Feb. 24, 2013
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Vanderbilt track and field team wrapped-up action at the 2013 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships by scoring points in the high jump and the distance medley relay.
High jumper Brionne Williams, who entered the meet among the top-10 in the nation, placed seventh in the conference. The high jump at this year’s SEC meet was arguably the deepest field in the nation and Williams cleared 1.80 meters (5′ 10.75″) on her second attempt. The Hoover, Ala., native placed seventh and scored two points for Vanderbilt.
Ellie Tidman just missed scoring in the event, clearing 1.75 meters (5′ 8.75″) to finish in a tie for ninth.
“Brione competed well in what was posisbly the highest national-level event in the conference and Ellie was just a miss or two from scoring,” said Vanderbilt Head Coach Steve Keith.
The distance medley relay saw a group of one senior and three freshman place sixth with a time of 11:25.25, which is the second-best in program history. Freshmen Lily Williams, Faith Washington and Sara Barron ran along with senior Kristen Findley. The group earned three points for Vanderbilt.
Lily Williams qualified for the mile finals and finished 10th with a time of 4:49.46. She was the only freshmen to reach the finals in the event and came back later in the day to lead off the distance medley relay team.
“It was a tough race for Lily, just missing the scoring, but she came back well to lead off the DMR,” Keith said.
Five Commodores ran in the 5,000 meters, paced by seniors Allie Scalf and Jordan White. Scalf crossed the line in 17:03.15 to finish 12th, followed by White in 13th at 17:10.43. Freshman Amira Joseph was 16th in 17:13.74.
Vanderbilt ran three freshmen and a sophomore in the 4×400 relay, finishing ninth in a time of 3:45.22. Jennifer Cannon led off, followed by Skyler Carpenter, Janetra Gleaves and Washington.
Keith was especially proud of Washington running in both the distance medley and 4×400 relays.
“Faith is a tough runner and she came back 20 minutes after the DMR to anchor the 4×400 to the sixth-best VU performance,” Keith said.
Vanderbilt finished the meet in 14th place with five points, but Keith knows the future is bright as Vanderbilt looks to the outdoor season
“We’re young, we learned a lot and we’re eager for outdoors,” Keith says.
