Track and Field Splits Up for Relay-Packed Weekend

April 24, 2019 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

Meet Information
• Events – Drake Relays and the National Relay Championships
• Times –Drake Relays – F: 10:42 a.m., S: 11 a.m.; National Relay Championships – F: 3:45 p.m., S: 10:02 a.m.
• Facilities – Drake Stadium and John McDonnell Field
Meet Notes

The Basics
The Oklahoma State men's and women's track teams head to two relay-heavy meets this weekend.
This weekend will be a departure from normal weekends, as OSU will run in relay events that occur once at a few meets around the country.
For example, the distance crew will run distance medley relays, which is not an event that is run at conference or national championships.
More traditional relays, such as the 4X100 and 4X400 will be run at the National Relay Championships in Arkansas. The OSU trek to Fayetteville marks its third appearance at John McDonnell Field this season.

Follow the Meet
Fans can follow the action live on Twitter by following @run4okstate for updates. Final results will be published on www.okstate.com, along with a recap of OSU's day on the track.

Distance Assistant Coach Cody Halsey on the Meet
On Sinclaire Johnson's season opener last weekend
"That was a fantastic opener. You never know what to expect in your opening race, but for her to open with a time close to her personal best is incredible. She looked incredible. They went out really quick, so I think she was feeling it a little earlier in the race."

On what it means to have swept the women's distance relays at Drake twice
"That's pretty cool. It's only happened five times and we're the only school to have done it twice. Going in, we're hoping to do that again this weekend. It's such a cool experience. Winners get a flag and they get to run a victory lap. Drake Relays does such a great job of putting on such an extensive meet. They pack the stands. It's a lot of Midwestern teams and people that know us and our program. People are there and excited. You're not worried about your times, but you're still racing for your team."

Making Waves at the National Level
The Cowboys and Cowgirls own 11 NCAA top-50 times heading into the weekend.
Sinclaire Johnson made a statement in her outdoor debut. She won the invitational section of the 1,500 meters at the Cardinal Classic in a time of 4:13.35. Her mark slots her at second-best in the NCAA and No. 1 in both the West Region and the Big 12.
Jacob Fincham-Dukes also entered the NCAA top 50 with his performance in the men's long jump at the John Jacobs Invitational. He jumped 7.81m/25-7.5 to put himself at No. 16 in the country. His jump is also top-10 in the region and top-three in the conference.
Three Cowgirls ran top-50 times at the John McDonnell Invitational. Molly Sughroue ran a time of 4:17.81 to put herself at No. 28 in the nation in the event Jenny Martinez was right behind her fellow senior, clocking in with a time of 4:17.98 to put herself at No. 29 in the country in the 1,500 meters. The third Cowgirl to break into the nation's top 50 in the 1,500 meters was Ariane Ballner. She ran a time of 4:19.40 to become the 43rd-best performer of the season.
Ryan Smeeton is the closest of any Cowboy to the No. 1 performance in the country. Smeeton currently owns the sixth-best time in the country in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. His time also catapulted him to No. 5 on the OSU performance list.
Ashton Hicks ran the No. 2 time in the 400 meters in school history. His 45.82-second performance also put him in position for second in the West Region and No. 9 in the nation this season. He is coming off an indoor season that saw him earn second team All-America honors, and the freshman is poised to repeat the feat.
Taylor Somers ran her first 10,000-meter race at the Stanford Invitational and is in the nation's top 50. She ran a time of 33:51.17 to finish seventh in her section of the 10,000 meters. Her performance puts her at No. 35 in the country in the event.
Blake Scott is continuing his outdoor successes. After finishing as a second-team All-American in 2018, Scott is putting himself in position to do more of the same. Scott is currently No. 38 in the country in the pole vault with a mark of 5.21m/17-1.
Aaliyah Birmingham had a record-breaking indoor season and has kept her momentum rolling outdoors. She ran a time of 11.51 in the 100 meters at the Jim Click Shootout. Birmingham's time is good enough for 50th in the country.
Hassan Abdi returned to distance events after running the 1,500 meters in the first weekend of competition. Abdi ran in the invitational section of the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational and crossed the line in 29:13.95. His performance is No. 46 in the country.

Record-Breaking 2019
Nine school records have been rewritten so far this year for the Oklahoma State track and field teams.
Elissa White is the most recent record breaker. She beat out Elliett Kulkin and Megan Robbins on the performance list for the school record in the pole vault. She cleared 3.85m/12-7.5 at the John Jacobs Invitational.
Cole Verble broke the school's decathlon record at the John McDonnell Invitational with 6,221 points, breaking Mace Metcalf's mark from the 2018 Big 12 Outdoor Championships.
The Cowgirl distance medley relay squad of Molly Sughroue, Nicolette Dixon, Kaylee Dodd and Sinclaire Johnson ran a time of 10:55.93 at the UW Invitational. The time was not only the school record, but also the meet record. They broke the school record by almost six seconds and broke the meet record by almost seven seconds.
The Cowgirls then upped their performance by almost a whole second at the NCAA Indoor Championships. They finished in third place with a time of 10:55.01.
Bailey Golden broke the school record in the pentathlon with a score of 3,564 at the Razorback Invitational. She broke Melody Vaughn's record of 3,498 points which was set back in 1998.
Mace Metcalf also broke the school's indoor heptathlon record. He scored 4,999 points at the Big 12 Championships to set the school record in the men's indoor multi event.
Aaliyah Birmingham, a transfer athlete coming in from the University of Tulsa, broke the school record at the Arkansas Invitational in the 60 meters in her first race as a Cowgirl. Her new school-best time of 7.42 surpassed Kira White's previous record of 7.54, set back in 2017. She broke her own record at the Big 12 Championships with a time of 7.25. She finished as the conference's runner-up in the 60 meters. All-in-all, Birmingham set the 60-meters record four times in her first season as a Cowgirl.
Jacob Fincham-Dukes set the school record in the indoor long jump with a jump of 7.99m/26-2.75 at the Don Kirby Elite. He went on to finish fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships and was only four centimeters short of the winner (LSU's Rayvon Grey).
Fincham-Dukes, who is the indoor and outdoor long jump record holder, set the school record in the 60-meter hurdles. He ran an 8.32 at the Arkansas Invitational. Fincham-Dukes also bested his own record in the long jump.
Ashton Hicks is only a freshman, but put himself at the top of the 400-meters performance list, running a 46.31 to set the school record in that event. He topped Timmy Thomas' 28-year-old record. Nobody on OSU's roster was born when Thomas set that record in 1991.