March 1, 2017
The NCAA announced the participants that will compete at the 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship on Tuesday night and three Vanderbilt athletes were included in the field. Seniors Sarah Bell (pole vault), Simone Charley (triple jump) and Courtney Clayton (800-meters) all earned qualification into the National Championship meet by ranking in the top 16 for their respective events.
The championships will be held March 10-11 in College Station, Texas.
Bell qualified for nationals after clearing 13’11.25″ (4.25m) in the pole vault at the SEC Championships, which ranks first all-time in Vanderbilt’s history and earned her a sixth place finish at the conference meet. She ranks 14th in the NCAA heading into the National Championship in College Station.
Watch Sarah Bell break Vanderbilt’s all-time pole vault record with a vault of 4.25m (13′ 11.25″)! Listen to that crowd! pic.twitter.com/d5soN76rTz
— Vanderbilt XC/TF (@vandyxctrack) February 24, 2017
Charley also qualified for the meet with a record-setting mark at the SEC Championships last weekend. Her leap of 44’5.25″ placed third overall in the meet and set an indoor season school record at Vanderbilt. That mark currently ranks fifth in the nation. At last year’s NCAA National Championships, Charley posted a mark of 44’0″ to earn First Team All-American honors and a second place finish. For full recap of her performance at last year’s meet, click HERE.
Straightaway view of Simone Charley’s Indoor Season SCHOOL RECORD of 44′ 5.25″! #AnchorDown #SECITF pic.twitter.com/KUrNm7J2DQ
— Vanderbilt XC/TF (@vandyxctrack) February 25, 2017
Clayton ran a school-record time of 2:04.24 in the 800-meter run at the Music City Challenge on Feb. 11, which ranks 12th in the NCAA this season and earned her qualification to the National Championships. Among other accomplishments by Clayton this season includes a personal-best time of 4:47.67 in the mile run, which ranks seventh all-time on Vanderbilt’s all-time performance list.
A full list of participants in the women’s championships can be found HERE, while the men’s qualifiers can be viewed HERE.
ESPN3 will stream the meet live on March 10 starting at 6:25 p.m. ET and March 11 starting at 4:55 p.m. ET. A re-air of the championship will take place on Sunday, March 12 starting at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.