AUBURN, Ala. – The Vanderbilt track and field team established several personal records while competing at the Duke Invitational and Auburn Invitational on Saturday.
The Commodore pole vaulting corps swept the top three places at Auburn. Kristen Denk took first with a mark of 13-9.25 (4.35 meters), followed by Caleigh Lofstead at 13-3.50 (4.05 meters) and Margaret Ollinger at 12-11.50 (3.95 meters).
Vanderbilt put up strong finishes in the running events at Auburn, starting with the 4×100-meter relay. The team of Jenn Edobi, Taiya Shelby, Jordan Smith and Regan Clay clocked a 46.89 in the event.
Edobi returned to compete in the 1,500-meter run for the first time in her career. She finished in 4:52.03.
Shelby had a top-five finish for the Commodores in the 400 meters with a clocking of 54.22. The freshman was off of her personal best by less than a second. Shelby closed the day with a collegiate personal record in the 200-meter dash, finishing in 24.58.
Clay (25.38) and Smith (26.19) trailed Shelby in the 200-meter dash.
Freshman Haley Walker ran an impressive 2:06.25 in the 800-meter run at Duke to finish second in a field of 96. The time was a collegiate personal record by more than two seconds. The time is sixth-fastest this spring in the SEC, and the second-best by a freshman in the conference.
Several Commodores followed behind Walker, including Grace Jensen (2:11.38), Ginger Hutton (2:11.50), Reagan Bustamante (2:12.91) and Kendall Derry (2:17.33). Lauren Moffett also ran a personal record in the event at 2:15.22.
In the 1,500 meters, Bustamante paced the five-Commodore contingent, running 4:28.67. She was trailed by Jensen (4:29.44), Hutton (4:31.07), Moffett (4:39.84) and Derry (4:44.68).
Kacie Breeding competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, running an 11:13.88.
The Commodores finished the weekend strong in the 5,000 meters. Anna Grace Morgan (16:54.60) and Gillian Mortimer (16:57.76) each collected personal bests. Caroline Pietrzyk clocked a 16:59.52.
On the men’s side, Nick Laning also ran a personal record in the 5,000 meters at 14:15.93.
The Commodores will return to action next weekend at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
