Vanderbilt Track and Field competed at the SEC Outdoor Championships from May 15-17 in Lexington, Kentucky. The Commodores placed last at the event, earning 12 total points. Still, multiple athletes recorded season-best finishes during the week.
Day 1
Vanderbilt began the event with a few top finishes and personal bests. Devyn Parham and Marta Sivina, Vanderbilt’s two heptathlon athletes, sat in fourth and sixth place through four events, respectively. The pair set personal records in the 100-meter hurdles, while they both cleared 1.62 meters in the high jump, a season-best mark for Parham. The duo also set personal records in the 200-meters, as Parham registered a time of 24.35 seconds while Sivina crossed the finish line in 25.05 seconds. Parham and Sivina competed in the final three events of the heptathlon on Day 2.
In the track events, Eva Gautreaux placed 12th in the 800 meters with a time of 2:07.50. Allyria McBride earned her spot in the competitive 400-meter hurdles finals as she finished second in her heat with a season-best time of 56.17 seconds. A standout performance from Gigi Clifford in the 10,000 meters earned the Commodores another top-15 overall finish.
Day 2
The Commodores recorded a pair of scoring performances, a finals qualification and three program all-time top-10 marks to round out Day 2. Vanderbilt’s first points of the week were earned by heptathletes Sivina and Parham. Both totaled personal best scores, with Sivina placing fourth with 5,452 points and Parham placing seventh with 5,287 points. Sivina notched a personal best both in the long jump (5.73 meters) and the 800 meters (2:15.82)
Taylor McKinnon registered a personal-record time of 13.50 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles to move to fourth in the program’s all-time performers list.
Julia Rosenburg also advanced to the 1,500 meters final as she finished second in her heat with a time of 4:19.80. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Ellie Wolski set a personal-best time of 10:32.72, good for third best in program history.
Day 3
The Commodores’ 4×100-meter relay team got the day started as they clocked a season-best time of 45.20 seconds to move into the No. 3 spot on the program’s all-time top-10 list. McBride placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles which gave the Commodores another four points.
Vanderbilt capped off the week with an eighth-place finish in the 4×400-meter relay.
“As this conference and the NCAA keep evolving, we, at Vanderbilt, are evolving,” director of cross country and track and field Althea Thomas said. “It was very special to see our seniors, those who we’ve had here for four years and those who have transferred in and believed in the product we have been putting out. It was a really good meet and a really good showing in reference to how we’re showing up.”
Qualifiers for the NCAA East First Round will be announced next week, and the event will take place May 29 and 31 in Jacksonville, Florida.