University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Travel To Columbia For Big 12 T&F Championships :: Dunlap to defend her pole vault title on Sunday.

Sooners Travel To Columbia For Big 12 T&F Championships :: Dunlap to defend her pole vault title on Sunday. Sooners Travel To Columbia For Big 12 T&F Championships

Dunlap to defend her pole vault title on Sunday.




Ranked second heading into the meet, Leslie Dunlap defends her pole vault title on Sunday.

May 15, 2002

NORMAN, Okla. - Members of the University of Oklahoma track and field teams will head north to Columbia, Mo., for the sixth annual Big 12 Championships. The Sooners will leave Wednesday for the meet which begins on Friday at the Audrey J. Walton Track/Soccer Complex on the campus of the University of Missouri. The Tigers last hosted the Big 12 meet in May 2000.

Schedule Of Events
A complete schedule with OU's tentative entries follows. On Friday, the combined event athletes take center stage with the first five events of the men's decathlon and the first four events of the women's heptathlon. The first event is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. with events throughout the day. Four finals also are scheduled for Friday -- the men's and women's hammer throw and the men's and women's 10,000-meter run.

The combined events will conclude on Saturday and finals/prelims will begin in the other events. Action begins at 10 a.m. and continues through 5:15 p.m. There will be a total of six finals on Saturday plus the decathlon and heptathlon champions will be crowned.

On Sunday, the first event is set for 10 a.m. and every event is a final on Sunday. The last event, the men's 1600-meter relay, is set for 6:30 p.m.

The Last Time Out, Part 1
There's something about the state of Texas, the month of May and senior Michael McNamara's efforts in the pole vault. Last year, he qualified for the NCAA with a vault in the Big 12 Championships at College Station. Two years ago, he posted his career best in Abilene at the ACU Invitational, earning a trip to the NCAA and the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials. On May 4, he got his first NCAA provisional mark of the outdoor season, jumping 17-6.5 to finish third in the pole vault at the Texas Invitational.

OU junior Michael Westlund finished fifth in the vault with a 17-2.75, his first NCAA provisional mark of the outdoor season. OU volunteer vault coach and former Baylor vaulter Kurt Hanna was second in the competition, also with a 17-6.5.

After her first no height of the season the last weekend of April, sophomore Leslie Dunlap showed a return to form, clearing an NCAA provisional mark of 12-5.5 to finish third in Austin.

All around, it was a good day for the Sooners as 14 season bests were posted by the OU women and eight were put up by the Sooner men. The lone OU winner was Cecil Rose, who took the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:34.25. In the women's steeplechase, senior Jennifer Ledford dropped the school record she set last year by another 11 seconds after lowering it by nearly a minute just two weeks earlier. She finished fourth with an 11:20.33.

In another interesting distance note, sophomore Joey McNair lowered his season best in the 1500 by nearly four seconds, finishing second with a 3:52.94. He then came back less than three hours later to post a season best in the 3000 with a 8:53.11, good for seventh.

Junior Aisha Stringer continued to lower her career best mark in the women's 800, finishing third with a 2:09.10. That time is nearly .90 seconds off the career best mark she had set the weekend before at Drake. The Sooners were third (Stringer), sixth (Kelli O'Rourke) and seventh (Kim Thomas) in that event.

Former Sooner Michael Blackwood won the 400-meter dash title with a 45.59. OU senior Raoul Harvey was sixth with a season best 46.85.

The Last Time Out, Part 2
Sophomore Leslie Dunlap cleared a season best 13-1.75 to win the Abilene Christian Invitational pole vault title on May 9. The mark is an NCAA provisional qualifying height and improves her season best by just over two inches.

It was an OU sweep of sorts as Sooner volunteer assistant coach Kurt Hanna, competing for Zero Gravity, cleared 17-8.75 to win the men's title.

Senior Brett Corlett, after battling various injuries that go back to January, finished fourth with an NCAA provisional mark of 17-4.75. Senior Michael McNamara finished fifth, also with a 17-4.75. McNamara has a previous season best of 17-6.5 to put him on the NCAA provisional list.

Freshman Lindsey Bourne finished fourth in the women's competition with a season best 11-8.5. Junior Robin Hanna was 10th in the men's competition with a 17-0 and freshman Austin Landreth was 12th with a 16-6.

The Last Time Out, Part 3
Freshman Austin Landreth won a jump off with OU teammate Robin Hanna to take the men's pole vault title at the Emporia State Twilight Qualifier last Saturday.

Landreth cleared a collegiate and personal best of 17-7.25. That mark, in addition to winning the title, is an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Hanna, a junior, cleared 17-0.75 but missed his fourth attempt at 17-7.25 to finish second. The mark for Hanna was a season best.

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 Tuesday. 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

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. Dunalp was the only Sooner to earn the honor during the outdoor season.

Returning Champions
Sophomore Leslie Dunlap is the only returning champion for the Sooners. She won the 2001 Big 12 outdoor pole vault title with a vault of 12-2.75.

The Sooners produced two conference champions at the 2002 indoor meet. Dunlap won the pole vault title and Aldwyn Sappleton won the 600-yard title.

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. The men's 1600-meter relay team joined the list with a season-best 3:06.49 to win the John Jacobs Invitational. Aldwyn Sappleton added his name to the list with a 1:48.87 in the 800 at the Michael Johnson/Southwestern Bell Classic.

The Sooner vaulters have come up strong in the last two weeks as four men have added their names to the list. Austin Landreth was the latest to join the list with his winning vault on Saturday. Previously, Michael McNamara, Michael Westlund and Brett Corlett (at the Texas Invitational and the ACU Invitational) had posted provisional marks.

NCAA Ranking
Austin Landreth has the best ranking of any Sooner on the NCAA lists. He is 12th on the men's pole vault list as of May 14. Leslie Dunlap is ranked 14th on the women's pole vault list. Michael McNamara is 16th in the men's vault followed by Brett Corlett, tied for 21st, and Michael Westlund, tied for 29th. The men's 1600-meter has the 21st best time but moves up to 17 when duplicates are taken out and Aldwyn Sappleton, a member of that relay, ranks 24th in the 800-meter run.

News of Note
Graduation ceremonies were held Saturday on the OU campus and a total of 72 student-athletes were recognized as graduates. Of those, 15 were from the track and field program. Track/cross country graduate Stephanie Webb was recognized as the female student-athlete with the highest GPA. She finished her undergraduate career with a perfect 4.00 in mechanical engineering ... Another Sooner graduate, Jennifer Ledford, will compete in this week's conference championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The OU school record holder in that event, Ledford went through graduation ceremonies Saturday one day after receiving her commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marines Corps. It is believed that she is the first female Sooner student-athlete to earn a degree and a commission in the military ... Senior Cecil Rose has been awarded an NCAA Ethnic Minority Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in Athletics. The $6,000 scholarship is one of 13 awarded annually by the NCAA to students entering their first year of graduate studies. Rose will graduate from The University of Oklahoma in July with a degree in management and plans to pursue a master's degree in human relations at OU ... Choctaw sophomore Darren Hutchins was awarded the Richard V. Andree Memorial Scholarship by the Department of Mathematics at OU ... Freshman Emily Leonard, a 2002 Jay Myers Award winner, the highest award for an OU freshman student-athlete, was named a PACE Award winner by University College. The award is given to top one percent of the freshman class and recognizes participation, academic achievement, community involvement and excellence.

Next Up
The Sooners who post automatic marks or those who have provisional marks and are invited to attend will travel to Baton Rouge, La., and the campus of Louisiana State University for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 29-June 1. Other Sooner student-athletes will continue training for the U.S. Senior and Junior Nationals as well as national championships in their home countries.

For More Information
Complete OU results will be posted to the official athletic Web Site at www.soonersports.com after the completion of each day's events. Complete meet results will be available on the Missouri Web Site at www.mutigers.com.

Schedule of Events
2002 Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Champions Competition Schedule (With OU entries as of Monday, May 13, 2002)

FRIDAY, MAY 17

11:30 a.m. 100m Dash Men Decathlon Dan Strong, Ben Winter
12:15 p.m. Long Jump Men Decathlon Dan Strong, Ben Winter
1:00 p.m. 100m Hurdles Women Heptathlon Chaundra Allard, Taylor Cates
1:30 p.m. Hammer Women Final Barbara Phillips
1:45 p.m. High Jump Women Heptathlon Chaundra Allard, Taylor Cates
2:15 p.m. Shot Put Men Decathlon Dan Strong, Ben Winter
3:30 p.m. High Jump Men Decathlon Dan Strong, Ben Winter
3:45 p.m. Shot Put Women Heptathlon Chaundra Allard, Taylor Cates
4:00 p.m. Hammer Men Final
5:00 p.m. 200m Dash Women Heptathlon Chaundra Allard, Taylor Cates
5:30 p.m. 400m Dash Men Decathlon Dan Strong, Ben Winter
6:00 p.m. 10,000m Run Men Final Darren Hutchins
6:40 p.m. 10,000m Run Women Final

SATURDAY, MAY 18

10:00 a.m. 110m Hurdles Men Decathlon Dan Strong, Ben Winter
10:45 a.m. Discus Men Decathlon Dan Strong, Ben Winter
11:00 a.m. Long Jump Women Heptathlon Chaundra Allard, Taylor Cates
12:45 p.m. Pole Vault Men Decathlon Dan Strong, Ben Winter
1:00 p.m. 1500m Run Women/Men Prelims Kim Thomas, Joey McNair
1:15 p.m. Javelin Women Heptathlon Chaundra Allard, Taylor Cates
1:30 p.m. Long Jump Women Finals Veronica Clayborne, Sand

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