JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Several top finishes and three more all-time top-10 performances highlighted the UNF Invitational for the Vanderbilt track and field team on Thursday and Friday.
“We had a lot of really good efforts and I think we’ve put ourselves in good position for the conference meet,” said head coach Steve Keith. “It was two days of good work in similar conditions to what we will see at Texas A&M for the SEC meet. We’re ready for another jump up at the conference meet.”
In the 400 meters, junior Taiya Shelby set another personal best and improved her second-place standing in the school record book. She clipped another five hundredths off her previous best with a sixth-place finish of 52.65.
Vanderbilt’s 4×400 relay team of Kaira Brown, Jordan Smith, Madison Fuller and Shelby combined for the third-fastest finish in school history. The quartet finished in 3:36.27 which was the second-fastest Commodore 4×4 in the last 23 years.
Sophomore Josephine Dal jumped into ninth place in the school record book in the long jump. On her third attempt of the afternoon, Dal landed at 18 feet, 8 1/2 inches (5.70 meters) and placed 10th overall.
On Friday night, a pair of Commodores earned top-five finishes. Senior Gillian Mortimer was fifth with a finish of 16:52.33 in the 5,000 meters and junior Grace Jensen placed fifth in the 1,500 meters at 4:19.58
Sophomore Jada Sims was ninth in the high jump at a height of 5 feet, 5 inches (1.65m), while freshman Lainey Phelps was 11th in the 800 meters at 2:11.65.
During the outdoor season, the Commodore women have set a total of four outdoor school records and a total of 25 top-10 performances. In a shortened indoor season, Vanderbilt broke a pair of program records and etched 17 new entries into the school record book which included 14 different student-athletes in nine different individual events and two relays.
Postseason action begins with the SEC Championships in College Station, Texas, May 13-15. The qualifying Commodores will return to Jacksonville for the NCAA East Regionals, May 27-29.
