a short sprinter and relay specialist, is the second-ranked 100-meter runner in Class 4A. The duo helped lead Reagan to the Class 4A state championship last spring. Both are coached by Leslie Riggins.

Rimmer, who attends Ruskin High School, is the 2001 AAU age-group champion in the triple jump after finishing second in 2000 and fifth in 1999. A two-time Missouri state high school champion in the triple jump, she is a two-time district and conference champion in the long jump and triple jump and has been a Missouri All-State selection each year since she was a freshamn. Coached by Reggie James, she also will compete in the sprints and relays.

Wilburn is a multi-talented sprinter and relay runner for Everman. She ran on the 4 x 100 relay that set the 3A state record last spring. She also qualified for regionals in the 200 and had the third fastest time in the prelims. Food poisoning knocked her out of the finals in the 200. Last summer, she ran on the third leg on the 4 x 400-meter relay that won the national title at the USA Track and Field junior nationals while running for the Pioneer Track Club.

"We are thrilled with the quality of student-athletes we have added to our team," the Sooner coaches said. "We lost a number of talented sprinters and jumpers to graduation last spring and these athletes will fill that void. We have high expectations for this group of signees. All are extremely talented and we believe have the potential to continue to develop that talent as part of our program."

This concludes OU's signing activity in track and field until April 10 when spring signing can begin.