OU Track: Oklahoma Lands National Champion, Two Silver Medalists at NCAA Meet

The Sooners brought home gold in heptathlon from Pippi Lotta Enok while Vernon Turner and Kennedy Blackmon also won first-team All-America accolades.

John E. Hoover | Jun 11, 2023

OU Track: Oklahoma Lands National Champion, Two Silver Medalists at NCAA Meet /

By OU Media Relations

AUSTIN, TX — Pippi Lotta Enok wrapped up a dominating season as the heptathlon national champion Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Lotta Enok finished with 6,165 points, tallying a new school record. She locked in four new personal records in high jump, shot put, 200-meter dash and 800-meter run. With the win, she becomes the first Sooner to win a multis national title.

Senior Kennedy Blackmon took silver and first team All-America honors in the 100-meter dash to claim a season-best time at 10.87. She returned to the track to run in the 200-meter dash and crossed the line at 22.53 for second team All-America honors.

Vernon Turner opened day three by finishing his OU career with a second-place finish, making him a four-time first team NCAA Outdoor All-American. He leaves his time as a Sooner with five Big 12 titles, a national title and as a school-record holder. He cleared 7-5.25 (2.27m) to take silver.

On the other side of a career, freshman Brandon Green Jr. added second team All-American to his resume after leaping 52-8.25 (16.06m) in triple jump and moved to the No. 7 distance in OU history.

Pippi Lotta Enok :: Sara Diggins/American-Statesman-USA TODAY NETWORK

Previously at the meet, OU women won three All-America accolades and set a school record to round out day two.

Kassidy Gallagher got the day going for the women, marking 198-1 (60.38m) in the hammer throw for honorable mention in her first year as a Sooner.

The women's 4x100 relay squad of Eva Kubickova, Mikayla Hayes, Amanda Obijiaku and Kennedy Blackmon broke the school record and earned second team All-America status after clocking a season-best 43.52.

Blackmon returned to the track for the 100-meter dash semifinals and automatically qualified for Saturday's final after clocking an 11.07 and taking second in her heat. She followed it up by qualifying in the 200-meter dash, crossing the line at 22.69.

Ashonti Warner and Daneesha Davidson represented the Sooners in the 400-meter hurdles. Warner became a second team All-American with a 57.01 and Davidson earned honorable mention with a 57.56.

Olivia Lueking finished her season as a second-team All-American in pole vault, clearing 13-7.25 (4.15m). Symone Washington earned honorable mention in long jump after marking 19-3.25 (5.87m).

Krista Simulask / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Kristo Simulask ended his OU career with 7,410 points for 17th place in the decathlon and honorable mention All-America.

On day one, Simulask clocked a season-best time at 10.85 in the 100-meter dash. He followed it up by marking a 23-2 (7.06m) in long jump, throwing for 43-4.25 (13.21m) in shot put and clearing 6-1.25 (1.86m) in high jump. Simulask ended his first day in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.43.

Sophomore Nikaoli Williams took first team All-America status and sixth place after leaping 25-11 (7.90m) in long jump.

Richard Johnson became a second team All-American with a 45.40 and Zarik Brown earned honorable mention after clocking a 46.01 in the 400-meter dash. Sophomore Josh Bour ran a 20.80 in the 200-meter dash to land honorable mention.

Closing out the first day, the 4x400-meter relay squad of Brown, Bour, Johnson and Mattar clocked the No. 2 time in OU history with a 3:01.85 to become second-team All-Americans.

Published Jun 11, 2023

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.