Dec. 3, 2014
Music City Heat Sheet 
Invitational Schedule
Event: Music City Invitational
Day, Date: Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014
Host: Vanderbilt
Site: Vanderbilt Indoor Complex
Start Time: 4 p.m.
Meet Home Page & Info: HERE
Live Results: HERE
Knowing that several road trips await on the back half of the schedule, the members of the Vanderbilt women’s track team are hoping to take advantage of season-opening “homestand” that includes three straight meets at Vanderbilt’s indoor complex. The string of home dates starts with Thursday afternoon’s Music City Invitational, which is the Commodores’ first meet of the indoor season. Vanderbilt will then host two additional meets — the Commodore Indoor Invitational on Jan 16-17 and the Vanderbilt Indoor Invitational on Jan. 23-24 — before hitting the road for the rest of the indoor season, with trips to Indiana, Arkansas, Kentucky and then Arkansas again. Here’s a look at few storylines surrounding Thursday’s meet:
l SECOND TIME AROUND. Thursday’s meet marks the start of the Commodores’ second season inside their new indoor facility. One year ago — almost to the day — the Vanderbilt program held its first-ever meet inside the building when the Commodores hosted the inaugural Music City Challenge on Dec. 3. The meet featured Vanderbilt, Tennessee State, Belmont and MTSU. For more details on the $31 million facility, click HERE, and for a recap of last year’s race, click HERE.
l WHO YOU WITH? This year’s Challenge has more than doubled in size from last year, with nine schools scheduled to compete. The list features six schools from Tennessee (Austin Peay, Belmont, Memphis, MTSU, Tennessee State and Vanderbilt) along with three schools from Kentucky (Louisville, Murray State and Western Kentucky).
l WEARING THE STAR-V: Vanderbilt’s Megan McCabe, Tara Radan and Jennifer Edobi will are among the many athletes who are scheduled to make their collegiate debuts on Thursday. Also scheduled for action for Vanderbilt are returnees Katie Watts, Sarah Bell, Sarah Goodale, Ellie Tidman, Tierney Price, Janetra Gleaves, Erin Edmond, Courtney Clayton and Skyler Carpenter.
l HOPING FOR MORE OF THE SAME: Vanderbilt enters the season with hopes of building on the success of last season, which included a bevy of school records. The indoor season was capped by a strong performance at the SEC Championships, where Vanderbilt scored points in six separate events — representing the best overall showing in Steve Keith’s tenure as head coach — and came home from College Station, Texas, with a long list of personal bests and school record-making performances.
l SUPER FAST: It didn’t take long for Vanderbilt’s facility — which features a Mondo Super X 720 300-meter track — to gain a reputation as a place where old records go to die. From the very first meet of the season and continuing on throughout the year, the Commodores set a host of school records at their new facility, and a continuous stream of Top-10 national marks were also recorded. That trend was especially evident at last year’s Vanderbilt Invitational. “(For the Invitational) to put our facility in such a bright light is very exciting,” said head coach Steve Keith. For more on the Mondo track, click HERE.
QUOTING THE COACH:
Head coach Steve Keith:
On the first meet of the season “We kind of tested the waters with the December meet last year, and we were pleased with the results. A lot of teams host an intrasquad meet, but for us, this makes a lot more sense. It’s a great way for the kids to finish off their fall training. It’s a chance for them to see where they are — and a chance for the coaches to see where they are, too. It’s a great little meet.”
On the benefits of being tested early in the season. “It’s good to give the kids the opportunity to put the uniform on and go out and compete. They are excited about it. For some of them, it’s been a long time since they last competed. We’ve had some time trials and some simulations, but it’s always big to do the real thing.”
On the outlook for the meet. “I think we have grown in terms of maturity and talent, and I really expect this meet to go smoother than (our opener) last year. We still have plenty of room to grow, but we think this could be a great starting point.”
