NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A battle for the long jump school record between Vanderbilt track and field’s Anaya Webster and Lena Gooden highlighted the first day of action at the Vanderbilt Invitational.
The Commodores broke two school record and added six marks to the program’s all-time top 10 lists at the David Williams II Recreation and Wellness Center on Friday.
Vandy’s duo of Marta Sivina and Devyn Parham finished first and second in the pentathlon with respective scores of 3,979 and 3,948 points. In the pentathlon high jump, Parham cleared 1.64 meters, a collegiate best. The sophomore also PRed in the shot put with a 12.04-meter throw. Sivina came within a centimeter of her personal best in the long jump, recording a 5.72-meter mark and clocked 2:18.72 in the 800 meters to clinch the win in the pentathlon.
In the seeded division of the long jump, Gooden set the program standard in round 3 with a 6.21-meter jump, but Webster responded with a 6.23-meter mark in round 5 to set the Vandy record. Webster and Gooden finished first and second among collegians in the event.
Kayleigh Stargell finished fourth in the unseeded division of the long jump with a collegiate-best mark of 5.73 meters.
On the track, Josie Donelson led a trio of Vandy runners who clocked program all-time top 10 times in the 200 meters. Donelson’s time of 25.38 seconds earned a runner-up finish and is the No. 7 mark in Vanderbilt history. Alima Kassim and London Jackson-Bray registered marks of 24.56 and 24.58 seconds, respectively, which are ranked ninth and tied for 10th in the program’s record books.
To end the day, Vanderbilt’s distance medley relay of Kelty Oaster, Kenyah Conner, Mackenzie Culpepper and Betsy Jepkemei came in third place with a time of 11:29.97.
The Vanderbilt Invitational continues Saturday with events beginning at 9 a.m. Action is streamed on SEC Network+, and live results are available online.
