Feb. 26, 2015
After a regular season that featured numerous school records and a continual stream of impressive finishes, the Vanderbilt track and field team will head to Lexington, Ky., this weekend to compete in the SEC Championships. Here’s a rundown about the meet:
Event: SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Day, Date: Friday-Saturday, Feb. 27-28
Host: University of Kentucky (Lexington, Ky.)
Site: Nutter Field House
Complete Schedule: HERE
Live Results: HERE
Online Viewing (WatchESPN):
DAY 1 (Feb. 27): HERE
DAY 2 (Feb. 28): HERE
COMPETING FOR THE COMMODORES
Here’s a rundown of who will be representing Vanderbilt, and what times they will be competing:
FRIDAY
Women’s Pentathlon: Sarah Goodale
1:00 p.m. Women’s Pole Vault: Megan McCabe
4:00 p.m. Women’s 60m Hurdles: Janetra Gleaves
5:30 p.m. Women’s Mile: Sara Barron, Carmen Carlos, Maddie Criscione, Megan Huebner
6:10 p.m. Women’s 400m Dash: Erin Edmond, Jennifer Edobi, Emma Redan, Faith Washington
6:45 p.m. Women’s 800m Run: Reagan Anderson, Skyler Carpenter, Courtney Clayton, Katherine Delaney
7:25 p.m. Women’s 200m Dash: Janetra Gleaves
8:15 p.m. Women’s 3k Run–Final: Becca Chandler, Amira Joseph, Vanessa Valentine, Lily Williams
SATURDAY
11:30 a.m Women’s High Jump: Ellie Tidman
11:30 a.m Women’s Triple Jump: Simone Charley, Tierney Price
3:25 p.m. Women’s 5000m Run: Liz, Claire Benjamin, Vanessa Valentine
5:20 p.m. Women’s DMR
5:50 p.m. Women’s 4x400m Relay
QUOTES FROM THE COACH
Here are a few comments from head coach Steve Keith regarding this weekend’s meet:
On the excitement level at practice leading up to the meet: “You could sense it in the indoor facility this week, and now, we’ll try to translate that excitement into a good performance.”
On the level of competition at the SEC meet: “You don’t find better competition than this. When you look at the team rankings and the individual rankings, both are very heavy with SEC members. So it’s like what we say during the recruiting process — if you like challenges, here you go.”
On his team’s outlook: “You don’t really go into it thinking ‘boy, I am going to do something special.’ All you want to do is just perform your best and see what happens. Mentally, you want to approach it just like you would a December meet. If you put more weight on this meet than the others, you will bear that load. We want them to get excited, but we want them to channel it the right way and perform at an optimal level.
IN THE RANKS
The SEC women’s Championships will feature the top three teams in the nation — No. 1 Arkansas, No. 2 Georgia and No. 3 Florida — in the latest USTFCCCA Women’s Indoor Track and Field National Computer Rankings. Five additional SEC teams are found in the Top-25, including No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 18 Mississippi State, No. 20 Missouri and No. 21 LSU. With eight teams in the poll, the SEC leads all other conferences by a wide margin. (The Big 12 has the second most with four). The SEC also has eight more teams ranked on the men’s side, which also represents the most of any conference in the nation.
LOOKING BACK
Propelled by outstanding efforts from Liz Anderson and Brionne Williams, Vanderbilt scored points in six separate events — representing the best overall showing in Steve Keith’s tenure as head coach — at last year’s SEC Championships in College Station, Texas. Anderson broke the school record, and shattered her personal best by 22 seconds, while taking fourth in the 5K with a time of 16:14.30, and Williams earned a share of fourth place in the high jump (1.78m) to help augment the Commodores’ weekend highlights. Courtney Clayton finished seventh in the 800 meters with a time of 2:08.03, and freshman Simone Charley took eighth in the triple jump at 12.71m. The No. 1-ranked Arkansas men and the No. 2 Florida women claimed the team championships. It was the third consecutive title for the Arkansas men, and their 20th in the last 23 years.
STRONG NUMBERS
This season, Vanderbilt has posted several times/distances that rank among the top five in the SEC. The list includes Courtney Clayton in the 800 at 2:05.71 (the fourth best mark in the SEC), Sara Barron in the mile at 4:43.0 (fifth) and Simone Charley in the triple jump (13.14m), along with the Vanderbilt DMR team at 11:19.34 (fourth) and the 4×400 relay team at 3:37.95 (fifth). Here’s a look at all the Vanderbilt athletes who have set marks this season that rank among the SEC’s top-30:
400
14 – Edobi, Jennifer FR-1 54.00 Music City Invitational
20 – Washington, Faith JR-3 54.63 Tyson Invitational
24 – Edmond, Erin SR-4 54.99 Meyo Invitational
800
4 – Clayton, Courtney SO-2 2:05.71 Meyo Invitational
14 – Barron, Sara JR-3 2:09.77 Tyson Invitational
17 – Carpenter, Skyler JR-3 2:10.49 Meyo Invitational
26 – Anderson, Reagan SO-2 2:12.68 Meyo Invitational
MILE
5 – Barron, Sara JR-3 4:43.00 Meyo Invitational
13 – Carlos, Carmen SO-2 4:48.26 Tyson Invitational
22 – Clayton, Courtney SO-2 4:53.94 Commodore Invitational
25 – Anderson, Reagan SO-2 4:55.64 Tyson Invitational
3000
14 – Valentine, Vanessa JR-3 9:37.10 Tyson Invitational
19 – Carlos, Carmen SO-2 9:40.35 VU Indoor Invitational
24 – Barron, Sara JR-3 9:45.25 Commodore Invitational
27 – Benjamin, Claire SR-4 9:49.29 Tyson Invitational
5000
12 – Benjamin, Claire SR-4 16:53.34 VU Indoor Invitational
17 – Valentine, Vanessa JR-3 17:01.81 Meyo Invitational
21 – Chandler, Rebecca SR-4 17:19.73 VU Indoor Invitational
22 – Joseph, Amira SR-4 17:20.67 Meyo Invitational
60H
19 – Gleaves, Janetra SR-4 8.52 Commodore Invitational
4×400 Relay
5 – VU 3:37.95 Tyson Invitational
DMR
4 – VU 11:19.34 Alex Wilson Invitational
HIGH JUMP
16 – Tidman, Ellie SR-4 5′ 7.75″ 1.72m Tyson Invitational
28 – Goodale, Sarah SO-2 5′ 4.25″ 1.63m VU Indoor Invitational
POLE VAULT
10 – Bell, Sarah SO-2 13′ 3.5″ 4.05m Commodore Invitational
23 – McCabe, Megan FR-1 11′ 9.75″ 3.60m Indoor Invitational
27 – Watts, Katie SO-2 10′ 4″ 3.15m ‘s Music City Invitational
TRIPLE JUMP
5 – Charley, Simone SO-2 43′ 1.5″ 13.14m Tyson Invitational
19 – Price, Tierney SO-2 40′ 0″ 12.19m Commodore Invitational
PENTATHLON
11 – Goodale, Sarah SO-2 3825 VU Indoor Invitational