NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt track and field will welcome seven student-athletes to its jumps and multi-event squad, director of cross country and track and field Althea Thomas announced.
Transfer students Marta Sivina, Falon Spearman and Alix Still and freshmen Lena Gooden, Rowan Houston, Olivia Kosanovich and Anaya Webster will represent the Commodores in the jumps and multi-event disciplines.
North Texas transfer Sivina hails from Ogre, Latvia. As a freshman, she won the Conference USA pentathlon title and recorded a personal best 3,942 points in the pentathlon at the Texas Tech Open to place seventh. At the 2022 Latvian CE Championships, Sivina earned a silver medal in the long jump and third place in the 100-meter hurdles. Her personal best in the heptathlon is 5,267 points.
Spearman will join the Commodores as a sophomore transfer from Duke. While prepping at Providence Day School, she was the NCISAA state champion in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles and as a member of the 4×100-meter relay. Spearman’s prep bests include 13.54 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, 41.73 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles and 59.84 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles.
Still will join Vanderbilt track and field as a graduate transfer from Virginia, where she was a multi-event athlete. A native of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, she prepped at IMG Academy. While competing for the Cavaliers in 2023, she was the runner-up in the pentathlon and placed fifth in the heptathlon at the indoor and outdoor ACC Championships. She advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships as a senior, where she finished 21st overall in the heptathlon. In 2021 and 2023, she qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the pentathlon. Her collegiate bests include 5,662 points in the heptathlon and 4,177 points in the pentathlon.
Gooden, of Manassas, Virginia, prepped at Osbourn Park High School. There, she was a four-time state champion in the indoor and outdoor long jump. At the 2023 New Balance Nationals, she was third in the indoor long jump and 12th in the outdoor long jump. After the 2023 season, Gooden was ranked first in Virginia and 10th in the nation in the long jump with a personal best 20’ 4.5” (6.21 meters) mark.
Incoming freshman Houston is from Rye, New York, and prepped at Rye Country Day School for two years and Notre Dame High School in Fairfield, Connecticut, for two years. At Notre Dame, she was the Class S high jump state champion in 2022 and 2023. As a senior, she was also the conference champion in the high jump and set an all-time South West Conference record. In 2023, she was named all-conference and received all-state honors in 2022 and 2023.
Boulder, Colorado, native Kosanovich prepped at Fairview High School and is No. 4 in Colorado and No. 41 in the United States in the pole vault. In 2022, she was the Nike Outdoor Nationals pole vault champion. Kosanovich’s prep best in the pole vault was 12’ 6” (3.81 meters).
Webster, a Spring, Texas, native, prepped at Conroe Oaks. During the 2023 outdoor season, she was third in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump at the Texas State Championships. Her prep bests include 19’ 7” (5.70 meters) in the long jump and 40’ 2.25” (12.25 meters) in the triple jump.
The jumps and multi-event squad saw a record-breaking season in 2023 under head coach Thomas and assistant coach Justin Byron. SEC heptathlon scorer Madison Murray and USATF U20 400-meter hurdles medalist Mya Georgiadis are among the Commodores returning to this training group. Murray finished eighth overall in the heptathlon at the SEC Championships. As a freshman, Georgiadis placed third at the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships and advanced to the NCAA East Regional in the 400-meter hurdles.
