LUBBOCK, Texas. – In a day that had few opportunities to put points on the board, the Oklahoma track and field program got a few thanks to the strong performance of long jumper Nolan Hay on Saturday at day two of the Big 12 Championships in Lubbock, Texas.
Hay finished fourth in the long jump competition after jumping a distance of 24-10.50 (7.58m). The fourth-place finish is the freshman’s sixth time to place in the top five this season, and the same position he finished in at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in February.
“Nolan was able to match his surprise fourth place at the indoor championships with another fourth today,” head coach Jim VanHootegem said. “He has been asked to make a lot of technical changes in his freshman year, but he has proven himself to be a competitor. I have high hopes for his future.”
The only other scorers on Saturday wearing Oklahoma uniforms, outside of Hay, were the shot putters. Avione Allgood closed out a very successful weekend, finishing eighth in the women’s shot put with a 48-08.75 (14.85m). Allgood finished second in the javelin on Friday with a personal best.
Austin Perry finished eighth on the men’s side after recording a 56-02.50 (17.13m). Perry placed fifth at last year’s championships.
The only other final event that featured a Sooner competitor was the women’s pole vault. Morgan Nichols finished ninth in the competition with a mark of 11-00.75 (3.37m).
In a day dominated by preliminary events on the track, four Sooners moved on to Sunday to race in the finals. Molly Williams got it started for OU in the women’s 1500, finishing third overall with a time of 4:27.77. She will race in the final tomorrow at 6:20 p.m. CT.
Ethan Baker also took care of business on Saturday in the men’s 400, finishing seventh in qualifying with a time of 47.62. The 400 final takes place tomorrow at 7:15 p.m. Nathaniel Winfrey qualified for Sunday’s final in the 400-meter hurdles, which takes place at 8:15, finishing seventh in the prelims with a time of 52.62.
“I thought Molly Williams looked very composed in her qualifying today,” VanHootegem explained. “We also had several young people perform well and I hope this experience will inspire them to do better next year.”
As a result of not having enough entries to require a prelim, Alex Deir advanced to tomorrow’s final in the men’s 1500, which is slated to begin at 6:30.
At the end of day two of the Big 12 Championships, Oklahoma sits fourth in team scores on the men’s side with 32 points, and fifth on the women’s with 25.
“Despite some good individual performances, I would have to say that today was a disappointing day,” said VanHootegem. “Even though we missed opportunities today, we still have a lot of people stepping onto the stage tomorrow, so those people will really need to perform well.”
The final day of the meet, the Sunday schedule features all finals. The Sooners start the day with the discus at 11 a.m. and track events get started at 5:30. Live results will be available at DeltaTiming and a recap will be available following competition on SoonerSports. More meet information can be found by visiting Meet Central.
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Bold denotes event qualifier. TEAM STANDINGS AT THE CONCLUSION OF DAY TWO MEN WOMEN |