NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma men\'s and women\'s track and field teams start the 2007 indoor season Friday, Jan. 12, at the Arkansas Invitational in Fayetteville .
Both squads have high expectations after several impressive performances last season. Head coach Martin Smith, in his second season at the helm, looks to take the program one step closer to national prominence.
The OU men's track and field team improved steadily over the 2006 season, from finishing 10th at the Big 12 Indoor Championships to fifth during the outdoor season. The core of Oklahoma 's team returns in 2007 and will be boosted by the addition of two dozen newcomers.
The Sooner men return three former All-Americans in shot putter Kevin Bookout and pole vaulters Chip Heuser and Scott Martin. Martin and javelin thrower Cale Drumright were Big 12 Champions in 2006.
This is Bookout's final season of track and field, but will see his first ever collegiate indoor action as his basketball eligibility has expired.
Smith, who is in his 27th year as a Division I coach, believes this year's team will move the Sooner program into the upper echelon of the Big 12 Conference.
"This team has a great deal of talent," Smith says, "but we must improve in all phases – from developing our returning student-athletes to building our new teammates into competitive athletes. More than half of this team is newcomers, so an emphasis must be made on acclimating this team to the challenge of Division I track and field."
The women's team made a spectacular jump in performance last year. The Sooner women, who finished last in conference the year before, tied for fourth during the indoor season in one of the most impressive one-year turnarounds in the conference's history.
The OU women reload in 2007 with the return of all its top student-athletes and the addition of 17 new Sooners. Seniors Yolanda Goff and Jessica Eldridge lead the team after another season of national qualifying performances.
"The women's team is still very young even after making the strategic move to redshirt as many as we could during the last outdoor season," Smith says. "Our goal is to be in the top half of the conference standings during both the indoor and outdoor seasons as our new people develop into their roles."