Vanderbilt Track and Field had seven athletes compete at the NCAA East First Round at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, from May 29-31. While there were six quarterfinal qualifications, two Commodores — Allyria McBride and Falon Spearman — punched tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships from June 12-14. 

Day 1

Vanderbilt earned six qualifications to the quarterfinals in both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles. Falon Spearman started things for the Commodores, recording a school record of 13.03 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles and automatically qualifying for the quarterfinals. Devyn Parham and Santana Spearman also advanced to the next round with times of 13.23 and 13.36 seconds, respectively. 

Madyson Wilson, Falon Spearman and McBride each advanced to the quarterfinals of the 400-meter hurdles. McBride earned the automatic spot after finishing second in her heat with a time of 56.64 seconds. Falon Spearman and Wilson both turned in personal-best times of 57.64 and 58.09 seconds, respectively. Joy Moorer just missed out on the quarterfinals, finishing with a time of 58.55 seconds. 

Day 2

McBride and Spearman qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships later this month after two excellent performances in the quarterfinals. 

“It was a great meet,” director of cross country and track and field Althea Thomas said. “To see two people who just missed [qualifying for nationals] last year come back with the absolute willpower to make it happen this year was great.”

Falon Spearman clocked a time of 13.13 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, just 0.10 seconds shy of her performance the previous day. Santana Spearman recorded a personal-best time of 13.23, but it was just outside the time needed to advance to nationals. 

In the 400-meter hurdles, McBride came fifth in the quarterfinals with a new PR of 55.65 seconds. Falon Spearman also clocked a personal-best time of 57.26 seconds to finish her NCAA postseason run.

“We had a lot of personal bests, a lot of firsts for Vanderbilt, having six people running individual races,” Thomas said. “It was a good meet for the program. It’s always great when Vanderbilt is going to be represented on the national level. And we have two seasoned hurdlers who are very hungry.”

McBride and Falon Spearman will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships from June 12-14.