Gainesville, Fla. — The Vanderbilt women’s track and field team finished Day 1 of the Pepsi Florida Relays invitational by posting three program record-breaking performances and several more Vanderbilt top 10 and career-best performances.
On the field, freshman Giavonna Meeks opened the meet with a program record-breaking 51.86-meter toss in the hammer throw.
Senior Veronica Fraley reset her own school record with a throw of 60.24 meters in the discus. She claimed first place in the event and is ranked No. 2 in the NCAA thus far this season.
In the 1,500 meters, sophomore Julia Rosenberg improved her personal best by almost 9 seconds, finishing the race in 4:29.34 and snagging third place. At this point in the season, she ranks 10th in the SEC. Sophomore Cameron Fawcett (4:31.74) and junior Joslin Blair (4:34.12) also competed in the 1,500 meters and recorded top-10 finishes.
Junior Rondajai Washington completed the 200 meters in 24.02 seconds, which is No. 5 in Vanderbilt history. In the same event, sophomore Ella Escobar recorded a career-best time of 24.84 seconds.
The last time freshman Allyria McBride was on the track, she recorded the seventh-fastest 400-meter hurdle time in program history (1:00.04). On Friday, she improved upon that performance, recording a time of 57.88 seconds, which is fourth in Vanderbilt history. She is the top-ranked freshman in the SEC and fifth overall in the 400-meter hurdles at this point in the season.
Vanderbilt’s 4×800-meter relay team of graduate student Haley Walker, junior Lainey Phelps, freshman Audrey Allman and sophomore Ella Lambert clocked 8:54.67, earning third place.
The 4×100-meter relay team of McBride, graduate student Taiya Shelby, Escobar and Washington finished the race in 45.76 seconds, notching the second-fastest time in school history.
Graduate student Beatrice Juskeviciute, senior Jada Sims and freshmen Taylor McKinnon and Santana Spearman broke the school record in the shuttle hurdle relay with their time of 55.77 seconds.
To close out Friday’s competition, sophomore Emma Curry notched a sixth-place finish in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:37.13.
Saturday’s track and field events will begin at 11 a.m. CT with the 100-meter hurdle prelims and the invite division of the shot put. The competition will be livestreamed here and the live results can be found here.
Fans can follow Vanderbilt women’s track and field on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @VandyXCTrack.
