OSU Track and Field Sends Four to NCAA Championships

Wednesday, June 6

EUGENE, OR

Oklahoma State University

NCAA Outdoor Championships

June 04, 2018 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

MEET NOTES

The Basics
A select group of Cowgirls and Cowboys join the elites of the collegiate track and field world this weekend at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
The two Cowboy representatives are both field events, with that being Jacob Fincham-Dukes in the long jump and Blake Scott in the pole vault.
Sinclaire Johnson and Molly Sughroue will represent the Cowgirls in the 1,500 meters in Eugene.

Follow the Meet
To follow the meet, live results have been made available by Flash Results and can be found on the NCAA's website, NCAA.com.
Results and a full recap of each day's events for Oklahoma State will be posted following both days of competition on okstate.com.
Follow @run4okstate for live updates during the meet on the Cowboys' and Cowgirls' progress.

Broadcast
Fans of Oklahoma State track and field can watch the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on ESPN2 and ESPN3 on Wednesday and Thursday.
ESPN will show the finals of the events on Friday and Saturday, beginning at 8:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., respectively.

Meet Format/Schedule – All Times CT
The first event for OSU at the NCAA Outdoor Championships will be the men's pole vault final featuring Texas transfer Blake Scott at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Jacob Fincham-Dukes in the men's long jump final is the second event for the Cowboys on day one, and his action is scheduled for 8 p.m.
On Thursday, sophomore Sinclaire Johnson and senior Molly Sughroue are set to run in the women's 1,500-meter semifinal final at 6:16 p.m.
Once qualified, the Cowgirls will get a day of rest to prepare for the women's 1,500-meter final on Saturday at 5:41 p.m. in search of the third Cowgirl outdoor individual champion in program history.
The full meet schedule is available on NCAA.com.

Last Time Out – Strong Showing in Sacramento
Oklahoma State track and field's Blake Scott and Jacob Fincham-Dukes earned bids to Eugene, Oregon, on the Thursday at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
Fincham-Dukes leapt to a mark of 7.76m/25-5.5 (+2.2), which was enough to send him to his second NCAA Outdoor Championships and earn fifth overall in the event. The England international is hunting his second outdoor All-America honor after taking ninth a year ago.
In the second field event to qualify for the NCAA Championships on day one, Scott cleared a national-qualifying height of 5.15m/16-10.75 in the pole vault, taking ninth overall in the event.
On the women's side, Sinclaire Johnson and Molly Sughroue booked their spots in the NCAA Championships on the final day of the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
Both Johnson and Sughroue advanced to the meet in Eugene, Oregon, within the same heat, a packed 1,500-meter quarterfinal that resulted in both Cowgirls earning PR's.
Johnson's personal-best time of 4:11.57 slots her in the top-10 in the NCAA this season, while also setting the No. 2 time in school history.

Making Her Name Known
OSU track has long been known for its middle-distance prowess, with Cowgirl sophomore Sinclaire Johnson adding to an already impressive list of runners.
Johnson has stuck with middle distance since her arrival at OSU, alternating between the 800 meters and 1,500 meters.
Two weeks ago at the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Sacramento, California, Johnson may have hit her stride.
In the 1,500-meter final, Johnson commanded the race and led wire-to-wire to cross the line in 4:11.57 to punch her ticket to Eugene.
With that time, Johnson ran the second fastest outdoor time in the event in school history, and the fastest since NCAA champion Natalja Piliusina.
The time shaved a whopping nine seconds off Johnson's personal best. With her qualification to this week's NCAA Championships, Johnson is looking to become the third individual NCAA champion in school history.

New Kid on the Block
A junior transfer from the University of Texas, Blake Scott has begun to make his name known in the pole vaulting community, especially among the Big 12, which is widely regarded as the best vaulting conference in the nation.
In his first season with Oklahoma State, Scott etched his name among the program greats in the event, moving up to No. 5 in school history in the pole vault. Scott cleared 5.28m/17-3.75 three weeks ago at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships to advance to his second NCAA West Preliminary Round.
At the NCAA West Preliminaries, Scott showed why he's one of the best vaulters in school history, clearing 5.15m/16-10.75 to punch his ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene Oregon.
Scott is the first Cowboy in the pole vault to earn All-America status and advance to the NCAA Championships since school record holder Joe Dial in 1985. Dial would go on to give the Cowboys an individual national title in the event.
With an already budding confidence and improvement in the event, Scott will be pressed to give the Cowboys their first NCAA title in the event in more than 30 years.

Obliterating Outdoors
The outdoor season has been one that's seen great success under Dave Smith. In his first season as cross country and track and field director, the Cowboys got their first individual outdoor champion since 1985 in German Fernandez. Fernandez took home the title in the men's 1,500 meters and still holds the school record mark in the event.
For the Cowgirls, 2016 was a historic outdoor year for Dave Smith's women's squad. The outdoor season produced five All-Americans: Aurora Dybedokken, Chase Ealey, Ingeborg Loevnes, Kaela Edwards and Savannah Camacho. That mark represents the most women's All-Americans in a single year in program history.
In 2017, the outdoor season saw more of the same, with the Cowboys and Cowgirls both producing three All-Americans.
For the men, the season was highlighted by Hassan Abdi's first Big 12 title, Jacob FIncham-Dukes setting the outdoor school record in the long jump and Josh Thompson's fourth-place finish in the NCAA Championships.
Some highlights of the Cowgirls' outdoor season were Kaela Edwards and Savannah Camacho's final Big 12 titles and Kaylee Dodd's fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships after finishing ninth overall in the indoor season.
Dave Smith's squads are in prime position to excel heading into the NCAA Championships again this year.