NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt track and field student-athletes recorded 10 marks ranking in the program’s all-time top 10 on Friday at the season-opening Winter Commodore Challenge.
“We wanted to have this meet in December, because our athletes have been training so well,” director of cross country and track and field Althea Thomas said. “We wanted an opportunity to break up the monotony of training and dial into some of the competitive juices needed to compete during championship season. This meet was a dress rehearsal. I think the athletes did extremely well remembering the things to execute and laying down another brick for the foundation.”
To start the morning, Cali Bryant, competing for the first time as a Commodore, high jumped her way to a first-place finish with a 1.74-meter mark, tied for sixth in program history. Also making her collegiate debut, Janie Ford cleared 1.66 meters, good for sixth place.
Four Commodores, Santana Spearman, Devyn Parham, Taylor McKinnon and Marta Sivina advanced to the 60-meter hurdles final, all recording times within hundredths of a second of their personal bests during the prelims. In the final, Parham, Spearman and McKinnon clocked personal-best times to finish 2-3-4, respectively. Parham’s time of 8.24 seconds is the No. 3 time in school history, while Spearman’s 8.29-second mark is ranked fourth all-time at Vanderbilt and McKinnon’s time of 8.35 is No. 5 in program history.
In the 60 meters, Alima Kassim clocked 7.62 seconds to move into sixth on the program’s all-time top 10 list, narrowly missing the event final. Falon Spearman recorded a personal-best time of 7.73 seconds in the same event.
Betsy Jepkemei led Vandy runners in the mile, finishing second with a time of 4:53.13. She was followed by Kelty Oaster in third place and Sofia Day in sixth with respective times of 4:58.88 and 5:12.71.
Lena Gooden won the open division of the long jump with a 5.94-meter mark, ranked third all-time at Vanderbilt. Finishing third and sixth, respectively, were Anaya Webster with a 5.82-meter mark and Marta Sivina with a 5.65-meter jump.
In the pole vault competition, Jacqueline Rose matched her collegiate-best mark, 3.65 meters, which is also tied for 10th all-time at Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt earned a trio of top 5 placements in the 600 meters, led by Allyria McBride’s second-place finish with a time of 1:31.74. Madyson Wilson broke into the program all-time top 10 with a time of 1:32.15, which is ranked seventh in school history. Mya Georgiadis turned in a time of 1:33.03 to place fourth.
The 4×400-meter relay team of Josie Donelson, Joy Moorer, McBride and Wilson recorded a third-place finish with a time of 3:44.65.
To end the meet, Pryncess Jackson, Anaya Webster and Anya Carey notched personal-best triple jump marks ranking in the program’s all-time top 10. Jackson’s 12.46-meter jump earned second place and is the No. 3 mark in Vandy history. Webster registered a 12.34-meter mark, good for third place and No. 4 in program history. Carey placed fourth with a 12.07-meter mark, which is ranked sixth in school history.
“This meet was exactly what we needed to end the fall season as we go into finals and get ready for the traditional indoor season in January,” Thomas said. “We had 10 top 10 marks in December, so that’s just a testament of what’s to come.”
The Dores are back in action after the new year when they travel to Louisville, Kentucky, for Kentucky’s Rod McCravy Invitational Jan. 9–10.
