NORMAN - The Oklahoma men's and women's track and field teams closed out competition at the annual John Jacobs Invitational on Saturday. The Sooners collected 14 event victories on the second day of their lone regular season home meet.

"It was nice to come out on a sun-splashed day here in Norman," OU head coach Jim VanHootegem said. " I saw a lot of good things today in the meet, and a lot of people taking steps forward ... There was great spirit and people creating energy."

Action began on Friday night, when the Sooners tallied the top collegiate marks in the men's and women's shot put and both hammer throws, led by redshirt junior Meia Gordon and sophomore Cooper Campbell in the shot put and sophomores Lauren Jones and Edward Jeans in the hammer throws. 

The meet continued on Saturday when redshirt senior Makayla Stephens won the first event of the day, the women's javelin throw, with a personal-best mark of 124-10 (38.04). Sophomore Josh Haus completed a javelin sweep for OU, with his throw of 204-02 (62.23m) for first place.

Stephens found more success later in the day at the women's high jump, where she finished second with a mark of 5-6.5 (1.69m). Sophomore Falyn Reaugh secured the victory, clearing 5-9.25 (1.76m). 

Oklahoma also swept both pole vaults, with senior Meagan Gray taking home the women's title and a personal record. Gray cleared 14-1.25 (4.30m) to move to third on OU's all-time top-10 performance list. Senior Sydney King finished second, clearing 13-7.25 (4.15m). Senior Mackenzie Shell and sophomore Abby Bilsbury both cleared 12-11.5 (3.95m) to take third and fourth, respectively. Bilsbury's mark was good for a personal record and moves her to ninth on the program's all-time performance list. 

In the men's pole vault, freshman Kristo Simulask won with a mark of 14-11 (4.55m) in his collegiate outdoor pole vault debut. Junior Lucas Kelley took second, clearing 14-5.25 (4.40m).

OU wrapped up the throwing events by claiming the top collegiate marks in both discus throws. Junior Brad Daboub won the men's discus with a mark of 172-04 (52.54m), while Gordon threw the discus 172-02 (52.47m) to finish only behind former Sooner Jess Woodard, who competed unattached. Lauren Jones finished in third place overall with a throw of 162-10 (49.64m). 

The strong season for OU's horizontal jumpers continued as freshman Symone Washington earned the top mark in the women's long jump with a PR leap of 20-1.5 (6.13m) (-2.3), while sophomore Nura Muhammad recorded her own personal best at 19-11 (6.07m) (-1.2) for third place. Senior Greg Vann finished second in the men's long jump with a mark of 24-8.5 (7.53m) (-3.3). Sophomore Langdon Williams and freshman Golden Eke both recorded collegiate bests to finish third and fourth with respective marks of 24-3.5 (7.40m) (-1.1) and 24-3 (7.39m) (-0.8). 

Freshman Allanah Lee picked up another victory for the Sooners in the women's triple jump, leaping 41-10 (12.75m). Senior Najuana Strickland jumped 40-1.25 (12.22m) for third place. In the men's triple jump, senior Marcus Mitchell earned second place with a jump of 46-9 (14.25m) (-0.5). 

The Sooners opened action on the track by winning both the men's and women's 4x100-meter relays. Junior Amanda Van Buren, sophomore Dai'Lyn Merriweather, sophomore Ja'Leesa Giles and freshman Kennedy Blackmon teamed up to finish in 45.19 for first in the women's race. Junior Jackson Webb, sophomore Joseph Sheffield, junior Xavier Brown and freshman Quoi Ellis just missed a meet record by 0.02, clocking in at 39.42 for a win of their own. 

Sophomore Camri Austin took home the victory in the women's 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.44, while junior Mahendra McWhite's 14.34 was good for second place. In the men's 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Isaiah Levingston secured another Sooner victory with his time of 52.05. Junior Bryce Douglas recorded a 55.06 for fifth place. 

The Sooners added five top-five finishes in the 200-meter dashes. On the women's side, Blackmon led the way with a 24.17 (-0.3) for third place, followed by sophomores Jai'lyn Merriweather (24.60; -0.9) in fourth and Essence Thomas (24.61; -0.4). All three women recorded personal bests in the event. For the men, Brown claimed third place at 21.33 (1.2), while Ellis finished fifth with a time of 21.54 (1.2).

The OU women finished 3-4-5 in the women's 100-meter dash, led by sophomore Ja'Leesa Giles' 11.87 (2.3). Blackmon took fourth with a personal-best time of 11.88 (-0.2), and Dai'lyn Merriweather earned fifth at 11.89 (-0.2). 

After the 100-meter dashes, the meet paused while the Sooners celebrated their 2019 graduating class with a ceremony on the infield. 

"We honored our seniors today," VanHootegem said. "It's always fun to see that process, but also hard for us to see that group of people go. " 

With a large graduating class, the Sooners used the John Jacobs Invitational as a chance to look towards the future. Six freshmen competed in the 400- and 800-meter dashes along with two sophomores, highlighted by freshman Cristen Harrison's fourth-place 57.08 in the women's 400 meters and freshman Jordyn Kaplan's sixth-place 2:23.77 in the women's 800 meters. 

Redshirt sophomore Morgan Long grabbed the first-place finish in the women's 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:46.84, while sophomore Derek King was the first runner competing attached to finish the men's race, clocking in at 4:02.04.

Oklahoma wrapped up the John Jacobs Invitational by going 1-2 in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Senior Zach Gentry finished in 9:24.80 to clinch the win, while fellow senior Andrew Doherty collected a personal-best time of 9:28.57 for the second-place spot. 

Up next, the Sooners head to Fayetteville, Ark., for the National Relay Championships on April 26-27. 

"It's that last chance to stabilize things," Van Hootegem said. "It's that chance to take it one step closer to figuring something out or making sure you can repeat a performance. I think the difference here is that it is going to be the highest level of competition that we have seen in the last few weeks. I think our team is ready for that."

The meet is the last regular season competition for the 2019 outdoor season. Following the trip to Fayetteville, the Sooners will return home to prepare to host the 2019 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 10-12 at the John Jacobs Track and Field Complex.

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