University of Oklahoma Athletics

Men's Track Wins Midwest Regional ::

Men's Track Wins Midwest Regional :: Men's Track Wins Midwest Regional




DES MOINES, Iowa Make more room in the Oklahoma Sooners’ trophy case.

The OU men’s track and field team captured their first regional title, scoring 75.33 points at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships at Drake Stadium. Nebraska scored 60 points to finish second.  Texas Tech was third with 58.

The regional format has been in affect since the 2003 season.

The men’s victory comes on the heels of winning the team’s first Big 12 title just two weeks ago.

"The obvious concern with the men's team was whether we could come back from such an emotional and physical high from the Big 12 Championship and maintain the attitude that a team needs to keep throughout the postseason,” OU head coach Martin Smith said. “Obviously, the result indicates that this team has the ability to sustain that high level of performance.  I'm especially proud of that characteristic.

“I was also tremendously pleased with the performance of our women.  We got through (to nationals) the people and relays we believed we could.  We look forward to take a large group to Sacramento.”

Results

The Oklahoma men added two regional champions in a matter of seconds as Shardae Boutte waited out the final competitor in the triple jump while the Sooners’ 4x100-meter relay won their race in spectacular come-from-behind, last-leg victory.

Boutte, the Big 12 outdoor champion, jumped a Midwest Regional record 52 feet, 8 inches (16.05 meters) on his first and best attempt.

“It feels good (to win),” Boutte said. “On the first jump, I was little off on my last three steps and had to stretch.  I had moved back because of the wind, but it turned out all right.”

Ronnie Pines, Marcus Pugh, Frankie Wright and Jacobi Mitchell sprinted to OU’s first regional title in a relay with their 4x100-meter win in a season best, and eighth all-time at OU, time of 39.59.

“We really just got it together after some problems with the exchange earlier in the season,” Mitchell said. “It was going to be tough because we had to add Frankie Wright to the third leg after Sheldon (Leith) got hurt yesterday.  But, today we performed our best.  We were in third when I got the baton, but I knew I had better top-end speed than the guys in front of me.”

Wright (46.47) qualified for three national championship events after finishing fourth in the men’s 400-meter dash Saturday and fourth in the long jump Friday.

Kevin Bookout won his first regional title with his shot put victory.  Bookout’s winning throw traveled 63-0.75 (19.22), beating second place by over four feet.

“After the Big 12 victory, winning this meet was our next goal,” Bookout said. “All the individual accolades don’t matter as much as winning championships and qualifying as many as we can for nationals.  That’s what we came here to do and that’s what we did.”

The OU men led Texas Tech 60.33-58 with four events remaining, but Bookout’s shot put victory put the Sooners out of reach of all teams with two events left.

Dermillo Wise finished third in the finals of the men’s 110-meter hurdles, clocking a personal best 13.77, to qualify for his second consecutive national championships in the event.

Wise also qualified for the NCAAs in the long jump Friday.

Pugh, who ran in four events Saturday, (10.40) finished fifth in the 100-meter dash to also automatically qualify for the NCAAs in that event. 

Pugh, however, strained his hamstring in the final steps of the 100 and pulled up in the final 20 meters of the 200 (22.28), finishing last.

The men’s 4x400 of Zach Dawson, Mitchell, Smith and Wright ran a season best 3:06.54 to win the first of two heats and finish fifth overall.

Overall, the Sooner men qualified eight total athletes in eight total events to the national championships in Sacramento, Calif., in two weeks. Two women also automatically qualified.

Both the men’s and women’s Big 12 championships won regional titles as the Texas A&M ran away with the women’s team title, scoring 99 points to second-place Texas’ 67.  The OU women tied for 10th out of 32 scoring teams with 26 points.

OU junior Toni Smith won the women’s triple jump with a best of 43-6.50 (13.27).

"I'm ecstatic,” Smith said. “After finishing third at Big 12s, I really wanted to do well and gain some confidence heading into the NCAAs. I felt like there was more pressure on me at the conference championships and today I just stayed relaxed and focused.  I think I can finish in the top three nationally and am looking forward to that challenge."

Jessica Eldridge qualified for the national championships in the 1500-meter run after placing fourth in the finals at 4:21.46.

The women’s 4x100-meter relay of Leslie Cole, Scottesha Miller, Yolanda Goff and Larica Urbina placed fourth in the finals in 43.90, breaking the school record they set Firday in a preliminary heat at 44.14.

Yolanda Goff, Tydree Lewis and Leonarde Smith just missed automatic advancement to the national championships.

Goff was sixth in the women’s 100-meter dash at 11.51.

Lewis was sixth in the triple jump with a best of 51-4.25 (15.65).

Smith finished sixth in the men’s 400-meter hurdles at 51.21.

The women’s 4x400-meter relay of Cole, Goff, Jhavonne Pope and Tijhanni Newton placed sixth overall at 3:35.19.

Friday, Chip Heuser qualified for the national championships in the men’s pole vault.  Wright and Wise also qualified in the men’s long jump.

The NCAA will be announced the complete field for the national championships Tuesday, May 29.  Several Sooners are in line for at-large selections.