OBU Sends 32 to NAIA Indoor Meet

Thirty-two Oklahoma Baptist University indoor track athletes left for Johnson City, Tenn., Tuesday hoping to bring back another solid national finish, if not a red championship banner.

Sixteen men will run in 14 events and OBU’s 16 women will participate in 11 events.

On the men’s side, Pat Brown will lead the charge, ranked No. 1 in the nation in the 55 meter hurdles and 200 meters and one-fourth of the No. 2 mile relay team with T.J. Lightsey, Leonarde Smith and Clint Goodson.

Lightsey also will be a key component, ranking fifth in the 600 meters and sixth in the 200 meters. Landon Willets will be important in the longer events, ranking second in the 1000, and third with Bryce Bell, Prophet Bailey and Michael Elizondo on the 4x800 relay.

Bell is ranked eighth in the 600 meters.

While Smith is ranked 12th in the 400 meters, he should finish higher than that, given two of his teammates — Lightsey and Brown — are ranked ahead of him and are concentrating on other events.

OBU’s distance medley relay team of Willets, Bell, Bailey and Elizondo is ranked sixth. Chris Chandler will be filling in on some of the relays in preliminary rounds.

Lamar Baskin is ranked seventh in the 55 hurdles, Dominique Chan-Low is ranked fifth in the triple jump and Jeremiah Campo is ranked 10th in the shot put. Mitch Henry is ranked sixth in the indoor pentathlon.

Also representing the Bison are Elizondo in the 1000 meters, Goodson in the 400, Daniel Ellis in the 5000, Kerry Duckworth in the long jump and Theron Stoltzfus in the 3000.

The women’s team features a four-woman front line in Mirriam Kaumba, Kyli Bean, Kyta Ferrer and Keyonna Hornbuckle that could give the team a huge boost.

Kaumba is ranked first in the 5000 meters and joins Chandra Huckabay, Kelsey Engstrom and Sara Thurber in the second-ranked distance medley relay team that will be bolstered by the fact that Kaumba is not scheduled to run the 3000 meters.

Bean is ranked first in the 600 meters and joins Hornbuckle, Ferrer and Melissa Mount in the top-ranked mile relay team. Hornbuckle is ranked second in the 600 meters and Ferrer is the second seed in the 800 meters.

Mount also is ranked sixth in the 600 meters and combines with Ferrer, Huckabay, Andrea Mount and Katie Engstrom on the No. 10 4x800 relay squad.

Kelsey Engstrom is ranked sixth in the 1000 meters.

Thurber will represent OBU in the pentathlon, where she is ranked fifth, as well as in the 55 hurdles as the No. 10 national entry. Penny Dunaway and Jennifer Jenckes will also run the 55 hurdles.

Deena Almohandis is ranked fourth in the high jump and will be joined in that event by Michelle Carpenter. Mai Fukada is ranked ninth in the triple jump.

Also for OBU, Becka Brock will run the 5000 meters.

OBU’s Schedule

Thursday, March 3

3 p.m. — Men’s Pentathlon (Henry)

3:30 p.m. — Women’s Pentathlon (Thurber)

4:45 p.m. — Women’s 3200 Relay Semifinals (Mount, Mount, Ferrer, Huckabay, Engstrom)

5:15 p.m. — Men’s 3200 Relay Semifinals (Willets, Bell, Bailey, Elizondo)

5:45 p.m. — Women’s 1600 Relay Semifinals (Hornbuckle, Ferrer, M.Mount, Bean)

6:15 p.m. — Men’s 1600 Relay Semifinals (Brown, Goodson, Lightsey, Smith)

6:45 p.m. — Women’s Distance Medley Relay Semifinals (Huckabay, Ke. Engstrom, Thurber, Kaumba)

7:15 p.m. — Men’s Distance Medley Relay Semifinals (Willets, Bell, Bailey, Elizondo)

Friday, March 4

1 p.m. — Women’s 55 Hurdles Prelim (Thurber, Dunaway, Jenckes)

1:20 p.m. — Men’s 55 Hurdles Prelim (Brown, Baskin)

2:35 p.m. — Women’s 55 Hurdles Semi (Thurber, Dunaway, Jenckes)

2:40 p.m. — Men’s 55 Hurdles Semi (Brown, Baskin)

3:05 p.m. — Men’s 400 Semi (Goodson)

3:20 p.m. — Women’s 600 Semi (Bean, Hornbuckle, M.Mount)

3:35 p.m. — Men’s 600 Semi (Lightsey, Bell)

4:10 p.m. — Women’s 800 Semi (Ferrer)

4:40 p.m. — Women’s 1000 Semi (Ke. Engstrom)

4:55 p.m. — Men’s 1000 Semi (Willets, Elizondo)

5:30 p.m. — Men’s Long Jump FINAL (Duckworth)

5:40 p.m. — Men’s 3000 Semi (Stoltzfus)

6:20 p.m. — Men’s 200 Semi (Lightsey)

6:35 p.m. — Women’s 5000 Semi (Kaumba)

7:15 p.m. — Men’s 5000 Semi (Ellis)

7:50 p.m. — Women’s 3200 Relay FINAL (Hornbuckle, Ferrer, M.Mount, Bean)

8:05 p.m. — Men’s 3200 Relay FINAL (Willets, Bell, Bailey, Elizondo)

Saturday, March 5

12:30 p.m. — Women’s Triple Jump FINAL (Fukada)

12:45 p.m. — Women’s 55 Hurdles FINAL (Thurber, Dunaway, Jenckes)

12:50 p.m. — Men’s 55 Hurdles FINAL (Brown, Baskin)

1 p.m. — Men’s 400 FINAL (Goodson)

1:05 p.m. — Women’s 600 FINAL (Bean, Hornbuckle, M.Mount)

1:10 p.m. — Men’s 600 FINAL (Lightsey, Bell)

1:30 p.m. — Women’s 800 FINAL (Ferrer)

1:45 p.m. — Women’s 1000 FINAL (Ke. Engstrom)

1:55 p.m. — Men’s 1000 FINAL (Willets, Elizondo)

2:20 p.m. — Men’s 3000 FINAL (Stoltzfus)

2:40 p.m. — Men’s 200 FINAL (Lightsey)

2:45 p.m. — Women’s 5000 FINAL (Kaumba)

2:45 p.m. — Men’s Shot Put FINAL (Campo)

2:45 p.m. — Men’s Triple Jump FINAL (Chan-Low)

2:45 p.m. — Women’s High Jump FINAL (Almohandis, Carpenter)

3:10 p.m. — Men’s 5000 FINAL (Ellis)

3:30 p.m. — Women’s Distance Medley Relay FINAL (Huckabay, Ke. Engstrom, Thurber, Kaumba)

3:50 p.m. — Men’s Distance Medley Relay FINAL (Willets, Bell, Bailey, Elizondo)

4:05 p.m. — Women’s 1600 Relay FINAL (Hornbuckle, Ferrer, M.Mount, Bean)

4:15 p.m. — Men’s 1600 Relay FINAL (Brown, Goodson, Lightsey, Smith)