Tigers Track And Field Heads To Vanderbilt Invitational This Weekend

Friday, March 25

Nashville, Tenn.

University of Memphis

Vanderbilt Black & Gold Invitational

Corentin Louis, 2015 Men's Cross Country

Photo by: Steve Austell

Tigers Track And Field Heads To Vanderbilt Invitational This Weekend

Mar 24, 2016 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Meet starts Friday at 4 pm (CT), Saturday at 12 pm (CT).

Live Scoring/Black & Gold Invitational

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis track and field squads make a familiar trek this weekend when they travel three hours east to Nashville, Tenn., to compete in Vanderbilt University's Black and Gold Invitational.

This time, the Tigers men's and women's teams participate in their first outdoor meet on the Vanderbilt campus. During the 2015-16 indoor season, Memphis competed in three meets the Commodores hosted on Dec. 5, Jan. 29-30 and Feb. 12-13.

The Vanderbilt Black and Gold Invitational starts Friday, Mar. 25 at 4 p.m. (CT) with seven field events on the schedule. Friday's six running events kick off at 5 p.m. (CT). The action continues Saturday, Mar. 26 from 12-5 p.m. (CT) at the Vanderbilt University Track. Overall, 25 teams are competing in this weekend's meet, with 24 women's squads and 19 men's teams.

The Tigers are hoping for better weather this weekend in Nashville, as last week's season opener at the John Mitchell Alabama Relays had to go through several schedule changes to get some of the events completed. Most of the Mar. 17-18 action was wiped out as a result of inclement weather in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

At last weekend's Alabama Relays, Memphis posted a combined seven top-five performances (four women/three men). Junior Martina Rodriguez Sala won the 1500 meter run in a time of 4:24.22, which was under two seconds shy of tying her school record. Rodriguez Sala's 1500m time is ranked top-10 in the nation. Clara Amat-Fernandez placed third in the pole vault (13-3.5; 4.05m), and her mark is among the country's top-15.

Leading the men's squad last week were Corentin Louis and Michael Criticos. Louis finished third in the 1500 meter run (3:52.48), while Criticos was fifth in the javelin (226-0; 68.89m). Criticos' mark is ranked among the nation's top-20.

Although this weekend's meet is outdoors, the Tigers found the Vanderbilt campus friendly during this past indoor campaign. Memphis set three school indoor records and also had two near records while competing in Commodores-hosted meets.

At the late-January Vanderbilt Invitational, Carolina Carmichael and Rodriguez Sala set school marks in the pole vault and mile, respectively. Carmichael posted a 14-0.75 (4.29m) vault, and Rodriguez Sala finished the mile in a time of 4:50.79. Two weeks later at the mid-February Music City Challenge, Rodriguez Sala broke her own school record in the 3000 meter run with a time of 9:34.63.

The Tigers men's squad had two near records at the January Vanderbilt Invitational. LaForrest Church almost eclipsed the 800 meter run record, and the men's 4x400 meter relay nearly set the school mark. Later, at the American Athletic Conference Championships Feb. 29, Church and the 4x400 meter relay both set school records in their respective events.