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OU Track: Oklahoma Women, Men Finish 2nd, 4th in Conference Meet

The Sooners women's team matched its highest finish ever in a Big 12 meet, while the men landed their ninth top-five finish as OU racked up seven league champs.
John E. Hoover|
OU Track: Oklahoma Women, Men Finish 2nd, 4th in Conference Meet
OU Track: Oklahoma Women, Men Finish 2nd, 4th in Conference Meet

By OU Media Relations

NORMAN – The Oklahoma men's and women's track and field teams closed out the 2023 Big 12 Outdoor Championships in fourth and second place, respectively, on their home track at the John Jacobs Track and Field Complex, Sunday afternoon.

The women matched their highest finish in conference outdoor history with their first second place finish since 2016 and second overall. This also marks the fifth top-three finish at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship in program history. On the men's side, they claimed their ninth top-five finish in 10 years.

Oklahoma concluded their time at the conference championship with seven Big 12 champions, 39 podium finishes, numerous personal records and multiple OU top-10 marks. The women totaled 127 points and the men finished with 93 points.

Junior Zarik Brown became the third Sooner in program history to win the 400-meter dash at a conference outdoor championship. Brown clocked an impressive 44.61 for four records (Big 12, facility, program and personal best). Junior Richard Johnson ran a personal-best record of 44.80, which is fourth-best in program history.

The Sooners opened the final day of competition with podium finishes and season bests in each of the 4x100-meter relays. The women's squad of Eva Kubickova, Mikayla Hayes, Lilan Henderson and Kennedy Blackmon clocked 43.84 for second-best in program history. On the men's side, the squad of Zarik Brown, Josh Bour, Alajuwan Robinson and Nikaoli Williams finished No. 10 in program history with their fourth-place finish at 39.30.

In the women's 400-meter hurdles, all three Sooners finished atop of the podium with times in OU's top 10 in school history. Seniors Daneesha Davidson (56.43) and Ashonti Warner (56.52) finished second and third, respectively, and moved up to first and second in program history. Sophomore Jenna James is now 10th in program history after placing seventh with a time of 59.41.

Blackmon saw two individual podium finishes on the weekend. Her first of the day came from a pair of fourth place finishes in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Blackmon clocked a 11.19 (0.2 m/s) and 23.10 (0.3 m/s) in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, respectively. In the 100-meter dash, Hayes clocked a personal-best record of 11.34, which ties her seventh in program history.

In the field events, the Sooners collected four podium finishes. Senior Payden Montana earned her second podium finish on the weekend with a throw of 167-08 (51.10m) for seventh in the women's discus throw. In women's triple jump, Senior duo Davidson and Symone Washington leaped to sixth and eighth place with a 41-11.50 (12.79m) and 41-07 (12.67m, 2 m/s), respectively. Freshman Brandon Green leapt to a personal best 51-08.50 (15.76m) with 0.3 m/s wind for third place in the men's triple jump.

Bour clocked a time of 10.52 to finish eighth in the men's 100-meter dash, while freshman David Warmington took seventh with a time of 13.94 in the men's 110-meter hurdles. In the women's 1500-meter run, senior Yazmine Wright finished second with a 4:17.06. For the men's 5000-meter run, sophomore Colin Caso ran a PR at 14:55.59.

Closing out the day was a pair of 4x400-meter relay races. For the women, James, Davidson, Alyia Green, Warner clocked a 3:35.53 for the ninth-best record in program history to finish fourth. For the men, Brown, Salim Epps, Johnson, Muzuri Mattar, concluded the championship with a second-place finish and time of 3:03.64

Oklahoma will continue postseason competition at the NCAA West Regional in Sacramento, Calif., May 24-27 on the campus of Sacramento State University. The qualifiers for NCAA regionals will be announced following the conclusion of outdoor conference championships this weekend. 

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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