GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The weather down in Florida delayed the start of day 2 several times before Vanderbilt track and field was able to start competing Saturday evening.
“This weekend was a good meet for our athletes,” said Althea Thomas, director of cross country and track and field. “We endured the unpredictable weather of outdoor season and came away with several personal bests, three program top-10 performances, and a third school record for Divine.”
Divine Oladipo now owns another school record, this time coming by way of her efforts in the shot put today. Divine’s 17.43 meter mark is Vanderbilt’s new top mark all-time, the third best in the NCAA, and the top mark in the SEC.
The Commodores’ 4×100 meter relay team of Taiya Shelby, Haley Bishop, Nicole Anderson, and Madison Fuller notched a time of 46.18. The Dores finished ninth overall in the event.
Grace Jensen etched her name in the record books with an outdoor personal best time of 2:07.70 in the 800 meters, leading Vandy in the event. Haley Walker (2:13.01.), Anderson (2:13.01), Ella Lambert (2:15.49), and Julia Rosenberg (2:18.89) also competed in the event. Lambert and Rosenberg both raced the 800 meters for the first time in their careers.
Kaira Brown tallied a time of 55.77 in the 400 meter dash.
The sprinting duo of Bishop and Fuller finished the 100 meter dash with times of 11.76 and 11.99 respectively.
The in 3,000 meters, Cameron Fawcett ran a 9:49.75.
The field pairing of Jess Creedon and Jada Sims contended in the high jump with marks of 1.56 meters and 1.61 meters.
Vandy’s ‘A’ team in the 4×400 meter relay placed sixth with a time of 3:44.32 with the ‘B’ team’s time of 4:00.79.
“This team continues to go to battle together, supporting one another, and pushing each other to reach their full potential,” said Thomas. “They are anchoring down and gearing up for more to come this season.”
Vanderbilt will head to Oxford, Mississippi next weekend to compete in the Joe Walker Invitational hosted by Ole Miss, also the site of this year’s SEC Outdoor Championships on May 12 – 14.
