Feb. 5, 2015
Event: Meyo Invitational
Day, Date: Friday-Saturday, Feb. 6-7
Site: Loftus Sports Center
Host: Notre Dame
Complete Schedule: HERE
Heat Sheet: HERE
Live Results: HERE
Live Streaming (FloTrack): HERE
The Vanderbilt track and field team will head to Notre Dame this weekend to compete in the 28th annual Meyo Invitational. The two-day meet will feature roughly 50 teams and clubs from all over the country.
The Commodores, who were idle last weekend, will be looking to build on the momentum they built at Vanderbilt Invitational two weeks ago. At that event, Simon Charley set a new school record in the triple jump, and a total of 13 Commodores earned a spot on the school’s all-time Top-10 performers list in their respective events.
Nearly 1,000 participants, representing 49 schools, are scheduled to compete this weekend, making this year’s Invitational one of the biggest in the event’s history. The two-day event — which typically has between 700-800 participants — will feature many of the nation’s top athletes. Among the most-closely watched events will be the Meyo Mile, which is expected to feature sub-four times.
Vanderbilt head coach Steve Keith said the Invitational will be a stiff test for the Commodores, and talked about the talented field at the event.
“Yes, it definitely is (a great list of athletes,” he said. “The field is kind of Big-10 heavy, which is great for us because we don’t see those guys as often. It’s always very refreshing to compete against new and different teams. It will be super competitive this weekend, and it’ll provide many of the competitive opportunities that an athlete wants to see.”
Keith said his team will be using the meet as a measuring stick, but will also be trying post some times and marks that will a difference in the futue.
“Really, it’s all about bettering your performances so we can get beneficial seeding in the meets down the road,” he said. “The last two weeks, we have put in a lot of good work. And now, it’s about trying to get more in a competition mode as opposed to training mode.”
This will be the first road trip of the season for the Commodores, and Keith said he was interested to see how his team responds.
“We have some young ones on the roster, so this will be kind of be like taking a family of 22 on the road,” he said with a laugh. “We will get to see how we can peacefully coexist, and I am sure we will experience the highs and lows of traveling together.” .