Blazers Conclude Competition in Vanderbilt Invitational

Friday, January 17

Nashville, Tenn.

UAB

Vanderbilt

Blazers Conclude Competition in Vanderbilt Invitational

1/18/2020 8:04:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

Results 2020 Schedule

BIRMINGHAM – The UAB track and field team wrapped up competition in the Vanderbilt Invitational on Saturday. Through the two-day meet, graduate senior Lisa Petkov led the Blazers with a top-10 finish.

Petkov, originally hailing from Germany, placed ninth in the 400-meter dash after clocking in at 56.89 seconds. The appearance marked the first time she competed in the event as a Blazer and placed her third in the conference on the season.

Following just behind Petkov in the race was senior Karri Green, who just missed the top 10 at 57.18 seconds to finish in 11^th. With that time, she moved up to fifth in the Conference USA standings. Also notching an 11^th-place finish was freshman Makiyah Sills, who timed in at 8.90 seconds in the 60-meter hurdle.

A few other Blazers reaching conference marks were junior Bethan Evans, sophomore Shauntia Landrum and freshman Lauren Robinson. Evans ran a 5:08.76 in the mile to earn sixth in C-USA. Landrum reached 11.62 meters in the triple jump to slot in 10th in the conference. Robinson rounded out the top-10 conference results with a 10:07.22 in the 3,000-meter race to sit in ninth in Conference USA this season.

As a group, Petkov, Green, senior Marielle Lewis and junior Ebony Tolliver teamed up in the 4x400 relay,timing in at 3:51.23 for a sixth-place finish in the meet and a fourth-place ranking in the conference.

"At Vanderbilt, we had some growing pains. I was really proud of how some ladies didn't run well, but came back and competed very well the next day," said Thomas. "Beth and Alicia both overcame, and that's important. Lauren Robinson ran a good 3k. Tia jumped well in the triple, and Lisa, Karri and Ebony raced well. The 4x4 competed well also. Not every meet is going to be perfect, so we need to learn from each one. I'm proud of the way they competed. We just can't back off in this early part of the season."

Outside of the Vanderbilt Invitational, UAB also had a few athletes competing at the Samford Invitational. Junior Anna Massa highlighted the group, tying her Conference USA leading and nationally ranked record of 3.95 meters to win the pole vault for the third straight time.

"We had a very up and down weekend. We had athletes compete at three different meets and got some really good performances and some good learning experiences," said coach Kurt Thomas. "The pentathletes competed well Thursday, and Britt (Floyd) got a win and the C-USA lead in the pent. Friday, the vaulters and others competed at Samford. The vaulters all cleared some good bars, and Anna was able to get another event win, which is nice."

Next up, the Blazers will return home to host the Green and Gold Invitational on Jan. 24-25 at the Birmingham CrossPlex. The Blazers have seen much success this season in familiar territory as junior Anna Massa has taken gold twice in the pole vault while junior Brittany Floyd recently won the pentathlon in the same building.

Meet information and coverage for the Green and Gold Invitational will be provided on the UAB track and field schedule page.

For more information on the UAB track and field team, follow @UAB_TF_XC on Twitter and Instagram.