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June 28, 2008

EUGENE, Ore. —  Amy Backel soared to Monday’s javelin finals with Saturday’s seventh-best throw in the prelims of the event at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.  Backel advanced to Monday’s final in the event with a throw of 170 feet and 10 inches (52.08 meters).

Backel’s throw came on the junior-to-be’s third throw and was just one foot off the Dillsburg, Pa., native’s personal best of 171-10 (52.39), an Oklahoma program record.

Backel will now look to improve on the mark in Monday’s final at 8:20 p.m. PST.

OU competitors in the Olympic Trials return to the track on Sunday as Toni Smith competes in the women’s triple jump final at 2:25 p.m. PST followed by Leslie Cole in the 400-meter dash quarterfinals at 3 p.m.

Smith currently sits in second in the event with a top jump of 45-10.75 (13.99), just off Olympic Games “B” standard of 45-11.25 (14.00).

With only two competitors in the field, Shani Marks and Erica McLain, having previously reached an Olympic “A” standard of 46-7.25 (14.20), Smith still has a chance to make the U.S. Olympic Team. Smith will need to record a top-three finish with a “B” standard on Sunday while holding off all other competitors besides Marks and McLain to advance to Beijing. 

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KINGSTON, Jamaica —  Oklahoma alum Danny McFarlane finished first in the 400-meter hurdles and qualified for his third consecutive Olympic Games Saturday at the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association National Championships.  Fellow OU alum, Michael Blackwood, advanced to Sunday’s 400-meter dash finals in his quest for a third straight Olympic appearance.

McFarlane reeled off a time of 48.64 in the 400 hurdles, eclipsing the Olympic Games automatic qualifying “A” standard of 49.20. The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will see OU’s first three-time Olympian as McFarlane advanced to the past two Games, earning medals in both. 

In the 2004 Athens games McFarlane took silver in the 400 hurdles while grabbing a bronze as a member of Jamaica’s 4x400-meter relay at the 2000 Sydney Games. McFarlane finished fifth in the 400 hurdles at last year’s IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan.

Blackwood continued on his quest to join McFarlane as a three-time Olympian with second-fastest 400, 45.79, in the event’s semifinals. Ricardo Chambers led the field with a time of 45.33.  Blackwood has one Olympic medal in his trophy case, a bronze from the 2000 Sydney Games as a member of Jamaica’s 4x400 relay.

A quartet of Oklahoma athletes will compete in the final day of action on Sunday.  Latoya Greaves and Sheldon Leith compete Sunday in the women’s 100-meter hurdles and 110-meter hurdles, respectively, along with OU alums Aldwyn  Sappleton in the 800 and Blackwood in the 400.