OXFORD, Miss. — It was a 1-2 finish for the Commodores in the heptathlon at the Joe Walker Invitational, bringing a close to an impressive weekend for the Vanderbilt track and field team.
Marta Sivina, who entered the second day of the heptathlon with the overall points lead, won both the long jump and the 800 meters to pull away from Gianna Bullock for the heptathlon victory. She totaled 5,665 points, securing three event wins, a pair of second-place finishes, and no result lower than fifth across the two days of the heptathlon.
She opened the second day of the Joe Walker Invitational with a new personal best in a long jump event win, recording 6.08 meters on her final jump to post the third-best mark in Vanderbilt history. Then, after finishing fifth in javelin with a throw of 31.80 meters, keeping her in the overall lead, Sivina pulled away from the lead group early in the 800 meters and pushed through to the finish line to secure her second personal best of the day, finishing in 2:13.55.
Those results, in addition to personal bests in both the 100-meter hurdles and the 200 meters during Friday’s events, helped Savina eclipse her previous high score in the heptathlon by more than 200 points and move from sixth to second in Vanderbilt history. The 5,665 points are the most points scored by a Commodore in the event since 2023 and also the fourth-highest mark of any NCAA heptathlete in the 2026 season.
Bullock sat in third after Friday’s events concluded, but quickly overtook second place with a 5.81-meter long jump, finishing just behind Sivina. That started a run of three consecutive second-place finishes to close the heptathlon with 5,421 points, which, like Sivina, was also over 200 points better than her previous best in the event. It also moved Bullock into the Vanderbilt top 10, placing her in seventh all-time.
Following the long jump, Bullock earned valuable points in javelin, finishing second with a top throw of 33.43 meters, her best of the 2026 season. She then closed the heptathlon with a 2:21.66 finish in the 800-meter run, securing her second-place result.
The Commodores head west to compete at Mt. SAC Relays and the Bryan Clay Invitational from April 15-18 in California.
