Track and Field Set to Take on Packed Weekend

Thursday, March 29

AUSTIN, TX

Oklahoma State University

Texas Relays

March 29, 2018 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

Meet Notes

The Basics
The OSU track and field squad splits in search of qualifying marks at three meets this weekend in Tulsa, Austin, Texas, and Palo Alto, California.
This is one of the two busiest weekends of the outdoor season for the Pokes, and one in which former Cowboy Josh Thompson and junior Jacob Fincham-Dukes both earned NCAA qualifying marks a season ago.

Follow the Meet
To follow the competition, live results will be available on each meet's host website.
For the ORU Invitational, visit oruathletics.com.
For Texas Relays results, go to texassports.com.
Finally to see the Stanford Invitational results, check out gostanford.com.
A full recap of Oklahoma State's weekend at each meet will be available on okstate.com following the conclusion of the final day of competition.

Broadcast
Both the Texas Relays and Stanford Invitational will be streamed live on FloTrack and can be seen with the proper subscription.
The Texas Relays will also be streamed live on the Longhorn Network and available online at espn3.com
The ORU Invitational will not be streamed online or broadcast on television.

Meet Formats/Schedules
All three meets are weekend-long meets taking up most of Friday afternoon and all day Saturday, but OSU only has two competitors in the Texas Relays.
Each meet's individual schedules can be seen on the host websites.
Friday's events are set to begin at 9:35 a.m. CT for the Texas Relays, 3:30 p.m. CT for the Stanford Invitational and 5:30 p.m. CT for the ORU Invitational.
On Saturday, Jacob Fincham-Dukes will compete in the long jump in Texas at 3 p.m. CT. The women's 800 meters will run six heats at Stanford, set to begin at 4:33 p.m. CT. Finally, the ORU Invitational will run all day Saturday, set to kick off at 8 a.m. CT with the hammer throw.

A Look Back – Arkansas Spring Invitational
In its first of four trips to Fayetteville in the outdoor season, the Oklahoma State track and field program earned four event titles at the 2018 Arkansas Spring Invitational.
Senior Cowboy Luis Martinez had the race of the day for the Pokes when he took first in the men's 1,500-meter invitational in 3:45.93. Martinez missed the meet record by five-hundredths of a second, set by former Cowboy Tom Farrell in 2011.
Latriceia Smith took home gold for the Cowgirls in the women's 800 meters, clocking in at 2:15.55. Smith ran a blazing 66-second 400 meters in the latter half of the race, edging out Caraline Slattery from Kansas.
Two hours later, Sinclaire Johnson out-kicked the competition in the women's 800-meter invitational section, earning first in 2:09.55. Johnson's mark currently sits as the No. 11 outdoor time in the NCAA in 2018.
The final event win for Dave Smith's squads came in the women's 4x400-meter relay. The quartet of Nicolette Dixon, Danielle Coleman, Stephanie Ferrante and Amira Coleman ran an impressive 3:42.08, which was fast enough for No. 4 on the OSU all-time performers' list.

Showing Out at Stanford
The trips to Stanford are a highlight of each Oklahoma State track and field program season. At a meet among the NCAA's best of the best, OSU athletes have shown why they are a force to be reckoned with.
At the Stanford Invitational a season ago, former decorated Cowboy Josh Thompson cruised to a win in the invitational section of the 1,500-meter run.
Thompson's 3:41.80 was nearly the fastest time of the day despite a collision in lane one involving several athletes and a meet official that forced Thompson and the remaining competitors toward the center of the track just before the bell lap.
Cowboy jumper Jacob Fincham-Dukes won his section of the long jump with an outdoor collegiate personal-best mark of 7.65m/25-1.25 feet.
At the time, the leap was the second-best in school history, the fourth-best mark in the NCAA West Region and second in the Big 12.

Rewriting Records
The Oklahoma State track and field dynasty has seen its fair share of success in the outdoor season, with 2018 being no exception. After just the Tulsa Duels and Arkansas Spring Invitational, the Pokes have already begun to rewrite school history.
After two meets, there have been 13 records that have cracked the school's all time top-10, spanning over 10 events.
One Cowboy and one Cowgirl have found themselves at the top of the list in sophomores Elliett Kulkin and Wesley Hallof.
In the opening meet of the outdoor season, Kulkin leapt her way to the top of the women's all-time pole vault list, tying Megan Robbins' mark of 3.75m/12-3.5 set in 1999.
Also joining her in the women's vault top-5 is Elissa White and Meghan McGrath, who sit at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.
A week ago at the Spring Invitational, Hallof launched his way into the OSU record books, becoming the sole leader of farthest men's javelin throw at 53.94m/177-0.
Some other notables include the 4x400-meter relay quartet of Nicolette Dixon, Danielle Coleman, Stephanie Ferrante and Amira Coleman running the No. 4 fastest relay time in school history at last week's meet.
Dave Smith's squad will look to continue to rewrite history and two of the nation's most premiere events this weekend - the Stanford Invitational and Texas Relays.

Martinez Magic
Senior Cowboy Luis Martinez has long been a staple of the men's distance lineup, with the final campaign being no different.
In the cross country season, Martinez placed in the top-10 in the four of five races he competed in, highlighted by his silver medal at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships behind teammate Hassan Abdi.
In the indoor season, he found himself in the top-10 in three out of four meets in which he competed.
His best run came against some the conference's best at the Big 12 Championships in Ames, Iowa. Martinez competed in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters, earning first team All-Big 12 honors in both events.
Martinez's final outdoor season is off to a hot start for the New Mexico native. In his first race of 2018, the Arkansas Spring Invitational, Martinez ran his way to a 1,500-meter gold in 3:45.93.
His time was a mere five-hundredths of a second off the meet record, set by former Cowboy Tom Farrell in 2011.
Martinez will fly out to California this week to compete against some of the nation's best at the Stanford Invitational in the men's 5,000 meters.