University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Send Four to NCAA Track and Field Championships :: Vaulters begin competition Wednesday in Baton Rouge.

Sooners Send Four to NCAA Track and Field Championships :: Vaulters begin competition Wednesday in Baton Rouge. Sooners Send Four to NCAA Track and Field Championships

Vaulters begin competition Wednesday in Baton Rouge.




Michael Westlund, in his sixth trip to an NCAA Championship meet, is looking to become a five-time All-American.

May 28, 2002

NORMAN, Okla. - Elk City freshman Austin Landreth is one of four Sooners to be invited to participate in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this 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 last Thursday.

NCAA Ranking
Austin Landreth is the highest ranked of the Sooners traveling 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 at the 2002 Big 12 Championships.

Sooner teammates Michael Westlund, who finished second at the 2002 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, at the conference meet 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.

Sophomore Leslie Dunlap is ranked 15th heading into the competition. The 2002 Big 12 indoor and 2001 Big 12 outdoor champion, Dunlap finished third at the 2002 Big 12 outdoor meet. She posted her season best, 13-1.75, on May 9, winning the Abilene Christian Invitational.

Past Experience
Michael Westlund, the 2001 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). Michael McNamara, a 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier, has qualified for the NCAA five times in his Sooner career. It will be a first time trip for true freshman Austin Landreth.

Leslie Dunlap, the 2001 Big 12 outdoor and 2002 Big 12 Indoor champion, is a four-time NCAA qualifier.

Close But No Call
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 the Big 12 meet. The last runner invited to the field had a time of 13.45.

Academic All-District Honors
Redshirt freshman Darren Hutchins has been named to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-District VI University Men's Track & Field/Cross Country first team. Sophomore Aldwyn Sappleton was named to the All-District second team. This year marks the first for track and field/cross country to have a team of its own. Previously, student-athletes in those sports were named to at-large Academic All-America teams.

OU was the only school in District VI to place two student-athletes on the teams, and Sooner student-athletes were two of six from the Big 12 Conference to earn the honor in District VI (Big 12 Conference schools are in more than one district).

Hutchins, who has a 3.96 GPA in mathematics/biology, is from Choctaw. He was awarded the Richard V. Andree Memorial Scholarship by the Department of Mathematics at OU last month. Hutchins was named to the Big 12 All-Academic cross country team last fall and was named to the All-Academic team in track and field last week. He received special recognition from the conference for earning a 4.0 grade point average during the fall 2001 semester. He was a 2001 Jay Myers Award winner at OU and has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll every semester he has been at OU.

Hutchins competes in cross country and track and field for the Sooners. He ran in six of seven cross country meets during the 2001 cross country season. He had a season-best time of 22:13 in the four mile at the UTA Meet and dropped his career best in the 8K to 27:08 at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree. He ran a 33:48.8 in the 10K at the NCAA Regional to post a season best. He also ran in six of seven meets as a freshman, posting a career best in the 10K that held up through his sophomore year. He competed in the Big 12 and NCAA Regional Championships as a true freshman and again as a sophomore. He posted a career best in the 10,000-meter run of 32:40.58 this spring. He also competed in the 1,500 and 5,000 during the track season. Hutchins finished 19th in the 10,000-meter run at the 2002 Big 12 Outdoor Championships last weekend.

Sappleton, who has a 3.78 GPA in political science, is a two-time NCAA All-American, earning the honor last year on the outdoor 1600-meter relay and again this year on the indoor 1600-meter relay. He won the 600-yard title in the 2002 Big 12 Indoor Championships and was third last week in the 800-meter run at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. Sappleton, who is from James Hill, Jamaica, was named to the Big 12 Track and Field All-Academic team last week and has been on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll every semester he has been enrolled at OU.

Hutchins will now advance to the national ballot.

Academic All-Big 12 Honorees
A total of 246 student-athletes, including 14 from the University of Oklahoma, were named to the 2002 Big 12 All-Academic teams that were released May 21. To qualify for first-team honors, a student-athlete must have a 3.20 grade point average. Second-team honorees have at least a 3.00 GPA. Freshman and first-year transfers are not eligible and to be considered student-athletes must have competed in at least 60 percent of their team's competition. Seniors who meet the requirements except for the 60 percent competition are eligible for honors in their final season.

Sooners Andrew Crabbe, Darren Hutchins, Sara Justice and Kelli O'Rourke were among the 12 honorees who were recognized for earning a 4.00 GPA in at least one of the past two semesters.

First-team honorees for the Sooners included Crabbe, So, zoology, Grand Prairie, Texas; Kris Glenn, RS-Fr., journalism, Healdton, Okla.; Aldwyn Sappleton, So., political science, James Hill, Clarendon, Jamaica; Darren Hutchins, So., mathematics/biology, Choctaw, Okla.; Taylor Cates, Jr., sociology, Bartlesville, Okla.; Alicia Emanuel, Sr., communication, Houston, Texas; Justice, Jr., health and sports science, Pauls Valley, Okla.; O'Rourke, Jr., psychology, Jenks, Okla.; Kim Thomas, So., University College, McAlester, Okla.; Michelle Thomas, So., University College, McAlester, Okla.; Arianna Wertheim, Sr., health and sports science, Fort Sumner, N.M.

Second-team honors went to Cecil Rose, Sr., management, Missouri City, Texas; Leslie Dunlap, So., University College, Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Krystle Williams, So., finance, Houston, Texas

Next Up
A number of Sooner student-athletes will continue training for the U.S. Senior and Junior Nationals as well as national championships in their home countries.