Jan. 22, 2015
Event: Vanderbilt Invitational
Day, Date: Friday-Saturday, Jan. 23-24
Site: Vanderbilt Indoor Complex
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased at the door for $5 per person each day. Athletes, coaches and staff admitted with the wrist band.
Complete Schedule: HERE l Heat Sheet: HERE l Live Results: HERE
With hopes of getting back to full strength — or close to it, at least — the Vanderbilt track and field team will be in action this weekend, hosting the Vanderbilt Invitational. The Commodores have been dealing with injuries and illness during the opening part of the season, and they competed with a limited roster in their first two meets (the Music City Invitational on Dec. 4 and the Commodore Invitational last weekend). This weekend’s Invitational is certain to be special for the Commodores, who will be hosting roughly 100 Vanderbilt alumni during the two-day event. The alumni will be recognized at 12:55 p.m. on Saturday. The meet is the Commodores’ third — and final — home meet of the indoor season. Here’s a closer look:
lBIG NUMBERS This weekend’s meet is scheduled to have 29 teams — 15 on the women’s side and 14 on the men’s — and will feature roughly 700 athletes. That’s a big jump from last weekend’s meet, when about 400 athletes competed. Vanderbilt will be one of five SEC schools in action at the Invitational, along with Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Also scheduled to compete this weekend are: Furman, Georgia Tech, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, Michigan (men), MTSU, Samford, SMU(women), Southern Illinois, Southern Mississippi and Western Kentucky.
l WEARING THE STAR-V: As they continue to tune-up for the even bigger meets, the Commodores are scheduled to have a large number of athletes competing this weekend. Here’s a look at the who will wearing the Star-V this weekend, and which events they’ll be competing in:
High jump, Friday, 5 p.m. — Ellie Tidman
5000 meters (w), Friday, 8 p.m. — Claire Benjamin, Amira Joseph and Rebecca Chandler
5000 meters (m), Friday, 8:30 p.m. — Dan Henderson, Nick French, John Ewing, Jake Van Geffen, Sam Reilly
Pentathlon, Friday — Sarah Goodale
Distance Medley Relay, Friday, 7:30 p.m. — Vanderbilt relay team
Pole Vault (w), Saturday, 11:30 a.m. — Katie Watts, Megan McCabe, Sarah Bell
Triple jump (w), Saturday, 2 p.m. — Tierney Price, Simone Charley
Mile run (w), Saturday, 10:30 a.m. — Megan Huebner, Sara Barron
Mile run (m), Saturday, 10:45 a.m. — Sam DeFrabizio, Nikolaos Gkotsis
60-hurdles (w), Saturday, 11:30 a.m. — Faith Washington, Janetra Gleaves
60 meters (w), Saturday, 12:20 p.m. — Janetra Gleaves, Tierney Price
400 meters (w), Saturday, 2:15 p.m. — Jennifer Edobi, Courtney Clayton, Faith Washington, Emma Radan, Tara Radan
800 meters (w), Saturday, 3:15 p.m. — Reagan Anderson, Maddie Criscione
200 meters (w), Saturday, 3:50 p.m. — Erin Edmond, Janetra Gleaves, Tara Radan, Tierney Price, Emma Radan
3000 meters (w), 4:40 p.m. — Sarah Goodale, Lily Williams, Carmen Carlos, Vanessa Valentine
3000 meters (m), 4:55 p.m. — Dan Henderson, Daniel Arthur
l QUOTING HEAD COACH STEVE KEITH:
On what his team can gain this weekend: “The bottom line, every time we step out there, is to be competitive. We want kids that don’t like to lose and I think we’ve got that.”
On how important this weekend’s meet is in regard to the team’s progress: “Well, we can sit and say ‘It’s early’ and technically it is early. But by next Monday, it’s not early. After this weekend, we will get ready for a weekend off and then we have two big weekends in February.”
On the overall health of the team: “Probably a little better this weekend, but also a little bit more tired from competing last week and then jumping into a full week. We are not backing off on training right now, that’s the biggest challenge for the kids – to concentrate while tired and still wanting to perform well but knowing they may have a little residual fatigue from the volume of the week.”
l LOOKING BACK: Last year’s inaugural Vanderbilt Invitational featured a large collection of performances that were the best of the season on a national level. It also included a continuous stream of career-bests from the Commodores. Liz Anderson took second place in the 3000-meter run with a time of 9:33.65, and Vanderbilt’s 4×400 relay team — Faith Washington, Skyler Carpenter, Courtney Clayton and Erin Edmond — finished second with a time of 3:46.24. Courtney Clayton and Katherine Delaney finished third and fifth, respectively, in the 800. Clayton had a time of 2:09.51 and Delaney crossed at 2:11.18. Senior standout Brionne Williams was third in the high jump at 1.74m, Sara Barron took fourth in the 1-mile run with a time of 4:52.90, and Simone Charley was fourth in the triple jump at 12.52m. The Commodores were especially impressive in the 800, with Anderson’s second-place finish leading a group of four Vanderbilt representatives in the top-15. Rebecca Chandler was 10th at 9:48.58, Carmen Carlos was 14th at 10:00.55 and Courtney Kriegshauser was 15th at 10:01.06. Hannah Jumper finished 18th at 10:05.31. In the 5000-meter run, Claire Benjamin was ninth at 17:24.69 and teammate Vanessa Valentine was 16th at 17:43.19. Megan Yohe was 22nd at 18:15.62. Vanderbilt’s Tierney Price was 12th in the triple jump at 11.85m, Lily Williams was 13th in the 1-mile run at 5:03.29 and Kara Slavoski was 32nd at 5:26.03. In the 400-meter dash, Edmond was 13th at 57.37 and Carpenter was 20th at 58.13.