April 23, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt track and field team continues its outdoor season this weekend as it travels to Des Moines, Iowa for the prestigious Drake Relays. The Commodores open competition on Friday and the meet continues until Sunday.
“The Drake Relays is a very prestigious event,” Vanderbilt track and field head coach D’Andre Hill said. “We’re looking forward to some great competition. The conference meet is just around the corner, so we’re looking to tweak a few things heading into that.”
Now in its 99th running, the Drake Relays is known as America’s Athletic Classic. This year, 7,908 athletes representing 686 teams are expected to compete in the meet. There will be colleges and universities representing 34 different states at the meet.
The Commodores are coming off a successful weekend at the Vanderbilt Invitational in Nashville. Distance runners Rita Jorgensen and Carmen Mims won the 3000 meters and 5000 meters, respectively. Jorgensen also recorded a regional qualifying mark in the 800 meters with a time of 2:08.16.
Sophomore Cherice Robertson also had one of her best weekends of the seasons, winning the high jump with a jump of 5’7″. Robertson also set a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.11.
“We’ve been able to accomplish some things in the last few weeks,” Hill added. “Cherice has started to round into form. Lauryn (Smith) had a great long jump last weekend even in some bad weather. We’re hoping to continue with those improvements this weekend.”
Complete results and a recap from the Drake Relays will be available on the official Web site of Vanderbilt athletics, vucommodores.com.
