Jan. 13, 2018
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomore sprinter Akeem Bloomfield clocked the fastest time in the nation in the 400m so far this season to win the Commodore Invitational men's 400m with a time of 45.92 Saturday at the Vanderbilt Multipurpose Facility.
Bloomfield, a product of Kingston, Jamaica, tied Sanjay Ayre's time in the 2000 season for the fourth-fastest time in school history. He now holds three of the top five times in the indoor 400m in Auburn history, including the school record of 45.43.
Senior Jonielle Smith set a new personal best time of 7.30 in the women's 60m to win the event. Dominique Bullock finished fourth with a time of 7.56, also a personal best.
Bloomfield and Smith's wins were two of six events won by the Tigers on the day and 10 events overall in the Invitational.
"I thought we had a really good weekend across the board," Auburn head coach Ralph Spry said. "Friday night, we started off with four wins and a lot of personal records, and then today I thought we really continued to build off of that. We had four or five marks that were probably close to the national leaders, and Akeem Bloomfield's is a national leader."
Jakayla Hand and Mark Rubalcaba doubled-up on victories in the men's and women's triple jump after each winning the long jump on Friday. Hand jumped 12.52m/41-1 while Deja Hillman jumped a mark of 11.93m/39-1.75 to finish third. Rubalcaba won his event with a mark of 15.05m/49-4.50.
Raheem Chambers won the men's 60m with a personal-best time of 6.62, which currently ranks as the third-fastest time in the country and just misses as a top-10 mark in school history.
Tori McKinley, in her first collegiate meet, won the women's shot put with a mark of 14.90m/48-10.75. Fellow freshmen Evan Blaire and Benedict Draghi finished 2nd and 3rd in the men's shot put.
Randall Ceneus finished runner-up behind Bloomfield in the 400m with a time of 46.60.
Chris Stone established a new personal record in the men's 60m hurdles with a time of 8.21 to finish fifth, one place behind teammate Xavier Coakley (8.11).
"All in all I'm really proud of how we competed," Spry said. "That was kind of a low-key meet for us as far as terms of who was here. We'll come back next weekend, and it's going to be a little more challenging, but it gives us another chance to see where we are and keep building.
Up next for the Tigers is a return trip to Nashville for the Vanderbilt Invitational Jan. 19-20.
Day Two Results
Event Name Place Time/Mark
Triple Jump - W Jakayla Hand 1st 12.52m/41-1
Triple Jump - W Deja Hillman 3rd 11.93m/39-1.75
Triple Jump - M Mark Rubalcaba 1st 15.05m/49-4.50
60mH (p) - M Xavier Coakley -- 8.14
60mH (f) - M Xavier Coakley 4th 8.11
60mH (p) - M Chris Stone -- 8.32
60mH (f) - M Chris Stone 5th 8.21
60m (p) - M Raheem Chambers -- 6.76
60m (f) - M Raheem Chambers 1st 6.62
60m - M Chiason Tenkiang 12th 7.11
60m - M Chris Stone 13th 7.15
60m (p) - W Jonielle Smith -- 7.38
60m (f) - W Jonielle Smith 1st 7.30
60m (p) - W Dominique Bullock -- 7.64
60m (f) - W Dominique Bullock 4th 7.56
Mile - W Presley Weems 6th 4:57.88
Mile - M Coleman Churitch 12th 4:17.84
Mile - M Mitchell Gomez 16th 4:20.40
Mile - M Ryan Lee 22nd 4:29.02
Shot Put - W Tori McKinley 1st 14.90m/48-10.75
Shot Put - W Ivana Muzaric 5th 12.75m/41-10
Shot Put - M Evan Blaire 2nd 16.05m/52-8
Shot Put - M Benedict Draghi 3rd 15.94m/52-3.75
400m - M Akeem Bloomfield 1st 45.92
400m - M Randall Ceneus 2nd 46.60
400m - M Joshua Burks 11th 50.69
800m - W Katie Boone 9th 2:25.62
800m - W Danielle Springer 11th 2:27.32
3000m - M Jay Spieler 11th 8:31.41
3000m - M Erik Armes 12th 8:31.77
3000m - M Andy Smith 23rd 8:50.67
4x400m - W 5th 3:51.15
4x400m - M 5th 3:26.18
(Italics - personal record)