Oklahoma HS track & field: Carl Albert boys break 5A state meet record in 4x200 relay

The 2024 Oklahoma high school track and field state meet for Classes 6A and 5A began Friday at Western Heights.

Several championship events were held along with preliminaries, and the meet will conclude Saturday.

Here are some takeaways from Day 1.

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Carl Albert boys break Class 5A state meet record in 4x200

Carl Albert’s 4x200-meter relay team fell just 0.08 seconds short of achieving its goal last season.

Deontra Dukes, Byron Stubbs, Trystan Haynes and Trey Washington had a solid race at the Class 5A state meet, but John Marshall edged the Titans for the title as it finished in 1:28.39.

That loss was a motivator for the four Carl Albert sprinters in the offseason.

“We had told our coaches, ‘We don’t want to feel like that again,’” said Washington, a junior OU football commit.

Carl Albert showed up to this year’s state meet with something to prove, and the Titans’ performance ended up landing them in the Oklahoma high school record books.

Carl Albert finished the relay in 1:26.60, winning the championship and breaking the Class 5A state meet record, which was 1:27.00 and set by Lawton MacArthur in 2015.

Carl Albert recorded a time of 1:26.95 at regionals but was even better Friday.

“We always come into the meet with an expectation to win first place, but just to see it happen after last year it means the world to all of us,” Haynes said.

Just like Washington, Haynes is a junior committed to OU football, and both play receiver and defensive back for the Titans.

Washington committed to the Sooners alongside teammate Marcus James in November, while Haynes announced his commitment this week.

They’ll be focused on football at the next level, but there’s no doubt that competing in track translates to them becoming better players on the gridiron.

“It helps me a lot because I focus heavily on speed being that of a cornerback,” Haynes said. “So just coming out here competing with the people that are the fastest in the state, being able to get better while working on my speed to help my football craft is just everything.”

Carl Albert is in a close race atop the team standings in the Class 5A boys division.

Tulsa Lincoln Christian leads with 37 points, while the Titans are second with 32 and Lawton MacArthur is third with 27.

“Job’s not finished yet,” Washington said. “We’re trying to win the whole thing.”

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Deer Creek’s Brody Woodcock wins 3,200 in Class 6A

Deer Creek’s Brody Woodcock and Edmond North’s Zac Rutherford have battled throughout the school year.

The senior distance runners are both signed with Division I colleges, with Woodcock getting ready to head to Tulsa and Rutherford pledged with Arkansas-Little Rock.

And although Rutherford won the Class 6A state cross country title in the fall and Woodcock placed third, Woodcock emerged victorious Friday.

Woodcock won the Class 6A championship in the 3,200 as he finished in 9:09.92, while Rutherford placed second with a time of 9:16.92.

Woodcock placed third in the race at last year’s state meet as he completed it in 9:27.08. His time this year was close to the state meet record, which is owned by Kevin Thatcher, who finished in 9:08.70 with Edmond Memorial at the 1982 state meet.

“He ran great,” Deer Creek coach David Riden said. “It’s pretty fun watching him run. He makes hard stuff look easy, and he’s real humble about it. He ran real well. He executed his race I think pretty much like he wanted to.”

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Mustang’s Emily Cloutier wins Class 6A pole vault title

Mustang senior Emily Cloutier set the state record in the pole vault at regionals last week, clearing 13 feet, 2 inches.

Although she didn’t quite match that performance Friday, she still did enough to claim gold.

Cloutier won the Class 6A championship as she cleared 12-8.

She was more than a foot better than her competition as Moore senior Alisondra Pope was the runner-up at 11-6.

Cloutier’s performance was the highlight of a solid day for the Mustang girls. The Broncos are in second place with 31.21 points, while Jenks leads with 48.

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Other standout performances

● Moore junior and Oklahoma State softball commit Libby Jaques won the Class 6A shot put title with a toss of 44-4. Edmond North senior Hayden Wolfe won on the boys side with a throw of 55-9.50, and the Huskies have a 44-39 lead over Broken Arrow atop the team standings.

● Midwest City senior De'Yanna Douglas claimed the Class 5A championship in the discus (139-5). She set the state record in the shot put with a toss of 46-9 while competing in Class 6A at the state meet last season. Douglas will compete in the shot put Saturday.

● Tulsa Lincoln Christian leads in the Class 5A girls standings. The Bulldogs have 51 points and are followed by Grove (26), Muskogee (20) and Glenpool (20).

Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @nicksardis. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OSSAA track: Carl Albert boys break 5A state meet record in 4x200