With every passing weekend it seems, the Vanderbilt track and field team sets school records.
It was the same story for the Commodores in Ames, Iowa at the ISU Classic Saturday, setting several new school marks a week after freshmen Teegan Hill and Jordan White set school records in the 400- and 800-meter runs, respectively. Sophomore distance standout Rita Jorgensen was one of the many highlights of the day for Vanderbilt with a new school record performance in the 3000-meter run.
"I think we are definitely moving in the right direction heading into the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships at the end of the month," said coach D'Andre Hill. "Our team had some great individual performances today, lead by Rita and Teegan Hill. This meet provided us with great preparation for our upcoming conference meet and I think our team is improving at the right time."
Jorgensen continued her strong showing this weekend in Ames with a new personal best and top-five finish in the 3000-meter run with 9:37.14. Jorgensen's time broke Erika Schneble's 2007 previous school record by over two seconds. The school-record came one day after Jorgensen, Hill, White and freshman Louise Hannallah set a season-best time of 11:40.28, placing fourth.
"I thought Rita had a very good focus going into the race," sai distance coach Steve Keith. "She committed to a fast early pace (5:02 in the first mile) and held on for a big personal best. More impressively, this is still a relatively new event for Rita and she is showing nice range from the 800 to the 3k."
Hill continued to knock time off her 400-meter time with a season-high 55.73, finishing 10th out of 50 runners. This marks the second consecutive weekend that the Lancaster, Texas native has cruised to a top-three time in school-history. Hill's 55.73 is the fastest 400 time recorded by a Vanderbilt sprinter in over a decade (Amanda Helberg ran a 5.72 in 1998).
Sophomore Adrienne DiRaddo also set a personal best running a 17:37.35 in the 5000-meter run, finishing in 25th place. DiRaddo's mark was 12 minutes faster than her previous season-high time, which she set at last month's Gladstein Invitational in Bloomington, Ind. Sophomore Kristabel Doebel-Hickok finished six spots back of DiRaddo, crossing the finish line at 18:01.72.
Hannallah joined her teammates with a personal record of her own in the mile, running a 5:06.91 while sophomore teammate Kate Southcote-Want paced to a season-best 5:15.72.
In the short sprinting events, sophomore Taylor Jackson led the Commodores in the 60-meter dash, placing 17th out of 84 sprinters. Jackson's time of 7.79 marked a season-best for the Cleveland, Ohio native.
Vanderbilt's track and field team will be idle this week as they prepare for the SEC Indoor Championships Feb. 28-Mar. 1. This year's 2009 meet will be hosted by Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.
Press Release courtesy of Travis Young
