AUBURN, Ala. – Senior harrier Jason Vincze turned in his best race of the season to lead the Commodores in an 11thplace finish at the SEC Championships. The Plano, Texas, native registered a 39-place improvement from his championship performance a year ago.
“I was proud of how we competed today,” head coach Steve Keith said. “Our overall finish does not indicate how much improved this squad is from a year ago.”
“I was also extremely proud of Jason, who capped off his senior season with his best race.”
Vincze finished 40thin a field of 108 competitors with an overall time of 24:03.4 and an average kilometer time of 3:00.4 in the 8K race.
Not far behind and continuing his impressive freshman campaign was Nick Laning just 14-seconds behind Vincze in 54thplace. This was Laning’s first race of his collegiate career in which he did not lead the Commodores.
The final three of Vanderbilt’s scoring five competitors all finished within nine places of each other as Aidan Livingston, Evan Suzman and Harrison Thomas earned 61st, 67thand 69thplace respectively. Livingston crossed the finish line at 24:32.8 while Suzman and Thomas finished within three seconds of each other, clocking in at 24:44.1 and 24:47.3.
The Commodores next challenge awaits in Tallahassee, Fla., as Vanderbilt will compete at NCAA Regionals on Friday, Nov. 9.
