NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt track and field student-athletes broke a trio of school records on Friday at the Bob Pollock Invitational and John Thomas Terrier Classic.
Commodores also recorded six performances ranking in the program’s all-time top 10.
At the Bob Pollock Invitational, Ford reclaimed her long jump school record in round 1 with a 6.27-meter mark. In round 3, she improved her jump to 6.56 meters, which earned a first-place finish. Lena Gooden, who turned in an indoor personal best at the Dores’ last meet, jumped 6.30 meters to place second and improve her No. 2-ranked mark in the Vanderbilt record books.
All five Commodores advanced to the 60-meter hurdles semifinals. During prelims, Ford clocked 8.44 seconds, a personal best that is tied for seventh all-time at Vandy. In the semifinals, Falon Spearman reset her own school record with an 8.12-second time to qualify for the event final where she broke the program record again with a time of 8.07 seconds. She was the top collegiate, second overall finisher in the final. Taylor McKinnon narrowly missed the final, finishing ninth with a time of 8.28 seconds. The mark is 0.01 seconds away from her personal best.
In the 60 meters prelims, London Jackson-Bray matched her collegiate-best mark of 7.42 seconds. Ford came within 0.01 seconds of breaking the program record, clocking 7.38 seconds. Both Commodores advanced to the semifinals. With a personal-best time of 7.56 seconds, Alima Kassim improved her sixth-ranked mark in the school’s record books.
Josie Donelson turned in a time of 53.19 seconds in the 400 meters, a collegiate best and the No. 3 time in Vandy history. She finished third among collegians and fifth overall.
Some of Vanderbilt’s distance student-athletes competed at the John Thomas Terrier Classic in Boston. Lily Kriegel registered a time of 9:06.30 in the 3,000 meters to set the school record and place sixth overall and third among collegiate runners. Her time was eight seconds faster than the previous program standard.
In her season-opening race, Tyla Lumley came in fourth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:18.96. It is the fourth-fastest time in Vanderbilt history.
Action continues Saturday in Clemson, South Carolina, at 9 a.m. CT with the high jump and pole vault competitions. Action will be streamed on ACCNX and live results are available via Flash Results.
