NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt Commodores had a busy Day Two at the Music City Challenge on Saturday, recording numerous event wins, top-5 finishes, personal bests and entries into the program record books.
To begin the day, the cross country and track and field programs’ 13 graduating seniors were recognized by Vanderbilt athletics director Candice Lee and director of cross country and track and field Althea Thomas.
“Being able to compete at home in front of the home crowd gave us the confidence and the extra push we needed to prepare for the best conference [championships] in the NCAA,” Thomas said. “It allowed us to manage our expectations, emotions and anxiousness and still be able to execute. That’s one of the things we’ve been working on as we continue to develop into the athletes we want to be so we can start being the performers we know we’re able to be.”
In competition on the field, Giavonna Meeks finished first among collegiate competitors and third overall in the hammer throw with a 56.48-meter toss.
In the shot put, Veronica Fraley notched the farthest mark of collegiate competitors and finished second overall with a throw of 17.14 meters. Sarah Marvin (15.37 meters) and Meeks (13.47 meters) placed sixth and ninth, respectively.
Laine Roberts posted an outdoor season best in the pole vault, clearing 3.6 meters to finish fifth.
On the track, the 4×100-meter relay of Madison Fuller, Taylor McKinnon, Ella Escobar and Allyria McBride notched the second-fastest performance in program history, finishing second with a time of 45.49 seconds.
Taiya Shelby won the 400 meters with a time of 51.87 seconds, currently ranking in the NCAA’s top 25 for the event. Brooke Overholt finished second, crossing the finish line in a personal best 53.40 seconds, which is No. 4 on the school’s all-time performer list. Finishing in fourth place was Kaira Brown with a season-best time of 54.44 seconds.
In the 400-meter hurdles, McBride claimed her first individual collegiate victory with a time of 58.34 seconds. Running the event for the first time in her collegiate career, Madyson Wilson finished the race in 1:03.53 and earned sixth place.
Improving her 800-meter time for the third meet in a row, Mackenzie Culpepper clocked 2:10.44, finishing first among freshmen and 12th overall.
On the men’s side, Dylan Ballard earned a seventh-place finish in the 800 meters with a time of 1:52.42.
In the 100-meter hurdle prelims, Santana…