NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After having last weekend off, the Vanderbilt track and field team will travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas to compete in the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships this Friday and Saturday.
Over the course of the indoor season, four school records have been broken, more than a dozen Commodores have added their names to at least one of Vanderbilt’s top 10 lists, and many others have posted career- and season-best performances.
In the pentathlon, graduate student Beatrice Juskeviciute and senior Jada Sims finished first and fourth, respectively, earlier this season at the Vanderbilt Invitational. Juskeviciute broke the school’s 20-year-old record with her score of 4,084. Sims’ performance earned a score of 3,708 and the No. 6 spot on the school’s top 10 list. In the event, Juskeviciute and Sims are now ranked third and ninth, respectively, in the SEC
On the track, graduate student Taiya Shelby broke the 25-year-old school record in the 600 meters (1:29.06) at the indoor season opener, the Commodore Challenge. Shelby also holds the program’s second-fastest time in the 800 meters, finishing the race in just 2:05.79 at the PNC Lenny Lyles Classic. Shelby ranks in the top 10 in the SEC in the 800 meters, holding the No. 8 spot on that list.
In the 60-meter hurdles, graduate students Juskeviciute and Brooke Overholt are at No. 2 and No. 3 on Vanderbilt’s top 10 list. At the most recent meet, Juskeviciute earned third overall in the 60-meter hurdles and ran her personal best time of 8.44 during that event’s semifinals. At the same meet, Overholt posted a personal best time of 8.51 in the 60-meter hurdle preliminaries.
Also at the Music City Challenge, seniors Niki Narayani and Caroline Eck broke the almost 10-year-old 3,000-meters school record; they now rank first and second on Vanderbilt’s all-time list. Narayani finished the race in 9:18.66 and Eck clocked 9:20.85 in the event. Both athletes are among the top 15 in the conference, Narayani at No. 13 and Eck at No. 15.
The 4×400-meter relay of freshman Allyria McBride, senior Kaira Brown and Overholt and Shelby posted a winning time of 3:36.99 at the Music City Challenge. This time was just 0.26 short of the almost 25-year-old school record, now positioning their relay performance at No. 2 on Vanderbilt’s top 10 list.
Other notable track performances from the Commodores’ last outing include sophomore Ella Escobar’s ninth-place finish in the 60-meter dash…