Blanton Posts Nation’s Best Time In The 100
Sooner freshman highlights the first day of NCAA Midwest T&F Regional action.
May 30, 2003
LINCOLN, Neb. - Three days ago, he was named the Big 12’s Male Track and Field Freshman of the Year. On Friday afternoon, OU sprinter DaBryan Blanton served notice that he may be the best in the country in the 100-meter dash during preliminary action at the NCAA Midwest Regional Track and Field Championships at Ed Weir Stadium.
Blanton wasted no time in the 100, taking the lead right out of the blocks before finishing in a legal time of 10.07. The time is the best in the country through qualifying today and is the best non wind-aided time for a Sooner since 1976. It also was just .03 off the OU school record.
The mark also beat the old Ed Weir Stadium record by .25 seconds.
Blanton’s performance was one of several highlights for the Sooners in the first day of the inaugural NCAA Midwest Regional competition, a day that also featured temperatures in the 80s and winds gusting in excess of 35 miles per hour.
Junior LaVerne Jones advanced to Saturday’s final in the 100-meter dash with the fifth fastest time. She ran a 10.44 to finish third in her heat, then came back to win her heat of the 200 with the second fastest qualifying time, a 22.93. Because of the wind, however, the time cannot be used for NCAA ranking because the wind reading during her heat was higher than the allowable.
Blanton was scheduled to run the 200 but was pulled out after he began experiencing pain in his hamstring. He still should be selected for the NCAA field in that event as he had the fourth fastest time in the country entering this weekend’s regional action.
Nicola Maye also advanced to Saturday’s final, posting the fifth best qualifying time in the 800. Junior Mary Waytula won a jump off to finish eighth in the women’s pole vault with a career best mark of 12-3.25.
The results were a bit disappointing for OU’s other entries on Friday’s first day. The men’s and women’s 400-meter relay did not advance to the final. Jimyria Hicks (100), Tiffany Davis (100 hurdles), Dwayne Duhaney (400) and Aldwyn Sappleton (800) also failed to advance to Saturday’s final. Davis finished ninth in the hurdles, missing a spot in the finals by .03 seconds.
Kyle Bookout finished ninth in the discus with a 183-4 while Kevin Bookout was 13th with a season best 174-1. The senior Bookout, Kyle, had his best throw on his final attempt in the prelims, then fouled on all three attempts in the final. The younger Bookout, Kevin, had only one legal throw, his first in the prelims.
Junior Leslie Dunlap tied for 12th in the pole vault with a 12-0.5 and Lindsey Bourne was 16th with the same height but more misses. Renea’ Burns finished 16th in the javelin.
In addition to the runners who advanced to Saturday’s final, OU will have three competitors in the men’s pole vault, Michael Westlund, Austin Landreth and Robin Hanna; Kelsey Moore in the women’s high jump and Kevin Bookout in the shot put. OU also will have entries in the men’s and women’s 1600-meter relays.
Action begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with the final events, the 1600-meter relays, scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
The top five finishers in each individual event as well as the top three finishers in the relays will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships set for June 11-14 in Sacramento, Calif. The field will be filled with at-large entries and those will be announced Sunday with the final field set to be announced on Monday.
2003 NCAA Midwest Regional
Ed Weir Stadium
Lincoln, Neb.
OU Results only
Finals
Women’s Javelin --16. Renea’ Burns, 136-0
Women’s Pole Vault – 8. Mary Waytula, 12-3.25; 12. (tie) Leslie Dunlap, 12-0.5; 16. Lindsey Bourne, 12-0.5
Men’s Discus – 9. Kyle Bookout, 183-4; 13. Kevin Bookout, 174-1
Prelims
Women’s 400-Meter Relay – 11. Oklahoma (Tiffany Davis, LaVerne Jones, Natasha Franklin, Jimyria Hicks), 46.19 [did not advance to final]
Men’s 400-Meter Relay – 11. Oklahoma (Cory Crosby, DaBryan Blanton, Robert Smith, L’eron George), 40.50 [did not advance to final]
Women’s 100 Meter Hurdles – 9. Tiffany Davis, 13.66 (w: 4.5) [did not advance to final]
Men’s 400 Meter Dash – 16. Dwayne Duhaney, 47.73 [did not advance to final]
Women’s 100 Meter Dash – 5. LaVerne Jones, 11.44 (w: 2.8) [advanced to final]; 14. Jimyria Hicks, 11.71 (w: 2.1) [did not advance to final]
Men’s 100 Meter Dash --1. DaBryan Blanton, 10.07 (w: 1.1); new Ed Weir Stadium record, old record 10.32 by Riley Washington, Nebraska, 1994 [advanced to final]
Women’s 800 Meter Run – 5. (tie) Nicola Maye, 2:11.31 [advanced to final]
Men’s 800 Meter Run – 12. Aldwyn Sappleton, 1:52.97 [did not advance to final]
Women’s 200 Meter Dash – 2. LaVerne Jones, 22.93 (w: 4.3) [advanced to final]