LEXINGTON, Ky. – Eleven Commodores will look to punch their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships when the NCAA East First Round kicks off Thursday in Lexington.
Haley Bishop, Ella Escobar, Veronica Fraley, Lena Gooden, Sarah Marvin, Allyria McBride, Sarah Omoregie, Julia Rosenberg, Falon Spearman, Santana Spearman and Kosi Umerah qualified for the meet by ranking among the top 48 declared individual athletes or top 24 relay teams in the East Region in their respective events.
In the 1,500 meters, Rosenberg owns a personal best of 4:15.60, which is No. 4 all-time at Vanderbilt. Her last time on the track, she came in fourth in the at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Gooden jumped 6.17 meters at the conference championships, breaking the school record and placing sixth to score points for Vandy.
Gooden, Bishop, Escobar and McBride advanced to regionals in the 4×100-meter relay after clocking 44.21 seconds at the SEC Championships, placing eighth and setting a new program record in the process.
McBride, who finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles at the SEC Championships with a time of 56.05 seconds, will also compete in the event alongside F. Spearman, who turned in a personal best of 58.05 seconds at the conference meet. McBride currently ranks sixth in the region.
In the 100-meter hurdles, Falon and Santana Spearman enter the competition with season bests of 13.18 (2.1 m/s) and 13.20 seconds (2.5 m/s), respectively.
Dropping more than a second off her 200-meter time over the course of this season, Bishop will head into the meet with a season-best mark of 23.47 seconds (2.4 m/s).
The trio of SEC shot put champion Fraley (18.29 meters), SEC scorer Omoregie (17.79 meters) and Marvin (15.93 meters) will compete in the shot put in Lexington. Fraley and Omoregie are among the top 10 qualifiers in the event.
Fraley will also vie for a spot at nationals in the discus. She enters the competition as the third-ranked competitor with a collegiate season-best mark of 61.62 meters, a mark which earned her a silver medal at SECs.
Umerah qualified for regionals in the hammer throw with a mark of 58.70 meters. The mark is a personal best and ranked second all-time at Vanderbilt.
The top 12 student-athletes in each individual event and the top 12 relay teams will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Competition gets underway at 9 a.m. CT with the hammer throw. Running events will begin at 3 p.m. CT with the 100-meter hurdles first round. Action is streamed on ESPN+ and live results are available online.
Vanderbilt Schedule – Thursday
9 a.m. – Hammer throw semifinals (Umerah)
2 p.m. – Long jump semifinals (Gooden)
2 p.m. – 100m hurdles first round (F. Spearman, S. Spearman)
2:30 p.m. – Shot put semifinals (Fraley, Marvin, Omoregie)
2:30 p.m. – 1,500 meters first round (Rosenberg)
4:20 p.m. – 400m hurdles first round (McBride, F. Spearman)
4:45 p.m. – 200 meters first round (Bishop)
*Times are listed in CT
EDIT: Times have been updated to reflect schedule changes as of May 23 at 7:30 a.m. CT.
