By Auburn Athletics Department
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Auburn senior Ty McCormack and sophomore SheKara Martin set new facility records in the 3000m and 200m, respectively, as the Tigers concluded competition at the Vanderbilt Invitational on Saturday at the Vanderbilt Student Recreation Center.
McCormack paced the field in the 3000m to post a top-10 nationally ranked time of 8:02.10, while Martin claimed the 200m title with a personal-best time of 23.97. The Greenwood, S.C., native also set a new personal record in the 60m at 7.49.
“I am pleased with our performance. I think we picked up from last week,” head coach Ralph Spry said. “I saw a lot of real good improvements. We were able to get sharper with the weather, and we got some quality national marks to keep us moving forward. We got some good wins from Ty McCormack and SheKara Martin in some tough competition. Now we have a chance to get two weeks of training in before our next competition. We have improved each week and gotten better and now we are getting into the meat and potatoes of our schedule. We just have to keep grinding, but I am pretty pleased right now.”
Junior Jessie Johnson tied her school-record clearance of 13-1.5/4.00m in the pole vault, and sophomore Emily Stevens set a new personal best mile time of 4:47.24 to finish runner-up. With her time, Stevens becomes the fourth-fastest mile performer in program history.
In the women’s 60m hurdles, sophomore Ebony Morrison finished third at 8.32, and sophomore Sashel Brown placed fourth with a personal-best time of 8.46. Morrison clocked a 24.29 in the 200m to finish fifth.
Sophomore Rachel Givens recorded a top-five finish in the 3000m with a time of 9:39.42, and freshman Kenzley Defler ran a new personal best of 10:10.58. Sophomore Akilah Haynes set a new personal record in the 400m at 59.44.
In the women’s triple jump, freshmen Jakayla Hand and Deja Hillman set new personal records of 40-6/12.34m and 39-7.75/12.08m, respectively. Sophomore Kahlil Henderson ran a 21.54 in the 200m, bettering his previous record of 21.64 set at last year’s Vanderbilt Invitational, and freshman Mitchell Gomez set a new PR in the 3000m with a time of 8:42.32.
The Tigers will return to action Feb. 6-7 at the Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.
