‘Dores Take DMR at Power Five Invite

The Vanderbilt Commodores continued their Indoor Season at the Power Five Invitational in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with a 1st place finish in the Distance Medley Relay.

This year’s team continues to improve with a strong core of Freshman and a smattering of upperclassman, as shown in the winning DMR team. The team was comprised of Reagan Bustamente (JR), Taiya Shelby (FR), Haley Walker (FR), and Kendall Derry (JR).

The DMR is a relay race where each runner runs a different distance- 1200m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m in that order. Bustamante went 3:31.12, Shelby 55.15, Walker, 2:10.25, and Derry 5:00.81.

Bustamante took the lead for the team and the ‘Dores never relinquished it, though it was close through the third handoff. Derry took the baton and finished two seconds ahead of Pitts anchor, Miranda Salvo who ran a split of 4:52.72.

In the 200m Shelby ran 24.99 and finished sixth overall, and Freshman Jordan Smith ran 25.59 to finish 16th. Sophomore Regan Clay posted 15.12 to place 9th. The 200m field was bunched with the 18 sprinters finishing between a second and a half of the first (24.17) and last (25.81) time.

Smith and Clay also ran in the 400m. Clay finished 11th, and third in her heat, with a time of 56.96. Smith ran 58.69 for a 17th place finish.

On to the Distance side of things, Freshman Grace Jensen ran 2:14.69 in the 800m. She placed 16th overall and 5th in her heat. Senior Ginger Hutton and Derry placed 19th and 20th, respectively with times of 2:16.05 and 2:16.06. The winning time was 2:02.92 by Shannon Osika and professional Nike athlete. The best collegiate time was 2:06.79 by Aurora Rynda of Michigan.

In the Mile, Freshman Haley Walker posted 4:51.91 for 8th place. She was just a half second off of seventh and a full second off of fifth. Bustamante, ran 4:58.10 for 26th place and Ginger Hutton doubled up her 800m with a Mile run of 5:04.57 and a 34th place finish. Junior Lauren Moffett placed 39th with a time of 5:11.38.

In the 3000m Sophomore Ana Grace Morgan ran 9:58.84 placing second in her heat and 16th overall. She was closely followed by veteran runner Caroline Pietrzyk with a time of 9:59.66. Gillian Mortimer, a Sophomore, rounded out the 3k squad running 10:11.61 and a 23rd place finish.

In the field, the Commodores continued to have success in the Pole Vault. Once again, Kristen Denk led the squad with a jump of 13’7.25” and a second place finish. She passed until 4.00m and was clear through 4.15 where she reached 4.30, which would have been a personal record.

Margaret Ollinger, a Junior, set a personal record by clearing 13’ for the first time in her collegiate career. She opened at 3.85m and cleared it in one vault. She fouled her first attempt at 4.00m but cleared on her second. She scratched out at 4.15m.

The Commodores Indoor season will continue this weekend at Home this Friday and Saturday at the Music City Challenge.