OU Men Win First Big 12 Track Title
LINCOLN, Neb. -- The University of Oklahoma men's track and field team won its first conference title in 29 years by capturing the Big 12 Outdoor Championships Sunday afternoon at Ed Weir Stadium.
The Sooners scored a program record 110.50 points to beat Texas Tech (100) and Texas (96). OU was guaranteed victory before the final event, leading by 11.5 points entering the 4x400-meter relay. The Sooners last won conference titles in 1977 and 1978 when they captured back-to-back Big Eight Conference outdoor championships. "The whole last three months in preparing for this meet," OU head coach Martin Smith said, "we were just trying to focus on what we were capable of doing. I think that's one of the lessons we learned indoors. We got a little distracted and pressed (too hard), and we weren't really used to that kind of territory. "We knew we had a balanced team and we don't have much room for error and today we were just very fortunate that everything we charted and planned to do happened. It's a special weekend for us. We really didn't have any breakdowns. The coaching staff and the work they did getting all of these kids ready was pretty amazing." Marcus Pugh scored a team-leading 20 points with a win in the 100-meter dash, second-place finish in the 200, and a fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. "I left it all out there today," Pugh said. "I wanted to win both the 100 and 200. I got one of them and we got our ultimate team goal a championship. We made history to day for our University...a lot of respect was gained for our team today." Pugh ran 10.30 in the 100 to defeat Texas' Jamaal Charles (10.32). Kevin Bookout dominated the men's shot put, winning the competition with his best throw of 62 feet, 8.50 inches (19.11 meters). His first throw of 62-4.75 (19.02) put the title out of reach as Bookout won by nearly six feet. "It feels good (to win), but now I just want to get one as a team," Bookout said. "If our team can compete today and be aggressive, I want to win as a team. I don't care about the individual accolades." Shardae Boutte and Tydree Lewis finished 1-2 in the men's triple jump. Boutte jumped a personal best of 53-3.75 (16.25) and Lewis recorded a 52-8.00 (16.05). Frankie Green was seventh, giving the OU men 20 points in the event. "I knew all these guys in the field were good jumpers," Boutte said. "It was tough. I had to keep my head up and stay on guard the whole time." The women's team matched its all-time best Big 12 finish of sixth, scoring 64 points. Texas A&M (140) won the women's championship. The Sooners have made an unprecedented leap in performance since the arrival of Smith, now in his second year as head coach. In 2005, the season prior to his arrival, the men finished 10th outdoors and the women were 12th -- last in the conference. In just two years, both squads have scored program bests in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. "This is uncharted territory for us," Smith continued. "We're going to take a day or two and enjoy the win and then we'll get back to work and focus on the regional meet because that's our only ticket to nationals. If we can keep the momentum going, it will be a real neat opportunity to see if we can take it to the next step. Right now, this is a really positive step for us." The Sooner men entered participants in 16 of the 21 events and scored in 13. Toni Smith broke her own school record in the triple jump with her best of 43-9.25 (13.34). Smith finished third to champion Chrystal Manning of Kansas (44-11.75 [13.71]) and Texas A&M's Ashika Charan (43-11.25 [13.39). Smith's jump was the lone non-wind-aided mark among the top five finishers. Jessica Eldridge (4:25.71) finished runner-up to Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego (4:21.57) in the 1,500-meter run. The women's 4x100-meter relay of Leslie Cole, Yolanda Goff, Scottesha Miller and Larica Urbina placed third in 44.24, the second best all-time by an Oklahoma team. The women's 4x400 of Cole, Jhavonne Pope, Goff and Tijahnni Newton improved on its season best by over four seconds, running 3:34.80, the fifth best time ever for OU in the event. Saturday, OU freshman Scottesha Miller won the women's long jump title.
  
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