Feb. 23, 2018
Nineteen Vanderbilt athletes are expected to compete in the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday in College Station, Texas.
The conference meet, which was held at Vanderbilt last year for the first time ever, is one of the nation’s elite indoor competitions, annually bringing together many of the top collegiate teams and athletes.
Vanderbilt coach Steve Keith expects the Commodores to compete at a high level. The squad is coming off its two best weeks of training entering the conference championship.
“Bottom line, we want to go into this meet and perform better than we have to this point of the indoor season,” Keith said. “I think we can do that and establish a number of personal-bests along the way.”
The strength of Vanderbilt’s squad entering the SEC meet appears to be the pole vault and middle distance corps.
The team has three vaulters who have scored at previous SEC indoor meets – fifth-year senior Sarah Bell, sophomore Caleigh Lofstead and redshirt sophomore transfer Kristen Denk. Bell, the team’s record holder, earned fifth place last year during an eventual All-American indoor campaign. Lofstead claimed seventh at the meet last year and Denk was a fifth-place finisher at the 2016 meet as a member of the Tennessee Volunteers.
Bell, Lofstead and Denk have all cleared 13 feet this winter in the event. They will be joined by a fourth teammate, sophomore Margaret Ollinger, who has several near misses at 13 feet.
If the Commodores are to contend for a top individual finish, Bell’s school-record clearance of 13-11.25 could be challenged.
Vanderbilt also has the fourth-rated distance medley relay unit entering the meet with Becca Schulte, Ginger Hutton, Reagan Anderson and Kendall Derry running 11:31.33 at the Music City Challenge two weeks ago. Keith thinks the Commodores have potential to run much faster at the distance.
The Commodores also return Reagan Bustamante in the 800 meters. Last year, the sophomore earned seventh place in the SEC outdoor 800 with a personal-best of 2:07.70.
Jenn Edobi, one of the finest quarter milers in team history, returns for her final SEC indoor competition. The fifth-year senior advanced to the 400-meter finals at the 2017 conference meet and also brings the experience of having contributed on former distance medley units at the meet.
Senior Megan Huebner, who has the team’s top performances this winter at 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters, paces the Commodores’ distance contingent.
Freshmen Sophia Falco and Regan Clay will compete in sprints. Falco is also entered in the long jump and triple jump.
The SEC meet will be held at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on the Texas A&M campus. The venue will also host the upcoming NCAA Indoor Championships.
Competitions start early Saturday with the women’s pentathlon and heptathlon events. The pole vault final is one of the first women’s field events Saturday, starting at 2 p.m. CT. Qualifying for running events also starts at 3 p.m.
The meet will be streamed live Saturday starting at 4 p.m. on SEC Network+. The full schedule of events on Sunday will air on the SEC Network starting at 5 p.m.
The roster of Vanderbilt participants follows –
Running Events:
60 meters – Sophia Falco
200 meters – Regan Clay
400 meters – Jenn Edobi, R. Clay
800 meters – Reagan Bustamante, Becca Schulte, Sara Tsai
Mile – Reagan Anderson, Kendall Derry, Ginger Hutton
3,000 meters – Megan Huebner, Devon Grisbaum, Gillian Mortimer, Anna Grace Morgan
5,000 meters – M. Huebner, Mailin Struck
Distance Medley Relay – TBD
4 x 400m Relay – TBD
Field Events:
Pole Vault – Sarah Bell, Kristen Denk, Caleigh Lofstead, Margaret Ollinger
Long Jump – S. Falco
Triple Jump – S. Falco
Standout 800-meter specialist Clayton sidelined with injury
Fifth-year senior Courtney Clayton, a two-time All-American and the team’s record holder at 800 meters, will miss the rest of indoor season due to a leg injury, Keith said, but hopes to return healthy for the upcoming outdoor campaign.
“Courtney not being able to participate definitely hurts,” Keith said. “She hasn’t been able to train in recent weeks without discomfort, so we made the decision to cut her indoor season short. We’re looking forward to Courtney having a productive outdoor season this spring.”
Clayton’s departure leaves the Commodore middle-distance corps without a top performer who captured fifth place in the SEC indoor 800 meters as a freshman, set an indoor school-record of 2:04.24 last year and has earned second-team indoor All-American honors at the distance.
This winter, Clayton also posted the team’s fastest mile effort, running 4:48.13 at the Vanderbilt Invitational.