March 9, 2013

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -

Final Results | Photo Gallery

Freshman Bryce Robinson claimed sixth in the 60-meter dash, while senior Chris O’Hare snared seventh-place in the mile at the 2013 Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday at the Randal Tyson Track Center.

This marked the first time that TU had two student athletes achieve All-America status at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Robinson became TU’s first freshman All-American and the Golden Hurricane’s first athlete to garner All-America honors in an indoor sprint event. After a false start which disqualified Virginia Tech’s Darrell Wesh, Robinson shot out of the blocks to achieve a time of 6.69 to earn a sixth-place showing. D”Angelo Cherry of Mississippi State, the 2013 US National Champion in the 60-meter dash, won the event in 6.54 which featured three freshmen.

“It was a cool experience to race some of the best of the best,” Robinson said.  “I didn’t have one of my best races, but it will give me motivational to train harder for next year.”

Even though the results will say that that Robinson ran twice at the NCAA championships, the sprinter went to the starting blocks five times as three false starts were called during his two races.

“It’s a mental game with the false starts,” Robinson said. “Coach (Clif) Mitchell told me to calm down and just focus on what I have to do.”

Robinson, who started running track as a senior at Edmond Memorial High School, now turns his attention to the outdoor season.

“Hopefully I’ll have a successful outdoor season,” Robinson stated. “I will try to make nationals in the 100 and 200 meters, that’s my goal, and I’ll try to reach that.”

O’Hare, the collegiate record holder in the indoor mile, started off towards the middle of the pack as Arizona’s Lawi Lalang took a lead. O’Hare made a move surging from seventh place to second straight with three laps to go, but with a lap to go O’Hare slipped from the top of the second pack to seventh, where he would finish the race with a time of 4:02.96. Lalang won the event with a meet record time of 3:54.74, while North Carolina State’s Ryan Hill was second in 3:55.25.

‘The competition field was really steep,” O’Hare said. “I went into the race very confident. I was sitting behind Lawi after the first lap, and thought he was playing in our hands, but my legs weren’t being cooperative today. I started to go backwards, I had a few words with myself, and managed to get back to the front of the pack and tried to find a pace again, Obviously, very disappointed, but I’ll et back to training and will see what I’ll do outdoors.”

For O’Hare, the 2012 NCAA champion in the mile, tonight’s race marked his final race indoors for TU.  O’Hare concludes his indoor career for the Hurricane as TU’s first NCAA track and field Champion, a three-time first time All-American in the mile and the school’s record holder in the mile, 800 and 1,000-meter run.

“It’s been a good indoor career,” O’Hare said. ”It would have been great to go out with a bang tonight. Things always don’t’ got as planned, but I have to look at the positives.”

Tulsa tied for 40^th in the team standings with five team points. Arkansas won the team title with 74 points, while Florida was second with 59 points.

“It was a disappointing race for Chris,” commented Head Coach Steve Gulley. “He’s had some many great races this year, and a bad race came at the wrong time. We are extremely proud of Bryce making the 60-meter dash as a freshman, and we are excited to see what the outdoor campaign will bring.”

The Golden Hurricane will switch its attention to the outdoor circuit, as TU hosts the Tulsa Duels on Saturday, March 16 at the Hurricane Track and Soccer Stadium. 

For all Tulsa track news and information, visit www.TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane. Follow Tulsa Track & Field on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaTrack and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaTrack. 

Men’s Mile – Finals

1 Lawi Lalang               JR Arizona                3:54.74M  10        

  2 Ryan Hill                 SR North Carolina St.     3:55.25M   8        

  3 Austin Mudd               SO Wisconsin              3:57.93    6         

  4 Tyler Stutzman            SR Stanford               3:59.70    5        

  5 John Simons               JR Minnesota              3:59.71    4        

  6 Christopher Fallon        SR Ohio State             4:02.28    3        

  7 Chris O'Hare              SR Tulsa                  4:02.96    2        

  8 Michael Atchoo            JR Stanford               4:04.92    1        

  9 Robby Creese              SO Penn State             4:08.82             

 -- Raul Botezan              SR Oklahoma State             DNF

Men’s 60-Meter Dash – Finals

  Finals

1 D'Angelo Cherry           SR Miss State                6.54   10        

  2 Marcus Rowland            SR Auburn                    6.55    8        

  3 Charles Silmon            SR TCU                       6.61    6    6.601

  4 Harry Adams               SR Auburn                    6.61    5    6.608

  5 Markesh Woodson           FR Missouri                  6.66    4        

  6 Bryce Robinson            FR Tulsa                     6.69    3        

  7 Tevin Hester              FR Clemson                   6.70    2        

 -- Darrell Wesh              JR Virginia Tech               FS