Taylor Leads Lady Vols To Top-10 Finish At NCAA Indoor Championships

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Tennessee graduate student Charisma Taylor wrapped up her impressive weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships with 18 points for the Lady Vols, leading UT to a tie for seventh place in the women’s team standings as the national meet concluded Saturday inside the Albuquerque Convention Center.
 
Combined with Jacious Sears’ six points in the 60-meter dash, Duane Ross‘ Lady Vol squad tallied 24 points at nationals to record the program’s most points and first top-10 finish on the women’s side since 2016.
 
The men of Tennessee placed 11th in the team standings, headlined by 13 points from distance specialist Dylan Jacobs in the 5k and 3k. Sprinter Emmanuel Bynum tacked on five points with his school record in the 400-meter dash, resulting in 18 total points for the Big Orange.
 
The only athlete in the country competing in three individual events at this year’s NCAA indoor meet, Taylor began Saturday’s action with a historic performance in the women’s triple jump competition. The Nassau, Bahamas, native leaped 14.88 meters (48-10) on her second attempt for second place, becoming the No. 2 performer in collegiate history and No. 2 performer on the 2023 world list. The collegiate record of 14.57m (47-9.75) entering the weekend was broken by Taylor and Jasmine Moore, who won Saturday’s event with a new CR and world-leading mark of 15.12m (49-7.25).
 
With the 14.88m performance, Taylor logged her third consecutive top-5 finish in the NCAA indoor triple jump after placing 5th for Washington State in 2021 and 3rd as a Lady Vol last season.
 
Midway through the triple jump competition, Taylor passed on a pair of jumps to line up for the 60-meter hurdles final after qualifying on Friday with a school record and 2023 World No. 14 time of 7.91. She ran a respectable 7.93 on Saturday to place third overall for the Big Orange and put Tennessee in contention for a top-10 team finish. Her third-place 60m hurdles finish was the best by a Lady Vol at the NCAA meet since Benita Fitzgerald was also third in 1981.
 
After running the No. 5 time in the world and No. 2 all-time collegiate mark of 7.04 in the 60-meter dash prelims on Friday, Sears wrapped up her first indoor season on Rocky Top with a third-place finish in Saturday’s final. The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida native crossed the line in 7.10 seconds and became Tennessee’s top finisher in the NCAA 60m since Courtney Champion was runner-up in 2007.
 
Bynum kicked off…