2012 Olympics: 20 current, former Sooner athletes compete in Olympic trials
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The Associated Press
Twenty Sooner athletes competed in the Olympic trials. OU contributed five gymnasts and two track athletes to team USA.
AT A GLANCE
Current and former Sooners heading to London:
Gymnastics: Jonathan Horton, Jake Dalton, Chris Brooks, Steve Legendre, Alex Naddour
Track and Field: Tia Brooks, Brittany Borman, (Latoya Greaves, Aldwyn Sappleton)*
*= Will compete for Jamaica
A total of 20 current and former Sooner athletes competed in Olympic trials last weekend. Here’s how they did:
OU GYMNASTS GO 5-FOR-5
Five Sooner gymnasts competed in the U.S. Olympic trials, and all five made the team. Jonathan Horton and Jake Dalton claimed two of the five roster spots, with Chris Brooks, Steve Legendre and Alex Naddour making the team as alternates — giving the Sooners five of the eight available positions on the squad. With the exception of Horton, who won silver on the horizontal bar in Beijing in 2008, this will be the Olympic debut for each gymnast.
SOONERS’ NATIONAL CHAMPS HEADED TO LONDON
Less than a month after the pair claimed national titles in their respective events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, junior Tia Brooks (shot put) and senior Brittany Borman (javelin) both booked their trips to London last weekend. Borman — a back-to-back national champion in the javelin — took gold with a personal best of 201 feet, nine inches, and Brooks finished third with a throw of 60 feet, two inches. Brooks and Borman are just the second and third OU women to make an Olympic track and field team.
BIG NAMES FAIL TO QUALIFY
Perhaps the two biggest Oklahoma names at the trials, sprinter Mookie Salaam and thrower Kevin Bookout, both failed to qualify for the Olympics. Salaam pulled out of the 200-meter dash on Sunday due to a hamstring injury, and Bookout finished 10th in the shot with a throw of 19.06 meters.
OTHER NOTEWORTHY PERFORMANCES
Thirteen other Sooners made the trip to Oregon, but none faired as well as Brooks and Borman. Three members of this year’s senior class — George Alex, Luke Bryant and Eric Cray — and junior Riley Masters participated in the trials but failed to qualify. Alex ran 13:57.15 and finished 15th in the 1,500-meter final; Bryant finished 11th in the discus with a throw of 187 feet, 6 inches; Cray ran 51.32 in the 400-meter hurdles and finished 19th; and Masters finished eighth in the 1,500-meter with a time of 3:42.71. Former OU hurdler Ronnie Ash placed fifth in his heat of the 110-meter hurdles semi-final with a time of 13.53, and triple jumper Tydree Lewis finished 21st with a jump of 51 feet and 3/4 of an inch.
On the women’s side, Ti’Anca Mock finished 22nd in the women’s long jump final with a jump of 19 feet, 11 inches after scratching on her first two attempts, and Leslie Cole finished 29th overall in the women’s 200-meter dash with a time of 23.66.
OKLAHOMA WELL-REPRESENTED AT JAMAICAN NATIONAL TEAM TRIALS
Five former Sooner track and field athletes competed in the Jamaican Olympic Trials last weekend. Latoya Greaves qualified for the Jamaican National Team by placing second in the 110-meter hurdles with a personal best of 12.77 seconds; Aldwyn Sappleton finished second in the 800-meter final with a time of 1:48.43; Danny McFarlane placed fourth in the 400-meter hurdles with a 49.69; Shakeeri Cole ran a 2:09.74 in the women’s 800-meter and finished seventh; and Shawna Anderson ran an 11.67 in the women’s 100-meter dash, finishing 13th.
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