March 1, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Freshman Rita Jorgensen finished fourth place in the one-mile run and recorded the second-fastest time in school history to lead the Vanderbilt track and field team in the first two days of the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.
“She’s got some really great finishing speed,” Vanderbilt distance coach Steven Keith said. “My goal was for her to make the final. We’d like to see her score a couple of points. That will be tough because this is the best mile field I’ve seen since I have been in the conference.”
Jorgensen finished second in her heat with a time of 4:50.25, just five-hundreths of a second behind Tennessee’s Sarah Bowman. Jorgensen ran in the middle of the pack for much of the race and was in fifth entering the final lap before making a final push in the last lap to finish second.
“Rita is over the sickness she had earlier,” Keith added. “She’s got a lot of heart and she finishes strong. If she gives herself the right opportunity in the finals, there’s no telling what she can do.”
Jorgensen’s time is the second-fastest time in Vanderbilt history in the one-mile run. Overall, Jorgensen had the fourth-fastest time in the preliminaries. Natalie Picchetti of Georgia ran the fastest time in the preliminaries with a mark of 4:49.51. Jorgensen will compete in the one-mile finals tomorrow at 1:15 p.m.
Other Commodores to post solid performances included Val Kazmer, who just missed a top-10 finish in the 3000 meters, finishing in 11th place with a time 10:16.64. Cherice Robertson just missed setting a PR in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 8.73, which is the third-fastest time in Vanderbilt annals. Erin Guglielmo also just missed a PR in the 800 meters, finishing the event with a time of 2:18.99.
After two days of competition, Arkansas leads the team standings with 58 points, while Tennessee is in second with 32 points and Florida is in third with 27 points.
The SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships conclude tomorrow.
