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Feb. 21, 2013

AMES, Iowa - The University of Oklahoma track and field team enters postseason action this weekend with the 2013 Big 12 Indoor Championships, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 22-23. Iowa State will serve as the host institution with the two-day meet taking place at Lied Recreation Center. 

The Big 12 has four men's teams and five women's squads ranked in the top 25 in the nation in the latest United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll. No. 21 Oklahoma is joined by No. 4 Texas Tech. Behind Tech is No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 8 Texas and No. 21 Oklahoma. Kansas (No. 5), Iowa State (No. 12), Texas (No. 13), Oklahoma State (No. 22) and Baylor (No. 25) represent the women's squads.

Oklahoma has 46 athletes set to compete in the two-day event. Action begins at 10 a.m. CST Friday with the multi-events. Field events and track events begin at 3 p.m. The final event Friday, the men's distance medley, starts at 9 p.m. Competition starts Saturday at 11 a.m. with multi-events. Field events begin at noon and running events start at 1:30 p.m. The final event Saturday, the men's 4 x 400-meter relay, begins at 5:25 p.m. Adult admission is $7 for one day. An adult two-day pass is $10. Admission for youth high school age and younger is $3 for one session and a two-day pass is $5.

The men's team boasts four different members ranked in the top-25 of their respective events.

Seniors Patrick Casey and Kevin Williams lead the way for the Sooners, as the duo is found in the top-25 of two events each. Casey, the OU program record holder in both the mile and 3,000-meter run sits fourth (3:56.28) and 11th (7:52.80), respectively, in the latest national rankings. Williams owns the third-lowest time in the 5,000-meter run (13:38.57) and is 22nd in the 3,000-meter run (7:57.93).

Additionally, Tre' Lathan holds the 15th-quickest time in the 60-meter hurdles (7.81), while Frezer Legesse clocked a 3:59.83 mile to sit 23rd in the country.
On the women's side, Tia Brooks remains first in the shot put, while Claire McConnell is 22nd in the pentathlon.

Since the arrival of head coach Martin Smith in 2005, OU has won 28 individual conference championships and one relay title. The 46 athletes competing this weekend for the Sooners have a combined 40 All-Big 12 Indoor honors and features one Big 12 champion - Brooks (shot put, 2011 & 2012).

Brooks has the opportunity to become just the second woman in Conference history to win the shot put three consecutive years, following Iowa State's Lisa Griebel who took home the honor, 1998-2000.