WALNUT, Calif. — On Saturday, Vanderbilt track and field wrapped up its weekend at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California. Over four days of competition, the Commodores broke a total of two school records, posted nine top-10 times on the program’s all-time performer list and recorded six personal bests.
“This was a great weekend for our program to showcase its talents in another region,” director of track and field Althea Thomas said. “The opportunity to show our competitiveness against the best in the NCAA and professionals proved to be beneficial, with multiple personal bests and improvements in Vandy program and SEC rankings.”
In the elite division of the 400-meter hurdles, graduate student Brooke Overholt finished in 58.68 seconds, good for seventh in program history. The SEC’s second-ranked freshman, Allyria McBride, also competed in Walnut, clocking 58.58 seconds in the same event.
The first two days of the Mt. SAC Relays were highlighted by graduate student Beatrice Juskeviciute’s school record-breaking performance in the heptathlon, where she totaled 6,073 points and earned third place overall. She ranks first in the SEC, third in the NCAA and fifth in the world in the heptathlon at this point in the season.
Senior Niki Narayani competed in the 10,000 meters for the first time in her collegiate career, clocking 33:48.61, which is the No. 2 time in school history.
To open the third day of the Mt. SAC Relays, the Commodores’ 4×100-meter relay team of senior Madison Fuller, graduate student Taiya Shelby, sophomore Ella Escobar and McBride recorded the program’s No. 2 mark, finishing the race in fifth place with a time of 45.66 seconds.
In the collegiate division of the 400-meter hurdles, freshman Mya Georgiadis claimed third place with a personal-best time of 58.99 seconds.
Freshman Taylor McKinnon and senior Kaira Brown also competed for Vanderbilt at the Mt. SAC Relays this weekend. McKinnon clocked 14.19 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, and Brown finished the 400 meters in 56.09 seconds. Both athletes hold spots on the program’s all-time top 10 lists in their respective events.
Closing out Day Three of competition, senior Caroline Eck recorded a 17-second PR in the 5,000 meters, earning eighth place with the No. 4 time in Vanderbilt history (16:12.14).
“This was the challenge we needed to show that we are contenders and to extend our international brand to the west coast,” Thomas said. “This will prepare us for unconditional success for the remainder of the season.”
Looking ahead, the Vanderbilt women’s track and field team will compete in the Virginia Challenge April 21—22, and in the LSU Alumni Gold meet on April 22.
