University of Oklahoma Athletics

Westlund Finishes Fourth At NCAA Track & Field Championships :: OU's 1600-meter relay earns All-America honors with sixth-place finish.

Westlund Finishes Fourth At NCAA Track & Field Championships :: OU's 1600-meter relay earns All-America honors with sixth-place finish. Westlund Finishes Fourth At NCAA Track & Field Championships

OU's 1600-meter relay earns All-America honors with sixth-place finish.




Junior Michael Westlund finished fourth at the 2002 NCAA Track and Field Championships to earn All-America honors for the fourth time as a Sooner.

March 9, 2002

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Junior Michael Westlund became a four-time All-American for the University of Oklahoma Saturday night, finishing fourth in the pole vault at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. For Westlund, it was a sweet end to an indoor season that has been bitter at times.

Tennessee won the men's title with 62.50 points and Louisiana State won the women's title. The Sooners finished tied for 23rd with eight points, well up in the standings of the 64 teams who scored. It was an improvement of 15 places over the 2001 OU men's finish as well.

Westlund, who has battled with teammate Michael McNamara throughout the season in competitions, cleared a season best 17-11.75 to earn All-America honors in back-to-back NCAA Indoor meets and run his string of All-America performances to four in NCAA competition. He tied for third in the 2001 meet. Westlund actually cleared the same height as the winner, Jeff Hansen of Brigham Young, but had more misses than Hansen, runner-up Paul Terek of Michigan State and Oregon's Trevor Woods, who was third.

Westlund missed his first two attempts at the opening height of 17-0, then cleared the second height of 17-3.75 on his first try. He cleared the third height of 17-7.75, again on his final attempt, then cleared 17-11.75 on his second attempt. Hansen had one miss before going out. Terek had three misses and Woods had four. Five vaulters cleared 17-11.75 but all missed the final height of 18-3.75.

For McNamara, the NCAA disappointments continued. Ranked fourth heading into the competition, the Tulsa senior, who was competing in his fourth NCAA meet (indoor and outdoor combined), finished 15th with a season low 17-0. He cleared that height, which was the opening height of competition, on his first attempt then missed all three attempts at 17-3.75.

OU added four more All-Americans when the men's 1600-meter relay team, ranked 11th entering the meet, finished sixth with a 3:09.03. It was the third fastest time of the season for the quartet of seniors Raoul Harvey, Ernest Lewis and Moses Washington and redshirt freshman Aldwynn Sappleton. The Sooners had the fastest time in the first of three heats, then had to wait as the final two races were run.

The pole vaulters and relay were OU's only competitors on Saturday. On Friday, Sappleton finished 13th in the 800-meter run preliminaries, Leslie Dunlap was 14th in the women's pole vault and Jason Stanley false started in the 60-meter hurdles and was disqualified.

The Sooners open the outdoor season next weekend. OU's combined event athletes will travel to College Station, Texas, for the Texas A&M Relays Friday and Saturday. Most of the rest of the team will head to Miami, Florida, for the Hurricane Invitational on Saturday, then will stay in Florida to train over spring break and to compete in the Florida International Golden Panther Invitational on March 23.

Men's Results
Final Team Standings: 1) Tennessee, 62.50, 2) Alabama 47, 3) LSU 44, 4) Arkansas 39, 5) Villanova 20, 6) South Carolina 17.50, 7) Clemson, 17, 8) Kansas 16, 9) (tie) Mississippi State and Oregon 15, 11) Colorado 14, 12) (tie) North Carolina and Northern Iowa 13, 14) Nebraska 11.50, 15) (tie) BYU, Illinois State, UTEP, Baylor, Missouri and Princeton, 10, 21) (tie) Weber State and Notre Dame 9, 23) (tie) OKLAHOMA, Kentucky, Idaho, Manhattan, Auburn, SMU, Minnesota, Texas, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Michigan State 8, 34) Florida 7.50, 35) (tie) DePaul, Stanford, Mississippi, Rice, Washington State and Purdue 6, 41) Georgia 5.50, 42) (tie) Indiana and TCU 5, 44) Penn State 4.50, 45) (tie) Texas Tech, Kansas State, East Carolina, James Madison and Monmouth 4, 50) Florida State 3.50, 51) (tie) Arizona State, Southern Illinois and Middle Tennessee, 3, 54) (tie) Dartmouth, Wichita State, Southwest Missouri, Pennsylvania, Colorado State, Wyoming and Georgia Tech 2, 61) (tie) Iowa, Georgetown and Connecticut 1, 64) Stephen F. Austin 0.50

4x400 Meter Relay:1. Baylor 3:05.54, 2. Tennessee 3:06.87, 3. South Carolina 3:07.16, 4. Minnesota 3:08.37, 5. East Carolina 3:08.93, 6. Oklahoma (Raoul Harvey, Moses Washington, Ernest Lewis, Aldwyn Sappleton FR), 3:09.03, 7. Southwest Missouri 3:09.14, 8. Texas Tech, 3:09.70, 9. LSU 3:10.69, 10. Iowa 3:12.15, 11. Clemson 3:12.21.

Pole Vault: 1. Jeff Hansen, BYU, 5.48m, (17-11.75), 2. Paul Terek, Michigan St., 5.48m, (17-11.75), 3. Trevor Woods, Oregon, 5.48m, (17-11.75), 4. Mike Westlund, Oklahoma, 5.48m, (17-11.75), 5. Vadim Gvozdestskiy, Kansas, 5.48m, (17-11.75), 6. David Leman, Georgia, 5.38m, (17-07.75), 6. Rocky Danners, Tennessee, 5.38m, (17-07.75), 8. Adam Keul, SF Austin, 5.38m, (17-07.75), 8. Chris Steddum, S. Carolina, 5.38m, (17-07.75), 10. Brian DaCunha, Florida, 5.38m, (17-07.75), 11. Dino Efthimiou, Indiana, 5.28m, (17-03.75), 12. Bobby Most, SW Texas, 5.28m, (17-03.75), 13. Jim Autenreith, Baylor, 5.28m, (17-03.75), 14. Eric Eshbach, Nebraska, 5.28m, (17-03.75), 15. Mike McNamara, Oklahoma, 5.18m, (17-00.00), 16. Buster McLain, SW Texas, 5.18m, (17-00.00).