NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt Track and field team is prepped and ready for its second outdoor meet of the season, the Raleigh Relays.
“We are taking a small group of distance runners in the east coast’s premier distance meet,” said Althea Thomas, director of cross country and track and field. “We are looking forward to the foundation that they will lay this weekend for the outdoor campaign.”
Hosted by NC State, the Raleigh Relays is a three-day meet which starts on Thursday and concludes on Saturday. The Commodores will compete in the 1500 meters and the 10,000 meters on Thursday and Friday.
Representing Vanderbilt will be McKenzie Yanek, Niki Narayani, Haley Walker, Caroline Eck, and Grace Jensen.
Vandy commenced the outdoor season at the Black & Gold Invitational in Orlando, Florida. The two-day meet was hosted by UCF and featured competitors from Alabama State, Albany, Bethune-Cookman, Connecticut, Dartmouth, Embry-Riddle, Flagler, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Memorial, Florida Tech, Kentucky, Marshall, Mercer, Michigan, Minnesota, NC State, North Florida, NYU, Rhode Island, Rutgers, Saint Leo, Southeastern U., Stetson, Tampa, Temple, UMass Amherst, University of The Bahamas, VCU. Weather played a big factor in day 1 but the Commodores contended in the 400 meter hurdles, 200 meter dash, and 1500 meter run before the meet was called for the night.
On day 2, Vanderbilt competed in the steeplechase, 4×400 meter relay, and the 400 meters. In the 100 meter dash, Madison Fuller and Haley Bishop represented the Commodores in the stacked event. Fuller’s pace of 11.62 notched her a top-10 finish on the day. Bishop, who previously shared the top time in school history with Fuller, reset the mark. Finishing the day in fifth place, Bishop’s time of 11.51 is now the program’s top time in the event. The Commodores’ 4×100 meter relay team of Fuller, Bishop, Jordan Smith, and Taiya Shelby finished fourth overall with a time of 45.84, nearly setting a new program record.
Also, competing for Vanderbilt at the Raleigh Relays is Nick Laning in the men’s 1500 meters on Thursday.
Divine Oladipo will compete at the 2022 Ole Miss Classic in both the shot put and discus on Saturday. Live results for Oladipo’s events can be found here.