May 26, 2015
The Vanderbilt track and field team has recorded a continual stream of personal bests and school records this season. Now, the Commodores are hoping to continue that trend when the stakes are the highest. The team is sending nine representatives this week to Jacksonville, Fla., for the the NCAA East Region Preliminaries, where the top-12 finishers in each event will advance to the NCAA Championships. “At this meet, it’s a situation where everybody is in great shape, so it’s a matter of mentally being able to handle the full package,” said Vanderbilt head coach Steve Keith. “You have to be able to handle the emotion of it and focus on your own event while also not detaching yourself totally. If we go out and run a bunch of personal bests, than we’ll just let the chips fall where they may.” Here’s a closer look at this week’s meet, which opens Thursday:
Event: NCAA East Region Preliminaries
Day, Date: Thursday-Saturday, May 28-30
Host: University of North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Site: Hodges Stadium Track & Field facility
Stadium Capacity: 9,400
Meet Home Page: HEREÂ Â
Meet Schedule: HEREÂ
Entry Lists: HEREÂ Â
Live results: HERE
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l STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
After a record-setting season, it’s only fitting that the Commodores will compete in a record-setting number of events this week. Vanderbilt’s nine representatives are scheduled to participate in eight events, which is the most in team history. The previous record was seven events, set by last year’s team.
l BEEN HERE BEFORE
The atmosphere at this week’s meet won’t be a new experience for many of the Commodores. Sara Barron will be making her third consecutive appearance at the NCAA Preliminaries, and four of her teammates — Rebecca Chandler, Skyler Carpenter, Sarah Bell and Simone Charley — each qualified for the meet last year.
l GOOD TIME CHARLEY
Vanderbilt’s All-American triple-jumper Simone Charley will be looking to build on last year’s success. The sophomore from Hoover, Ala., finished 10th at last year’s Preliminaries with a school-record leap of 43-1 and qualified for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Charley finished ninth at the national meet with a mark of 42-7, which was the best among all freshmen.
l COMPETING FOR THE COMMODORES
The Commodores will have representatives in eight events from Thursday through Saturday. Here’s a look at who will be wearing the Star-V this week:
THURSDAY
4:30 pm 400-Hurdles — Faith Washington, Skyler Carpenter
4:30 pm Pole Vault — Sarah Bell
5:30 pm 1500 — Sara Barron
8:10 pm 800 — Courtney Clayton
FRIDAY
7 pm 800 Quarterfinals
7:30 pm 400-Hurdles Quarterfinals
8:50 pm Steeplechase — Rebecca Chandler
SATURDAY
4 pm Triple Jump — Simone Charley
6 pm High Jump — Ellie Tidman
6:30 pm 1500 Quarterfinals
9:25 pm 4×400 — Faith Washington, Skyler Carpenter, Courtney Clayton, Erin Edmond
l QUOTING THE COACH
Vanderbilt head coach Steve Keith sat down with vucommodores.com this week to discuss each of the Commodores’ events:
400-Hurdles — Faith Washington, Skyler Carpenter …
Keith: “I have a feeling there is some extra motivation for Sky and Faith after not having the type of results at the SEC meet that they wanted. So, for them to move to the next round would really be satisfying. And they’ve got the talent to do it.”
Pole Vault — Sarah Bell …
Keith:Â “Missing the indoor season (with an ankle injury) might have been more of a change in her routine that she has experienced before. But she’s healthy now, so again, it’s all about the mental side. Physically, she’s at a performance level that puts her right in the hunt.”
1500 — Sara Barron …Â
Keith:Â “I think what we saw at the conference meet from Sara was really encouraging. She got sick right near the end of the academic year — at the first of May — and she wasn’t able to race at Duke, which might have put her out of rhythm for the SEC meet. But she got back into it pretty quickly, and scored well at the conference meet. The way she ran her prelim is probably how it needs to go for her (this week). … We feel good about that, and we’d love to see her get to that second race.”
800 — Courtney Clayton …Â
Keith:Â “There is no better training ground for the 800 than the SEC Championships. So, she’s been through the wars. She just needs to run a smart race this week and good things will happen for her. She is really coming into form now, and getting more confident as the weeks go on.”
Steeplechase — Rebecca Chandler …
Keith:Â “We’d love to see her run a PR and set a new school record. … The SEC race was a rough one. The weather was really crazy and (the field) went out crazy fast, which was a little bit of a shock. Hopefully, we are on our game early, mentally.”
Triple Jump — Simone Charley …Â
Keith:Â “The East is really competitive, and Simone comes in ranked eighth. She’s going to have jump well. We will need to have 100 percent of Simone there, mentally and physically. Hopefully she can capitalize on the experiences she’s had, indoor and outdoor, at nationals.”
High Jump — Ellie Tidman …Â
Keith:Â “She’s just a centimeter off her PR, and I would love to see her jump a personal best. You know, maybe just one more bar, and that could be the bar that makes it. As a fifth-year senior, we’d love to see her have a great showing.”
4×400 — Faith Washington, Skyler Carpenter, Courtney Clayton, Erin Edmond …Â
Keith:Â “As a unit, they’ve been really close, and that’s huge. That’s job No. 1 for those guys. (At the SEC Championships), they ran a little faster (than their previous school record) and they mixed it up with LSU and Kentucky. So they have been in those battles now. And now it’s a matter that could come down to a tenth of a second.”