University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Host First Outdoor Track and Field Meet of the 2002 Season :: 33rd annual John Jacobs Invitational set for Saturday.

Sooners Host First Outdoor Track and Field Meet of the 2002 Season :: 33rd annual John Jacobs Invitational set for Saturday. Sooners Host First Outdoor Track and Field Meet of the 2002 Season

33rd annual John Jacobs Invitational set for Saturday.




Senior Michael McNamara and his Sooner teammates will be looking for good marks at home this Saturday at the 33rd annual John Jacobs Invitational.

April 11, 2002

NORMAN, Okla. - After four weeks on the road, the OU men's and women's track and field teams will be in Norman this weekend to host the 33rd annual John Jacobs Invitational. The field events will begin at 9 a.m. with the javelin. The first event on the track will be the women's 3000-meter run at noon. The final field event will be the men's pole vault, which starts at 1:30 p.m., while the final event on the track will be the men's 1600-meter relay.

While the college/university portion of the meet will be held on Saturday as scheduled, the high school portion, traditionally held on Friday, will not be held this year because of the construction that is underway in the area. Fans are encouraged to park in the lot north of the track on Saturday. Gates to the facility will be open and there will be no admission charge. Because the grandstand has been demolished, temporary blechers will be brought in and fans also are encouraged to bring lawn chairs to set up around the outside of the oval.

Participating Teams
Joining the host Sooners in the meet will Oklahoma State, Barton County Community College, Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma Christian, Southern Nazarene, Colby Community College, Coffeyville Community College and Bacone.

The Last Time Out
The Sooners headed south last weekend to participated in the 75th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin, Texas. The traditional starting event of the spring relay circuit, the Texas Relays have usually produced good performances by the Sooners and this year was no different.

Tiffany Davis and Jimmy Buchanan were the first Sooners to take to the track. Davis finished third in her heat in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 1:02.22, a season best for her by more than three seconds. She finished 21st overall out of 54 runners. Buchanan ran a 15:03.63 in the 5000-meter run final and finished 12th out of 20 runners. It was the first time this season for the sophomore to compete in that event.

On Friday, the men's sprint medley relay turned in a time of 3:19.25, one of the top 10 times in school history, to finish second in the event. Freshman Amanda Warehime registered a throw of 47-0.75 in the women's shot put B division competition to finish third. Junior Megan Crystal was sixth with a throw of 44-6.75. Both were season bests for the Sooner throwers.

In other final action Friday, freshman Lindsey Bourne tied for 10th in the women's pole vault B division with an 11-5.75, Brett Corlett was 10th in the men's pole vault B division with a 16-2.75 as he continues his comeback from an injury he suffered in January, the women's sprint medley relay won its heat with a 3:57.71 and finished eighth overall, the women's distance medley relay was 16th with a 12:15.14 and the men's 4 x 100-meter relay was fifth in its heat and 25th overall with a 41.18.

Davis ran a 14.14 in the 100-meter hurdles to finish 20th in the prelims in that event. Other preliminary results for OU included Quentin Morgan, 13th in the 100-meter dash with a 10.68, L'eron George, 40th in the 100 with a 10.96, and Edwin Jones, 51st in the 100 with an 11.15. Morgan was second in his heat, George was sixth in his heat and Jones was seventh in his heat.

On Saturday, the men's 1600-meter relay posted a season-best time of 3:09.75 to finish fifth in the Cleburne Price Jr. Invitational 1600-meter relay. The relay included Raoul Harvey, Ernest Lewis, Moses Washington and Aldwyn Sappleton, the same foursome who earned All-America honors in the event during the 2002 indoor season.

Sophomore Leslie Dunlap finished eighth in the women's division A pole vault with an 11-11.75. The vault was her first non-NCAA qualifying mark of the year, breaking a string of 12 consecutive competitions in which she had cleared at least an NCAA provisional mark. It also broke her string of clearing at least 12-0 in competition. Dunlap was one of three vaulters to clear 11-11.75 but finished eighth based on number of misses. The first five finishers all recorded NCAA automatic or provisional qualifying marks.

On the men's side, senior Michael McNamara and junior Michael Westlund tied for ninth in the division A pole vault with vaults of 16-8.75, which was the opening height. The third of OU's vaulters to compete in the division, Robin Hanna, failed to clear the opening height. The top seven finishers in the competition recorded NCAA automatic or provisional marks.

Sprinter Jimyria Hicks, who is redshirting this year, finished second in the invitational 100-meter dash with a time of 12.05. Former Sooner, All-American Alesha Peel, competing for the Pioneer Track Club, was fifth in the invitational 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.80.

Big 12 Athlete of the Week
Sophomore Leslie Dunlap became a three-time winner of Big 12 Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors March 18, earning the award the first week of the outdoor season. She had won twice during the indoor season.

NCAA Update
Sophomore Leslie Dunlap became OU's first provisional qualifier for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with her winning vault at the Hurricane Invitational March 16. It marked the 11th consecutive meet for her to clear at least a provisional mark. She has six wins in those 11 competitions.

Next Up
OU will travel to the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas, Saturday, April 20. The Sooners will host the final meet of the 2002 season on Saturday, April 27, while those student-athletes who have qualifying marks are competing in the Drake Relays in Des Moines April 25-27.

33rd Annual JOHN JACOBS INVITATIONAL
Jacobs Field, Norman, Oklahoma
Saturday April 13, 2002
Revised Schedule of Events
All events are finals.

FIELD EVENTS:


9:00 a.m. Javelin (Men to Follow)-W
10:00 a.m. Long Jump (Men to Follow)-W
10:30 a.m. Shot Put (Men to Follow)-W
11:00 a.m. Pole Vault-W
11:00 a.m. High Jump (Men to Follow)-W
1:30 p.m. Triple Jump (Men to Follow)-W
1:30 p.m. Discus (Men to Follow)-W
1:30 p.m. Pole Vault-M

RUNNING EVENTS:
12:00 p.m. 3000 Meter Run -W
12:15 p.m. 3000 Meter Steeplechase-M
12:30 p.m. 4 x 100 Meter Relay -W
12:35 p.m. 4 x 100 Meter Relay -M
12:40 p.m. 1500 Meter Run -W
12:50 p.m. 1500 Meter Run-M
1:00 p.m. 100 Meter Hurdles-W
1:10 p.m. 110 Meter Hurdles-M
1:20 p.m. 400 Meter Dash-W
1:30 p.m. 400 Meter Dash-M
1:40 p.m. 100 Meter Dash-W
1:50 p.m. 100 Meter Dash-M
2:00 p.m. 800 Meter Run-W
2:10 p.m. 800 Meter Run-M
2:20 p.m. 400 Meter IH-W
2:30 p.m. 400 Meter IH-M
2:40 p.m. 200 Meter Dash-W
2:55 p.m. 200 Meter Dash-M
3:10 p.m. 5000 Meter Run-W
3:35 p.m. 5000 Meter Run-M
3:55 p.m. 4 x 400 Meter Relay-W
4:05 p.m. 4 x 400 Meter Relay-M