Jan. 19, 2017
Event: Vanderbilt Invitational
Dates: Jan. 20-21
Site: Vanderbilt Multipurpose Facility
Coming off a strong performance at last week’s Commodore Invitational, Vanderbilt track and field is set to welcome 18 other schools to its third home meet of the season, the Vanderbilt Invitational. SEC opponents that will be traveling to Nashville this meet include Arkansas, Mississippi State, Missouri and South Carolina. Notable out-of-area programs that will be making the trip to Nashville include Arizona and Connecticut. The remaining 12 schools bringing athletes to the meet are Furman, Georgia Tech, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Middle Tennessee State, Samford, South Alabama, Southern Illinois, Southern Miss, Tennessee State, UAB and Western Kentucky. This meet will bring the running total of schools to Nashville to compete in a Vanderbilt-hosted track and field meet to 33 different programs. The meet will begin at 4:00 p.m. (CT) on Friday and 9:45 a.m. (CT) on Saturday.
Vanderbilt had two athletes win events in the Commodore Invitational a week ago. Junior Jenn Edobi won the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.99 seconds, a mark that set a new meet record. Senior triple jumper Simone Charley, a two-time NCAA First Team All-American, also won her event with a leap of 43′ 1″. The Commodores also got a strong performance from senior Courtney Clayton, who placed fifth overall with a time of 4:47.67 in the mile run, a new personal best. It was the second consecutive top-five finish for Clayton, who won the mile run with a time of 4:51.57 at the Vanderbilt Indoor Opener. Three Commodore runners placed in the top-10 in the 3000-meter run last weekend with senior Carmen Carlos finishing fifth with a time of 9:40.36, junior Megan Huebner finishing ninth crossing the line at 9:50.65 and freshman Mailin Struck just behind her at 10th with a time of 9:53.35.
Here is a full list of Vanderbilt athletes that will be competing this weekend:
Friday
Field Events
5:00 PM Long Jump — Tierney Price
Running Events
7:00 PM 200-Meters — Erin Hardnett
8:00 PM Distance Medley –Reagan Bustamante, Courtney Clayton, Ginger Hutton, and Maddie Criscione and a second team of Lauren Moffett, Lydia Witty, Kendall Derry, and Birdie Hutton
8:30 PM 5000-Meters (W) — Carmen Carlos, Devon Grisbaum, Megan Huebner, and Mailin Struck
8:50 PM 5000-Meters (M) — Nikos Gkotsis, Harrison Thomas, Evan Suzman, and Jake Van Geffen
Saturday
Field Events
10:30 AM Pole Vault (First Section) — Megan McCabe, Margaret Ollinger, and Katie Watts
1:30 PM Pole Vault (Second Section) — Sarah Bell, Caleigh Lofstead
2:00 PM Triple Jump — Simone Charley and Tierney Price
Running Events
9:45 AM 3000-Meters (W) — Kacie Breeding and Birdie Hutton
10:15 AM 3000-Meters (M) — Caleb Casolaro, Sam DeFabrizio, and Jason Vincze
10:55 AM Mile Run (M) — Waqqas Fazili and Andrew Irvine
1:00 PM 60-Meter Hurdles — Erin Hardnett
2:20 PM Mile Run (W) — Courtney Clayton
3:55 PM 800-Meters (W) — Skyler Carpenter, Maddie Criscione, Jenn Edobi, Reagan Bustamante, Kendall Derry, Ginger Hutton, Lauren Moffett, and Lydia Witty
4:10 PM 800-Meters (M) — Nikos Gkotsis
4:25 PM 3000-Meters (W) — Courtney Kriegshauser
4:55 PM 4×400 Relay (W) — Team Entries
Quoting head coach Steve Keith:
On the strength of competition that the VU home meets have attracted:
“Our competitions have gotten stronger and stronger each year and that is especially the case this year with us hosting SEC Indoors in February. Word has gotten out on the quality of our meets and what a great facility we have. Last weekend we had five NCAA-leading performances come out of our meet, so there is no doubt the track is fast and Vanderbilt is becoming a competitive destination for teams from around the country.”
On what he’d like to see from his team this weekend:
“Regarding our team, we will continue to keep our volume high while maybe trying some different events for the student-athletes. January is always a difficult, but exciting month, as we jump into the intensity of competition while still carrying a high workload.”
The cost for entry will be $7 for spectators and free to any Vanderbilt students with a valid student ID.