The Vanderbilt track and field team, along with members of the Commodore men’s cross country team, competed on May 2 at the Music City Challenge held at the Vanderbilt Outdoor Track Complex in Nashville.
The event marked a return to home ground for the teams as they participated in their final regular season meet. The competition provided an opportunity for athletes to test their progress ahead of upcoming championships.
Elizabeth Bailey opened the day for Vanderbilt with a win in the javelin, throwing 51.17 meters. This was her first time surpassing 50 meters since March, coming just short of her personal best by 0.21 meters. Gianna Bullock achieved a personal best with her throw of 34.63 meters and finished ninth in the event.
In other field events, three Commodores placed among the top ten in the long jump invite: Anaya Webster took fourth place with a jump of 5.71 meters, Kayleigh Stargell was eighth at 5.51 meters, and Bullock finished tenth with a distance of 5.37 meters. Jacqueline Rose secured third place in pole vault by clearing a height of 3.61 meters.
On the track, all four Vanderbilt runners advanced to finals in the 100-meter hurdles: Falon Spearman set a new school record by finishing in 13.01 seconds; Santana Spearman ran it in 13.41 seconds; Taylor McKinnon clocked in at 13.56 seconds; and Marta Sivina qualified with a time of 13.86 seconds.
Lena Gooden reached Saturday’s finals for the women’s invitational 100-meter dash after posting an eleventh-best qualifying time of 11.83 seconds.
Josie Donelson finished fifth overall—and narrowly ahead by three-thousandths of a second—in the women’s invitational section of the 200-meter dash with Kylah Woods also making it into ninth place (24.63 seconds).
In distance events, Betsy Jepkemei won her race over fifteen hundred meters (4:22:67), Lily Kriegel took third (4:23:25), and Audrey Allman placed seventh (4:26:75). Tyla Lumley improved her personal best while running fifth overall during five thousand meter run (16:05:36).
As competitors look forward to postseason meets, these performances reflect ongoing progress within both teams.
