University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Send Four To NCAA Track & Field Championships :: Landreth leads OU vaulters to Baton Rouge, La., May 29-June 1.

Sooners Send Four To NCAA Track & Field Championships :: Landreth leads OU vaulters to Baton Rouge, La., May 29-June 1. Sooners Send Four To NCAA Track & Field Championships

Landreth leads OU vaulters to Baton Rouge, La., May 29-June 1.




Freshman Austin Landreth is one of four Sooners scheduled to compete at next week's NCAA Track and Field Championships in Baton Rouge, La.

May 25, 2002

NORMAN, Okla. - Elk City freshman Austin Landreth was one of four Sooners to be invited to participate in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships next week in Baton Rouge, La. Landreth and three other Sooner vaulters had met NCAA provisional qualifying marks and got the call from the NCAA committee.

Landreth is the highest ranked of the Sooners to travel to Baton Rouge for the meet. The true freshman is 13th heading into the meet and is the only freshman in the men's pole vault field of 20. He posted his season best, 17-7.5, on May 11 to win the Emporia State Twilight Qualifier. Landreth finished sixth last weekend at the Big 12 Championships.

Sooner teammates Michael Westlund, who finished second at last week's Big 12 meet, and Michael McNamara are tied for 19th entering the competition. Westlund, a junior from Choctaw, got his season best vault, 17-6.5, just last weekend after battling injuries this spring while McNamara's best vault of the season, 17-6.5, came earlier this month when he finished third at the Texas Invitational. McNamara, a senior from Tulsa, did not clear his opening height at the Big 12 meet last Saturday. Westlund, the 2002 Big 12 indoor champion in the pole vault, is a four-time NCAA All-American and this marks his sixth time to qualify for the NCAA (indoor and outdoor combined). McNamara, a 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier, has qualified for the NCAA five times in his Sooner career.

Sophomore Leslie Dunlap, also from Choctaw, will represent OU in the women's pole vault. A four-time NCAA qualifier, Dunlap is ranked 15th heading into the competition. The 2002 Big 12 indoor and 2001 Big 12 outdoor champion, Dunlap finished third at the Big 12 meet last weekend. She posted her season best, 13-1.75, on May 9, winning the Abilene Christian Invitational.

The women's pole vault is scheduled for 6:20 p.m. on Wednesday while the men are scheduled to compete at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Several other Sooners did not get the hoped for call from the NCAA. Sophomore Aldwyn Sappleton finished tied for 28th in the 800-meter run and Brett Corlett was tied for 25th in the pole vault. The men's 1600-meter relay finished 18th and 12 teams were taken. Tiffany Davis missed an invitation in the 100-meter hurdles by a painfully close .01 seconds. She was ranked 21st after a 13.46 in last weekend's Big 12 meet. The last runner invited to the field had a time of 13.45. Should an athlete in that event withdraw, Davis might still get a call to compete.

The Sooners will leave for Baton Rouge on Sunday.