Heckman Beats the 5k Field by 50 Seconds at Vanderbilt Invitational

Friday, January 21

Nashville, Tenn.

Western Kentucky University

Vanderbilt Invitational

Photo by: Collin Pruitt

Heckman Beats the 5k Field by 50 Seconds at Vanderbilt Invitational

1/22/2022 6:26:00 PM | Track & Field

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – WKU Track & Field fifth-year senior Savannah Heckman continues to be the highlight of the squad's indoor season as she took home the 5,000-meter title at the Vanderbilt Invitational after beating the rest of the field by 50 seconds with a personal best of 17:04.66.

Overall, the team brought back 13 top-10 finishes against tough competition including multiple SEC programs and unattached professionals.

"I'm very pleased with the effort across the board," said Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Brent Chumbley. "We had a lot of improvements from last weekend. Savannah had a great meet again and we had several PRs throughout the team this week. I feel really good about where we are after two weeks. The teams are focused and working hard to make the small improvements we need."

In the women's 5k, in addition to Heckman's win, Lucy Rutherford and Mary Dye placed sixth and seventh, respectively. Heckman also placed sixth in the mile, just a second off her time from last weekend and marking another top-five indoor mile time in female program history. Her time of 4:52.38 at the Vanderbilt Invitational is now fifth in the program's record book.

The women's DMR team placed seventh while Grace Turner and Allison Arnett picked up eighth and ninth, respectively, in the high jump. In one of the only pentathlon appearances in recent program history, Samyzia Sears finished ninth with 2,771 points.

On the men's side, both the 4x400-meter relay and the DMR squad finished fifth. The track saw numerous PRs from Hilltoppers today including Cedric Johnson (60m Hurdles), Rafael Teodoro Da Silva (400), Jordan Eddy (800) and Keegan Barnette (Mile).

Both the men and women's throwers had major PRs, with Brett Brannon placing seventh in weight throw. Kaison Barton and John Elam finished seventh and ninth in the shot put, respectively, with Elam picking up a personal best.

"The meet went about as well as it could when it's all put into perspective," said assistant coach Brooks LeCompte on the distance group. "We had a hard week of training and got back into the weight room, so they felt it a little. However, I feel today was a solid step forward for freshmen Barnette, Eddy, and (Trey) Kraimer. I thought Elyssa (Toal) started her career as a Hilltopper very strong in the DMR and mile. We still have a ways to go overall, but right now we are just in grind mode."

"As far as this weekend is concerned, they are a work in progress," said assistant coach Tosha Ansley. "We took mainly the freshman or the new guys to the meet this weekend just to see how they would react and respond without the upperclassmen there to take them through warm ups and things of that nature and they did okay. Just like last weekend, it's still early on, there's some things that need to be worked on. It's a process, just getting them to trust the process"

WKU will take a one-day trip up I-65 next Saturday for the Louisville Invitational.

Women's Results
200m
32^nd – Queen Couch – 26.03
400m
24^th – Rachel Payne – 1:02.38*
26^th – Abigail Green – 1:03.47
800
26^th – Madeline Powell – 2:26.36
1 mile
6^th – Savannah Heckman – 4:52.38
22^nd – Elyssa Toal – 5:15.12
5,000m
1^st- Savannah Heckman – 17:04.66*
6^th – Lucy Rutherford – 18:43.09
7^th – Mary Dye – 19:09.42*
DMR
7^th – 12:58.08
4x400-meter relay
13^th – Couch, Payne, Griffin, Sears – 4:09.07
High Jump
8^th – Grace Turner- 1.65m (5' 5")
9^th – Allison Arnett – 1.60m (5' 3")
Pole Vault
12^th – Grace Turner – 3.70m
15^th – Nikki Ogorek – 3.35m
Weight Throw
15^th – Ajla Basic – 17.55m (57' 7")*
16^th – Aitana Safont Falomir – 17.36m (56' 11.5")*
19^th – Tayelor Thrasher-Walker – 16.44m (53' 10.25")*
29^th – Ines Lopez Arias – 14.14m (46' 4.75")
Shot Put
Ines Lopez Arias – NM
Pentathlon
9^th – Samyzia Sears – 2771 points
14^th – Audrey Griffin – 2297 points

Men's Results
60m Hurdles
11^th in prelims – Cedric Johnson – 8.58*
200m
17^th – Demetrius Rolle – 22.49
18^th – Gabriel Dozier – 22.50
28^th – Jaden Warner – 23.18
400m
15^th – Zack Martinez – 51.31
22^nd – Rafael Teodoro Da Silva – 53.38*
800m
14^th – Trey Kraimer – 1:58.47
15^th – Jordan Eddy – 1:58.86*
1 mile
12^th – Dedrick Troxell – 4:13.27
20^th – Keegan Barnette – 4:25.29*
24^th – Collin Pruitt – 4:36.66
3,000m
19^th – Clint Sherman – 8:40.17
23^rd – Dedrick Troxell – 8:48.71
28^th – Will Perrone – 9:20.36
5,000m
12^th – Clint Sherman – 15:20.69
15^th – Will Perrone – 15:56.88
17^th – Miles Huff – 16:08.78
4x400-meter relay
5^th – 3:25.23 – Dozier, C. Johnson, Martinez, Rolle
DMR
5^th – 10:38.15
Pole Vault
Devon Montgomery – NM
Weight Throw
9^th – Brett Brannon - 17.60m (57' 9")*
17^th – Joel Dittoe – 15.58m (51' 1.5")
22^nd – John Elam – 14.51m (47' 7.25")
Shot Put
7^th – Kaison Barton – 16.42m (53' 10.50")
9^th – John Elam – 16.09m (52' 9.50")*

*signifies collegiate PR