Hahn Earns Another Fourth at SEC Meet; Other Commodores Set Personal Bests 3/2/03

GAINESVILLE, Florida - Josie Hahn achieved her second fourth place individual finish of the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships Sunday with a 5’8.5” clearance in the high jump.

Hahn’s performance netted four team points for the Commodores, who ended the meet in 10th place overall with nine points. Hahn scored all of the Vanderbilt team points after several Commodore participants, including miler Caitlin Shannon, f5,000-meter runner Erika Schneble and hurdler Amanda Mullins-Hall, established personal bests but finished out of the top eight positions that earned points in each event.

On Friday, Hahn matched the Vanderbilt indoor high jump standard of 5’9.75” during a school-record performance that earned fourth place in the pentathlon. The height is a provisional qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

In the high jump finals, Hahn cleared 5’8.5” on her second try and had three unsuccessful attempts at 5’10.25”. If Hahn had cleared the height, it would have become the highest jump ever by a Vanderbilt female athlete, indoors or outdoors.

In other finals Sunday, Schneble ran prehaps the finest race of her collegiate record while finishing ninth in the 5,000 meters. The freshman sliced 18 seconds off her personal best with an effort of 17:05.66.

In relay action, both Vanderbilt units barely missed points with ninth place finishes. The distance medley foursome of Nadiyah Humber, Cicely Campbell, Joy Parker and Shannon recorded a time of 12:03.24, while the 4x400-meter relay squad of Vanessa Lagios, Mullins-Hall, Hahn and Latisha Bryant ran 3:50.23.

In other action involving Commodores at the SEC Championships:
• Shannon barely missed the mile finals, but took more than eight seconds off her personal best with a ninth-place finish of 4:58.40. Shannon has been one of the team’s most impressive runners during the indoor season, dropping her personal best at three meets.
• For the third consecutive meet, Mullins-Hall fell just shy of achieving the NCAA provisional mark in the 55-meter hurdles. The freshman ran her third personal best over the hurdles, 7.95, just .05 off the NCAA mark. She missed the finals by two positions.
• Senior Cicely Campbell set a 2003 best and Parker established a career best with 800-meter clockings of 2:15.89 and 2:15.98, respectively. Neither effort qualified for the finals.
• Freshman Latisha Bryant did not qualify for the 400-meter final, but ran her best time of the indoor season, 58.06.

Day 1

Vanderbilt’s Josie Hahn Sets Pentathlon School Record; Finishes Fourth at SEC Indoor Championships Friday 2/28/03

GAINESVILLE, Florida - Josie Hahn established a Vanderbilt pentathlon record and matched another team mark Friday while finishing fourth overall during the opening day of the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Hahn’s 3,892-point total is the highest ever by a Vanderbilt women’s track athlete, easily surpassing her own mark of 3,598 points set last in a sixth place finish at the SEC Indoor Championships finish. Hahn set career bests in the high jump and long jump and matched her previous record in the shot put during the performance.

“I think I could have performed a little better, but overall I’m pleased,” Hahn said minutes after the 800 meters, the last of five events in the pentathlon. “I tied a PR (personal record) and set two others, so I can’t be too upset.”

Hahn’s performance came up 37 points shy of topping Elizabeth Everts of Arkansas for third place. Hyleas Fountain of Georgia won the competition with a 4,164-point total, 98 points higher than second place finisher Antoinette Wilks of South Carolina.

Hahn, a sophomore from Clinton, Tenn., who narrowly missed becoming a member of the U.S. Junior Heptathlon squad last year, started strongly, running the 55-meter hurdles in 8.39. The time sliced .11 off her former best performance in the event and is the sixth fastest time ever by a Commodore hurdler.

She continued her strong performance with a team record-equalling effort in the second event of the pentathlon, clearing 5’9.75” in the high jump. The jump is Hahn’s career best and matches the school indoor record set by Becky Collins in 1999.

Hahn continued to apply pressure in the third event, throwing the shot put 38’6”, then achieved her second indoor personal best on the day with a 17’9” long jump. Hahn completed the pentathlon with a second place in the 800 meters, running 2:24.14.

The pentathlon was the only competition held Friday. The athletes return Saturday, with finals in two women’s field events (shot put and long jump) and heats in all sprint and middle distance divisions. The sprint finals and four field events - high jump, pole vault, triple jump and shot put - will be contested Sunday at the University of Florida.

Hahn is one of 14 Commodores competing for Head Coach Lori Shepard at the SEC Championships. The squad is hoping to improve off last year’s 10th place overall performance in the ultra-competitive meet.