Friday, January 17
Nashville, Tenn.
Murray State
vs
Vanderbilt Invitational
Photo by: Murray State Sports Information
Racers Success in Music City – Bell Breaks Own Record
1/19/2025 4:13:00 PM | Women's Track and Field
The Racers competed in Nashville at the Vanderbilt Invitational
The Murray State women's track & field team had a big weekend at the Vanderbilt Invitational in Nashville, Tennessee.
Highlighting the team's success was senior Kayla Bell, already in top form in the third event of the indoor season, won the 800M run and broke her own program record with a time of 2:05.87. Bell's new mark was about a second better than the 2:06.83 she had a year ago, also at a Vandy event.
DiamonAsia Taylor was the winner of the high jump for a second time in as many meets this season with an effort of 1.79M.
The Racers were also fast in the 4X400M relay with a time of 3:39.99. Chelby Melvin, Cheyenne Melvin, Simone Joseph and Kayla Bell were better than the program record of 3:39.60 that was posted a year ago. Bell, Joseph and Melvin were part of that record-setter along with Anouk Krause-Jentsch in 2024.
Tayla Tootle and and Jaiden Knoop finished first and third in the pole vault title at 3.68M.
"Overall we are happy about how the meet went," said Coach Adam Kiesler. "We had kids with some very good performances and we also learned a lot, me included. The highlights have to include Kayla breaking her own school record, Asia winning the high jump and Jaiden breaking 12 feet and ending up on our top 10 list. There were many other great showings which we really can build on. The expectations are high for this team and this meet shows we are on the right track.
Meet Notes
Highlighting the team's success was senior Kayla Bell, already in top form in the third event of the indoor season, won the 800M run and broke her own program record with a time of 2:05.87. Bell's new mark was about a second better than the 2:06.83 she had a year ago, also at a Vandy event.
DiamonAsia Taylor was the winner of the high jump for a second time in as many meets this season with an effort of 1.79M.
The Racers were also fast in the 4X400M relay with a time of 3:39.99. Chelby Melvin, Cheyenne Melvin, Simone Joseph and Kayla Bell were better than the program record of 3:39.60 that was posted a year ago. Bell, Joseph and Melvin were part of that record-setter along with Anouk Krause-Jentsch in 2024.
Tayla Tootle and and Jaiden Knoop finished first and third in the pole vault title at 3.68M.
"Overall we are happy about how the meet went," said Coach Adam Kiesler. "We had kids with some very good performances and we also learned a lot, me included. The highlights have to include Kayla breaking her own school record, Asia winning the high jump and Jaiden breaking 12 feet and ending up on our top 10 list. There were many other great showings which we really can build on. The expectations are high for this team and this meet shows we are on the right track.
Meet Notes
- Racer freshman, Amahrie Harsh placed 10th in the 400M at 56.32.
- Cheyenne Melvin finished 5th in the 60M hurdles at 8.62 and was 8th in the 800M at 2:10.04.
- Brooke Probst was 8th in the high jump at 1.64M
- Jaiden Knoop was 3rd in the pole vault at 3.68M.
- The Racers compete Saturday (Jan. 25) at the Bob Teel Invitational in Columbia, Mo.
Players Mentioned
Middle Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
/ Women's Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Women's Track and Field
Hurdles/Middle Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Hurdles/Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Middle Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Pole Vault
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