NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Back in the friendly confines of the Vanderbilt Outdoor Track Complex, the Vanderbilt track and field team as well as members of the Commodore men’s cross country team had a strong first day at the Music City Challenge.
Elizabeth Bailey got the Commodores’ day started with a win in the javelin, hitting 51.17 meters. After dancing around a return to the 50-meter mark for the last few weeks, Bailey found another gear in the finals and went over 50 meters on each of the three throws. It was the first time since March at the Hampton Inn City Relays that she had eclipsed the 50-meter threshold and her best throw of 51.17 meters was just 0.21 meters shy of her personal best.
Gianna Bullock topped her personal best with both her second and third throws of the javelin, finishing ninth in the event with a mark of 34.63 meters.
Vanderbilt had three finish in the top 10 of long jump invite. Anaya Webster placed fourth with a jump of 5.71 meters, Kayleigh Stargell came in eighth with a distance of 5.51 meters, and Bullock jumped 5.37 meters to take 10th.
Jacqueline Rose wrapped up Vanderbilt’s field events for the day with a third place showing in pole vault, clearing 3.61 meters.
The track portion of the Music City Challenge then commenced with all four runners posting qualifying times in the 100-meter hurdles as Falon Spearman, Santana Spearman, Taylor McKinnon, and Marta Sivina will compete in the event finals on Saturday afternoon. Falon Spearman reset her school record by finishing in 13.01 seconds, followed by Santana Spearman with a time of 13.41 seconds. McKinnon ran it in 13.56 seconds and Sivina qualified with a time of 13.86 seconds.
Lena Gooden then qualified for the 100-meter invite finals on Saturday, finishing with the fifth-best time of 11.83 seconds.
Josie Donelson kept the momentum going in the 200-meter dash, securing another top-five finish for Vanderbilt. She crossed the line 0.003 seconds ahead of the next runner, in 24.32 seconds, to claim fifth. Kylah Woods took ninth with a time of 24.63 seconds, giving Vandy two runners in the top 10 of the event.
The first day ended with a handful of standout performances from the distance-running Commodores.
Vanderbilt claimed three of the top seven finishers in the 1,500-meter run, with Betsy Jepkemei winning the race by half a second in 4:22.67. Lily Kriegel just missed out on giving the Commodores a 1-2 finish, instead taking third in 4:23.25, and Audrey Allman placed seventh with a time of 4:26.75.
Just a couple of weeks after setting her Vanderbilt-best time in the 5,000-meter run, Tyla Lumley eclipsed her personal best in the event after crossing the line in 16:05.36. Lumley maintained pace with the lead pack throughout the race, even leading for three laps in the middle of the run, before finishing fifth.
Myrto Valacha finished fifth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:49.96. Then, from the men’s cross country team, Sam Darmanie and Luke Churchwell had notable finishes in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meter run, respectively. Darmanie finished second and reset his school record in the first event with a time of 9:01.45, two seconds faster than his previous best set earlier this season while Churchwell closed out day one of the Music City Challenge with an eighth-place finish in the latter after clocking in at 14:32.18.
The Commodores return to the Vanderbilt Outdoor Track Complex to conclude the Music City Challenge Saturday, with field events beginning at 9:30 a.m.
