Oklahoma on to NCAA Indoor Championships

Seven Oklahoma athletes are set to compete at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, AR, this weekend.

The three-day championships, hosted by University of Arkansas, unfold Thursday-Saturday at the Tyson Center.

Sophomore Mikeisha Welcome, juniors Chris Banks and Kristo Simulask, redshirt junior Vernon Turner and seniors Cooper Campbell, Demarius Smith and Essence Thomas will represent OU after qualifying for the championships by securing top-16 marks nationally in their respective events.

Simulask will get things going for the Sooners in the heptathlon beginning at 11 a.m. CT on Thursday. The rest of the squad competes Friday and Saturday.

Simulask will open with the men's heptathlon 60-meter hurdles at 10 a.m. Campbell will compete in the men's shot put at 11 a.m., and Banks and Turner will get going at 11:30 in the men's high jump. Smith will close out Friday's action with the semifinals of the men's 200 meters at 3:25 p.m. The women's duo of Thomas and Welcome will start Day 3 action at 1 p.m. The men's 200 meter final is slated for 2:50 p.m. Saturday.

Live results can be found on Flash Results. Live stream of the championship meet can be found on ESPN3. Thursday's ESPN3 coverage will begin at 11 a.m. CT, Friday's at 1:45 p.m. and Saturday's at 12:30 p.m.

Simulask makes his second appearance in the NCAA Indoor heptathlon. In 2019, the Haapsalu, Estonia, native finished 13th in the event with 5,509 points. He qualified for the 2020 championships but was unable to compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He holds a personal- and school-record 5,691 points in the event. Simulask won the 2021 Big 12 Indoor Championships with 5,569 points, good for 16th in the national rankings and a spot at the championships.

Campbell, from Katy, TX, had a strong season in the men's shot put, breaking meet records and finishing top four in all four meets. He holds a personal-best 63-6.75 (19.37m) and the No. 2 spot on OU's all-time top-10 list, good for the No. 14 spot on the NCAA rankings.

Turner is set to make his second appearance in the indoor championships, claiming All-America status in 2018. Turner, the school-record holder, holds a personal-best 7-7.75 (2.33m). The Yukon, OK, product, Tulsa native and Olympic hopeful heads into the championships ranked fourth in the nation.

Banks will make his championship debut after an impressive performance at the Big 12 Indoor Championships, setting a personal-best 7-1.75 (2.18m). The native of Edmond, OK, is ranked No. 10 on the NCAA-qualifying list and is tied for fourth on OU's all-time top-10 list.

Smith, from Atlanta, had an impressive indoor season, competing in the men's 200-meter dash, 60-meter dash and 4x400 relay. He qualified for the 200 with the 13th-fastest time on the NCAA list with a personal-best 20.75 at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships. That ranks No. 2 in OU history.

Thomas, the school-record holder in the women’s triple jump, leaped a personal-best 44-6 (13.56m) at the Big 12 Indoor Championships, setting the school record and ranking seventh in the country.

Welcome recorded her personal-best 43-11.75 (13.40m) at the Big 12 Indoor Championships. The native of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, sits No. 2 in OU history and 14th on the qualifying list.

Both women are set to make their first appearance at the championships despite qualifying in 2020, where the meet was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Finishing in the top eight will produce first-team All-America honors, while ninth through 16th place is second-team All-America.

The Sooners outdoor season begins March 20 at the TCU Invitational.