GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Miami track and field program had a lot of success in the jumps and throws on Saturday, the final day of the 2015 Pepsi Florida Relays.
The Hurricanes had several student-athletes excel in the field events, ensuring that Miami would close its stay at Florida Relays as strong as it started on Friday night.
“We have struggled at times to put to solid back-to-back days together and I think we did that this weekend,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “We were a little flat last weekend and we came out this weekend and had some really good performances yesterday and today.”
John-Patrick Friday finished eighth in the men’s triple jump with a personal-best mark of 15.42m. The junior’s new top mark moved him into second place in UM history. David Njoku placed eighth in the men’s invitational high jump, clearing 2.06m to move into fifth place in UM history.
Miami’s throwers also had a strong day in Gainesville, posting several strong marks.
Gian Piero Ragonesi placed eighth overall in the men’s invitational discus with a throw of 54.83m. Ragonesi also finished fifth in the men’s shot put with a throw of 17.33m. Daniel Polinski threw a personal-best 16.50m in the men’s shot put, improving his mark that ranks fourth in UM history.
Precious Ogunleye placed third in the women’s invitational hammer throw with a mark of 60.05m, while Tiffany Okieme finished ninth in the women’s invitational shot put with a throw of 14.51m.
While there was plenty of success in the field, the Canes also had a good day on the track as both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relays competed to close out the meet.
The women’s 4x400m relay team of Kelsey Balkwill, Taneisha Cordell, Anthonia Moore and Shakima WImbley combined to finish fourth in the Tom Jones 4x400m relay with a time of 3:35.49.
“I am very pleased with Jamika Glades and the way she is performing in both hurdles,” Deem said.”And Shakima was huge yesterday setting a record in the 400m and she ran a great leg for us today on the 4x400m.”
The men’s quartet of Josh Johnson, Robert Grant, Joseph Ryan and Anthony Wolliston finished seventh in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:10.67. Deem is pleased with how the men’s relay has performed, especially while freshman Henri Delauze was competing for the Bahamas this weekend at the CARIFTA Games.
“One thing I am really excited about is our men’s 4x400m,” Deem said. “They’re young and they’ve come out and run really well. I am very proud and excited for Henri [Delauze] to get third at CARIFTA. That was a big run for him. To go down there and compete so well while representing his country is great. We are excited to get him back because that will make our 4x400m even stronger going into the latter part of the season.”
The Canes return home for their final home meet of the 2015 season, the Hurricane Alumni Invitational. In addition to welcoming back members of the Miami Track family, the Hurricanes will honor their seniors at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational, thanking them for their contributions to the program.
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