Jan. 25, 2014
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Final Results
Nashville, Tenn. - The Auburn track and field team won five events and claimed four facility records on Saturday at the Vanderbilt Invitational at the Vanderbilt Student Recreation Center.
The Tigers were led by sophomore Jessie Johnson, who won the women's pole vault with a clearance of 13-1.50/4.00m, which ties her school record set last year at the Auburn Indoor Invitational.
"We had another solid weekend on both the men's and women's sides," Auburn head coach Ralph Spry said. "We have five individual winners and was proud of the way both groups competed against some very good teams. We had some great efforts from several of our freshmen, so that was very encouraging. We have a lot of young people stepping it up, which shows their mentality."
In the women's 3000m, freshman Susan Rachel Givens broke the freshman school record with a time of 9:42.93. The previous record was held by Kathi Ward, who set the record of 9:49.32 in 1994.
Three Tigers placed in the top-5 in the mile run, led by senior Niklas Buhner, who broke the facility record with a time of 4:02.60, which is fifth all-time in school history. Junior Ty McCormack finished third with the eighth fastest time in program history and a personal best time of 4:03.89, while junior Kane Grimster finished fifth at 4:05.95.
Junior thrower Valentina Muzaric won her second-consecutive shot put title after breaking the facility record and recording the second-longest throw in Auburn history with a 54-6.75/16.63m. Muzaric now claims the six longest throws in school history. In the men's shot put, junior Marcus Popenfoose won the event with a throw of 57-0.00/17.37m.
Junior Samantha Scarlett paced the field in the 60m hurdles with the fourth-fastest time in Auburn history and a personal best time of 8.24. Scarlett had ran an 8.28 at the Auburn Invitational to start the season.
In the women's 200m, freshman Ebony Morrison was the runner-up with a time of 24.39, which was good for the facility record. On the men's side, freshman Khalil Henderson recorded a personal best time of 21.61, which placed him fifth.
Senior Keenan Brock finished third in the 60m dash at 6.78. In the men's 400m Teray Smith finished 11th overall, but was the top freshman finisher with a time of 48.72. Sophomore Parker Shearer set a new personal best in the 800m at 2:07.06.
In the men's 3000m, junior Griffin Jaworski was runner-up with a personal best time of 8:15.91, while senior Samuel Mueller placed seventh with a PR time of 8:24.08.
Freshman Emily Stevens finished fifth out of 33 competitors in women's mile in 4:55.32, while sophomore Rebecca Nylen set a PR in the 800m at 2:15.76.
"We're still a little off and need to sharpen up," Spry said. "Unfortunately, with the cold weather it's been difficult to prepare, especially in the technical events. The focus is there, the team competed hard and I like we're we are right now. We need to continue to sharpen up the next two weeks and get prepared for our next meet at Nebraska. "
Auburn will return to action February 7-8 at the Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb. For the latest on Auburn track and field, follow @AUTrack on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuburnTrackandField.