NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt’s trio of Junior Team USA members will travel to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, to compete in the 2023 Pan American U20 Championships on August 4–6. Rising sophomores Audrey Allman, Allyria McBride and Giavonna Meeks made the team based on their performances at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships in July.
Meeks, the USATF U20 hammer throw champion and Vanderbilt school record holder (60.77 meters), is seeded second in the event heading into the weekend’s meet. During the 2023 outdoor season, Meeks earned her first collegiate victory at the Indiana Invitational and advanced to the NCAA East Regional as the second-ranked freshman and No. 27 overall. Leidis Viamonte of Cuba leads the field of U20 hammer throwers at the 61.63-meter mark.
All-American and USATF 400-meter hurdles runner-up McBride is ranked second among U20 competitors for the Pan American games and fourth in the world. She is third on the program’s all-time top 10 list in the event with a 56.40-second mark that earned second place at the USATF U20 Championships. During the outdoor season, she placed seventh in the 400-meter hurdles at the SEC Championships and advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, where she finished 15th overall. McBride trails Sanaa Hebron, the USATF U20 event champion, by 0.32 seconds going into the Pan American event.
Allman medaled at the USATF U20 Championships, placing sixth in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:29.44. She finished third in the 1,500 meters at the 2023 Joe Walker Invitational with a personal-best time of 4:27.11.
All three Vanderbilt student-athletes will compete on Friday, beginning with Meeks in the hammer throw at 8 a.m. CT. McBride will race in the 400-meter hurdles semifinals at 9 a.m. CT, and Allman will compete in the 1,500 meters at 4:55 p.m. CT. Event results will be posted online.
