FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Vanderbilt once again dented the school record book during Day Two of the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center on Friday night.
Junior Taiya Shelby improved upon her second-place standing in the school record book with a personal-best finish of 53.07 in the 400 meters. That is the fastest finish for a Commodore since Ryan Tolbert set the school record 25 years ago at 52.75.
Shelby finished ninth overall, while sophomore Kaira Brown also clocked a career best in the event with a finish of 55.51. Brown cut off two tenths from her previous best and moved up a spot to seventh in the school record book. Brown was 15th overall, while junior Jordan Smith was 14th with a time of 55.48.
Shortly thereafter, senior Gillian Mortimer etched her name into the Vanderbilt history books in the 5,000 meters. Mortimer was just the 11th Commodore to break 17 minutes in the event and now stands at No. 10 all-time in school history with a time of 16:59.22.
The top two 60-meter sprinters in school history finished just shy of their previous school record and career bests. Freshman Haley Bishop was five hundredths shy of a personal best with a finish of 7.56, while sophomore Madison Fuller stopped the clock at 7.58. Fuller was also 23rd in the 200 meters with a time 24.48.
In the 800 meters, Ruby Stauber was the top Commodore with a 14th-place finish of 2:11.16, while Haley Walker was just one spot and two tenths back at 2:11.38. Freshman Nicole Anderson finished 22nd in 2:17.10.
One day removed from the pentathlon, sophomore Jada Sims matched a career best in the high jump at 5 feet, 7.25 inches (1.71 meters). It tied the sixth-best mark in school history, which she originally set at the Music City Challenge earlier this month.
In the mile, junior Grace Jensen finished 14th with a season-best finish of 4:52.34.
The final day of competition begins on the track at 6 p.m. and will finish with the 4×400 relay at 7:20 p.m.
