NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It was a strong showing for the Vanderbilt track and field team on Friday as the Commodores competed at both the Crimson Tide Invitational hosted by Alabama and Ole Miss’ Joe Walker Invitational.
Vanderbilt posted won two events and had 13 top-5 finishes in total at the Crimson Tide Invitational, plus had six top-10 updates to the Vanderbilt record books.
The Commodores finished 1-2 in the 400-meter dash with Faith Franklin just edging out Josie Donelson for the top spot in the event. Franklin crossed the finish line in 52.28 seconds, setting a new personal best and moving into third in the distance in Vanderbilt history. Donelson posted a time of 52.99 seconds to also set a new collegiate best and move herself into fifth all-time.
Mainstays in the 4×400-meter relay this season, both Franklin and Donelson returned to the track, alongside Falon Spearman and Joy Moorer, to run the final event of the night. The quartet ran away from the field, winning the race by over five seconds. They posted a time of 3:34.40, which is the second-fastest time in the event for the Commodores this season and the third-fastest for Vanderbilt all-time.
Madyson Wilson, for the second straight week, set a new personal best in the 400-meter hurdles. This week she shaved 0.39 seconds off her time to finish in 57.39 seconds, which helped her take second in today’s meet and move her into sixth place all-time.
Other notable results in the sprint events were a fourth-place finish by the 4×100-meter relay team of Lena Gooden, Kylah Woods, Alima Kassim, and Danielle Dunning, and a fifth-place finish by Santana Spearman in the 100-meter hurdles.
The Commodores also found success in the distance events, with Betsy Jepkemei and Audrey Allman posting top-five finishes in the 1,500-meter run and Bria Bennis and Hannah Huyler doing the same in the 5,000-meter run.
Jepkemei ran her best time in the 1,500 meters at 4:21.11, placing fourth in the event and moving into seventh place in the record books. Allman finished fifth with a time of 4:27.78. Bennis and Huyler placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 5,000 meters with times of 16:43.91 and 16:49.35.
Anaya Webster posted fifth-place finishes in both the long jump and the triple jump, with her long jump showing of 5.87 meters placing her 10th all-time. Elizabeth Bailey secured another Vanderbilt top-five finish in the field, placing fourth in javelin. Her top throw traveled 48.06 meters, just a few meters off her school record mark.
Members of the Vanderbilt men’s cross country also run at the Crimson Tide Invitational on Friday. The Commodores took four of the top seven spots in the 1,500 meter run, with Michael Skora winning the race in 3:49.07, three seconds clear of his closest competitor. Luke Churchwell came in third with a time of 3:52.42, which set a new outdoor personal best and moved him into sixth in the Vanderbilt record books. Sam Darmanie joined Churchwell in the record books at the distance, sitting one spot behind after his time of 3:54.03 earned him a fifth-place finish. Jackson Scruggs rounded out Vanderbilt’s performers with a 3:59.11 time and seventh-place finish.
Tommy O’Brien found himself at the back of the pack to start the 5,000-meter run, but he maintained his pace and steadily moved up in placement as each lap went by. He closed strongly with a 1:05.95 final lap to finish in 14:53.90 and place 11th in the event.
At the Joe Walker Invitational, two Commodores, Marta Sivina and Gianna Bullock, were competing in the heptathlon. Sivina sits in first with 3,367 points after the first four events while Bullock is in third with 3,286 points.
Sivina finished no lower than fourth in any of the four events, placing second in the 100-meter hurdles, third in high jump, fourth in shot put, and third in the 200-meter dash. She got out of the blocks fast in the 100-meter hurdles and finished in 13.57 seconds, moving her into seventh on the program’s all-time list.
Bullock secured one victory on the day, winning high jump with a high clearance of 1.71 meters, which also moved her into sole possession of 10th place in Vanderbilt history. She also placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles, third in shot put, and eighth in the 200 meters to close out her first day of the heptathlon.
Both Sivina and Bullock resume the heptathlon at the Joe Walker Invitational Saturday with a start time of 10:15 a.m. The remaining three events can be seen on ESPN+.
