Salaam Named Big 12 Athlete of the Week
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma’s Mookie Salaam was named the Big 12 Track and Field Athlete of the Week the Big 12 Conference announced Tuesday. The honor comes just a few days after the junior broke Oklahoma records in the 60- and 200-meter dash en route to winning both and automatically qualifying for the Championships at Saturday’s Big 12 vs. Challenge.
Salaam ran an American-leading time in the 60-meter dash to break a seven-year old Oklahoma record while surpassing his own school record in the 200-meter dash. The junior’s winning time of 6.55 in the 60 was over a 10th of a second off his previous personal best of 6.66 in the event’s prelims and trails just the 6.52 run by Jamaica’s Nesta Carter for the world lead. Salaam holds the fastest 60-meter dash over the last two seasons after Florida’s Jeffrey Demps clocked a 6.56 in 2010.
The 2010 Big 12 60-meter dash champion returned to the track just over 30 minutes later to win the 200-meter race, breaking his own school record in the process with a time of 20.76. Salaam’s time Saturday is the third-fastest in the this year.
Updated 02-02-2011
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