On the final day of the Vanderbilt Invitational, Middle Tennessee’s Sampson Laari captured a school record, and Agnes Abu grabbed a first-place finish to conclude a successful weekend.
Laari clocked a 4:01.31 in the mile run to break the previous school-best time of 4:03.47 set in 1982, while finishing second in the event. Laari’s time also set a new indoor record for his home country of Ghana. Kigen Chemadi was right on Laari’s heels as he finished third with a time of 4:01.55. Eliud Rutto and Jacob Choge also recorded top-15 finishes with times of 4:07.00 and 4:07.78, respectively.
In the 3000-meter run, Geoffry Cheruiyot turned in a fourth-place finish with a personal-best 8:20.16 mark.
In the 4×400, the tandem of Adeniji Adedamola, Sampson Laari, Eliud Rutto and Ifiok Umoh took seventh place with a relay time of 3:14.18.
On the women’s side, Abu continued the Blue Raiders’ success in the 800-meter event. The former C-USA Female Track Athlete of the Week took first place and set a personal best with a time of 2:05.13.
Janet Amponsah also excelled in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.59, good for a third-place finish.
To close the day, MT’s women’s relay squad of Loveth Odia, Agnes Abu, Janet Amponsah and Abike Egbeniyi clocked a fourth-place finish with a time of 3:40.23.
Middle Tennessee will return to action next weekend at the Kevin Stephen Invite next weekend. The all-day event begins Sunday at 9 a.m.
