Track team opens Vandy Invitational with school record 4x800 relay time
Tennessee Tech’s 4x800m relay shattered the school record Friday night at the Vanderbilt Invitational, slicing more than 30 seconds off a mark that had stood in the books for 16 years. The record performance, along with a couple of personal best times in the 200m dash, were the highlights on an opening night when the Golden Eagles had very few events.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech's 4x800m relay shattered the school record Friday night at the Vanderbilt Invitational, slicing more than 30 seconds off a mark that had stood in the books for 16 years.
The record performance, along with a couple of personal best times in the 200m dash, were the highlights on an opening night when the Golden Eagles had very few events.
Coach Wayne Angel's team has a much more demanding schedule on Saturday in the meet that includes teams from the Big 10, Southeastern, Sun Belt, Conference USA and Atlantic Coast Conference, as well as the Ohio Valley Conference.
Junior Sarah Brandt set the tone for the 4x800m foursome to smash the record, racing around the opening leg in 2:12.69. If she's able to duplicate that effort Saturday in the 800m run, she will claim an individual record. The school mark is 2:15.28, set earlier this season by freshman D'Airrien Jackson.
Sophomore Madison Stremler took the baton and circled the 300m Vanderbit indoor track two-plus times for a 2:16.64 split as the squad eyed the record of 9:56.48, set in the 2000 season.
Freshman Andrea Retano ran the third leg in 2L24.95, and freshman Molly Griffin capped off the event with a split of 2:31.42 on the final leg to cruise to the record.
"I am very pleased with the competitive effort of our 4x800 relay," Angel said of the record-setting foursome that included runners from California, Oregon and two from Tennessee. "The ladies held their own and really stepped it up tonight. They set a very respectable record tonight."
The only other events on the docket in which the Golden Eagles recorded times or distances were the long jump and 200-meter dash.
In her first competition in the long jump as a Golden Eagle, freshman Raven Smith posted a mark of 15-feet, 5 inches.
Five Golden Eagles raced in the 200-meter dash, with two recording personal best times and two running it for the first time. Tiara Hymon, the lone senior on the team led the Golden Eagles with a personal-best time of 26.56 seconds. Morgan O'Neal, a freshman from Las Vegas, also had a PR with a time of 26.73. Brittany McGee finished in 27.47 seconds, while Smith and redshirt freshman Tina Driscoll tested the event for the first time in purple and gold. Smith had a time of 28.50 and Driscoll crossed the finish line in 29.15 seconds.
Long Jump
Raven Smith 15' 5"
200m
Tiara Hymon. :26.25 Personal Best
Morgan O'Neal, 26.73 Personal Best
Brittany McGee, 27.47
Raven Smith, 28.50 1st time
Tina Driscoll, 29.15 1st time
4x800m relay
Brandt, Stremler, Retano, Griffin , 9:25.95 (SCHOOL RECORD)
