NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt track and field team will travel to Oxford, Mississippi, for its third meet of the outdoor season, the Joe Walker Invitational, hosted by Ole Miss.
The Commodores left their mark on the track after their last meet, the Pepsi Florida Relays, in Gainesville, Florida, breaking a total of four school records and boasting eight Vanderbilt all-time top 10 performances.
After the weekend, two Dores are SEC leaders and ranked in the top 3 in the NCAA in their events. Junior Veronica Fraley finished in first and set the school record in the discus at 60.24 meters, ranking first in the SEC, second in the NCAA and 11th in the world at this point in the season. Graduate student Taiya Shelby finished first among collegiate competitors and third overall, and she set the school record in the 800 meters with a time of 2:03.89. She leads the SEC and ranks third in the NCAA in the event thus far in the season.
Freshman Giavonna Meeks and the shuttle hurdle relay team of graduate student Beatrice Juskeviciute, freshmen Taylor McKinnon and Santana Spearman, and senior Jada Sims also broke school records at the Pepsi Florida Relays. Meeks set the program record in the hammer throw with her 51.86-meter toss. The shuttle hurdle relay team finished with a record-breaking time of 55.77 seconds.
In the 400-meter hurdles, freshman Allyria McBride clocked 57.88 seconds, which is a personal best and the fourth-fastest time in Vanderbilt history. Currently, she is the top-ranked freshman and seventh overall in the SEC in the event.
Sarah Marvin is also one of the top-ranked freshmen in the SEC in her event, currently ranking second among freshmen and 12th overall in the shot put. Her throw of 15.55 meters earned seventh place in the open division of the shot put and is third best in program history.
In the invite division of the shot put, Fraley posted the fourth-farthest mark in school history (15.18 meters).
In the 100-meter hurdles, McKinnon and Spearman finished in 13.73 seconds and 13.99 seconds, respectively, which are the No. 4 and No. 7 times in school history.
Junior Rondajai Washington recorded a season best of 24.02 seconds in the 200 meters, which is fifth in program history.
Two Commodore relays posted all-time top 10 performances in Gainesville. The 4×100-meter relay team of McBride, Shelby, sophomore Ella Escobar and Washington notched the second-fastest time in school history (45.76 seconds). The 4×400-meter relay team of McBride, freshman Mya Georgiadis, Shelby and senior Kaira Brown placed fifth in the Tom Jones invite division with a time of 3:36.57, which ranks sixth in Vanderbilt history.
The meet will kick off on Friday at 12:30 p.m. with the women’s hammer throw. Running events will begin at 1:15 p.m. with the heptathlon 100-meter hurdles and 5 p.m. with the women’s 200 meters.
Friday’s live results can be accessed here.
Fans can follow Vanderbilt women’s track and field on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @VandyXCTrack.
