FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Vanderbilt’s 4×400-meter relay wrapped up the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships with the fifth-fastest time in school history at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center on Saturday night.
In the final event of the three-day conference meet, Vanderbilt finished seventh in the 4×400. Madison Fuller (55.92), Jordan Smith (54.63), Kaira Brown (55.36) and Taiya Shelby (53.39) combined to finish in a time of 3:39.29. That is Vanderbilt’s fastest 4×400 in six years.
“It was nice to have the 4×400 finish on a high note for us,” Vanderbilt head coach Steve Keith said. “The SEC meet is always a big challenge and one of the most competitive track meets in the world. We’re excited to have nearly our whole squad back next year and we’re adding more, too.”
During the first two days of the meet, Vanderbilt scored in the distance medley relay with the eighth-fastest time in program history while three Commodores posted top 10 times in the school record book. Shelby is second in the 400 meters (53.07), Brown is now seventh in that event (55.51) and senior Gillian Mortimer moved into 10th in the 5,000 meters (16:59.22).
In all, during a shortened indoor season, Vanderbilt etched 17 new entries into the school record book which includes 14 different student-athletes in nine different individual events and two relays.
“We’re looking forward to getting outdoors, competing early and letting the kids find their rhythm,” Keith said.
