　　Nashville, Tenn. - On day one of the Vanderbilt Invitational, the Western Kentucky University track and field teams managed six victories and recorded numerous season and personal bests with three weeks to go before the Sun Belt Conference championships May 7-9 in Denton, Texas.
　　Leading the way was Gavin Smellie, who recorded a season-best 20.46 in the 200-meter dash, winning the event with the second-fastest time in the east region this season. Taking runner-up honors in the event was Tory Womack, whose 21.14 clocking ranks 29th. Finishing fourth and fifth were Terrill McCombs and Dante Sales, who clocked 21.27 and 21.46, respectively. In the men's steeplechase, Kyle Chettleburgh picked up his second victory in the event in as many weeks, clocking 9:22.15 and defeating his nearest competitor by nearly 20 seconds.
　　In the women's 200-meter dash, Samantha Smith recorded a career-best 24.13 to earn top collegiate honors - second overall. Finishing fifth in the event was Miaie Williams, who clocked 24.56, while DeAudrea Horne was eighth in 25.03.
　　Vasity Chemweno passed teammate Janet Jesang on the all-time Lady Topper 1,500-meter list, now holding the second-fastest time in WKU history after her third-place clocking of 4:24.76. In the women's steeplechase, Rachel Friedman moved to third all-time among Lady Toppers with a fourth-place time of 11:10.72. Michelle Finn placed fourth in the 5,000 meters with a personal-best time of 17:56.47.
　　In the men's long jump, Andrejs Maskancevs took home top collegiate honors with a leap of 24-7.25, moving to 16th in the east region on the descending order list. Also in the long jump, Junior Cadet took fifth overall with a leap of 23-0.50. For the women, Sharika Smith was third with a leap of 19-4.25, while Samantha Smith was sixth at 18-7. Hendrik Themas won the men's javelin with a throw of 169-4, while Brian Soverns won the shot with a season-best put of 52-4.50. In the women's shot, Monteka Flowers was third with a put of 42-8.25.
　　The meet continues Saturday morning at 10:00am (CDT).
- WKU -
