April 21, 2007

NASHVILLE - The Memphis men's track team sits in second-place out of 19 schools, and the Lady Tigers are in fourth-place out of 20 schools on women's side, after the first day of the Vanderbilt Invitational.

A pair of women's distance runners picked up NCAA Regional qualifying marks and broke Memphis school records in the process.

The Australian duo of Tina Sherratt and Anneli Uys both scored for Memphis in the 1500 meters with Sherratt taking a second-place finish and clocking a time a regional qualifying time of 4:27.26. The mark was a collegiate personal best for Sherratt and was five seconds better than the Memphis record of 4:32.56 set in 2005.

Emily Malinowski broke her own school record and qualified for the NCAAs for the second time in the outdoor season, posting a new collegiate personal best of 10:43.55 in the 3000-meter steeplechase.

Chen Edri took third-place in the javelin with a season best throw of 129-00.

On the men's side, Brandon Winbush finished in third-place in the men's long jump with his second 24-foot jump of the outdoor season.

Senior Jason Theodorakas came up with his best throw of the season in the men's javelin, winning the event Friday with a distance of 194-01. His Memphis teammates Christian McDonald and Tyler Frazier finished third and fifth respectively.

The meet is one of just two for Memphis before the Conference USA Championships in May and will conclude after day two on Saturday.