NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — For the first time in its 60-year history, the Sooner Schooner, the University of Oklahoma’s iconic covered wagon mascot, is being driven by a Native American woman.

Brianna Howard, a junior at OU and a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, first drove the Schooner onto the field during the football team’s season opener against Illinois State.

“I only had a minute to get on the Schooner, get the reins and go,” Howard said Saturday before the Sooners’ game against Missouri in Norman. “I didn’t have enough time to get too nervous. When I went out there, it was amazing. I could not even hear the audience I was so zoned into driving.”

Members of the RUF/NEKS and the all-female spirit group Lil’ Sis take care of the Schooner and its ponies, and they take turns driving it during

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