No. 2 Ranked Hurricanes Impressive At NCAA East Regional
May 26, 2006
Greensboro, N.C. (hurricanesports.com) – Led by its jumpers the second-ranked University of Miami women track and field team was impressive in the opening day of competition at the NCAA East Regional Championships in Greensboro, N.C.
Miami’s corps of long jumpers highlighted day-one placing three women in the top-8. Junior All-American Tabia Charles (Pickering, Ontario) automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships, June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif., finishing second with a wind-aided leap of 6.59 meters (21-07.50).
Junior All-American Brenda Faluade (Katy, Texas) finished sixth with a mark of 6.32 meters (20-09.00) to just miss automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships, and junior Amy Seward (Virginia Beach, Va.) placed eighth with a mark of 6.29 meters (20-07.75).
Faluade, who entered the Regional with the seventh best mark in the nation, will more than likely receive an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships.
Miami is a strong position to win its first Regional title qualifying three women and the 4×100-meter relay for event finals on Saturday.
Senior Dominique Darden (Harrisburg, Pa.), the defending East Regional Champion, cruised to an easy win in the preliminaries of the 400-meter hurdles crossing the finish line in 58.02 seconds. The 12-time All-American is ranked No. 2 in the nation and finished nearly two seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.
In the 200-meters, 11-time All-American Charlette Greggs (Miami Northwestern) will have an opportunity to defend the East Regional title she won last season. Greggs qualified for Saturday’s final by winning her preliminary heat in a time of 23.49 seconds.
Junior All-American Ginou Etienne (Miami Central) won her preliminary heat of the 800-meters in a time of 2:06.58 to move into advance to the final. Etienne’s time was the second fastest of the preliminaries. Freshman Ena Leufroy (Atlanta, Ga.) finished third in her heat and 17th overall with a time of 2:10.50. Leufroy did not qualify for Saturday’s final.
Miami’s 4×100-meter relay of Seward, Greggs, Darden (Harrisburg, Pa.) and senior All-American India Ransom (Largo, Md.) won its preliminary heat with a time of 44.03 to advance to Saturday’s final. The Hurricanes’ time was the second fastest of the preliminaries.
In other action junior Akera Lathan (Miami Southridge) finished seventh with a toss of 15.60 meters (51-02.25), Ransom placed ninth in the 100-meters with a personal best time of 11.46 seconds, freshman Kaitlin Nazario (Dover, N.J.) finished 23rd in javelin with a throw of 38.39 meters (125-11.00), senior Melanie Schultz (Davison, Mich.) placed 21st in the 1,500-meters with a time of 4:36.62, freshman Pavi’Elle James (Miami Northwestern) finished 25th in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.11 seconds.
The Hurricanes will have several other student-athletes competing in finals on Saturday.
Charles, Faluade and Seward return to action in the triple jump. Charles, an eight time All-American and the ACC indoor and outdoor champion, and Faluade, a five-time All-American, rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation in the event.
Miami’s 4×400-meter relay of freshman Krista Simkins (Ambler, Pa.), Etienne, Greggs and Darden, ranked No. 1 in the nation, will look to add the NCAA East Regional title to its impressive list of victories this season.
Sophomore Khadija Talley (Benning, Ga.) will be competing in the discus. Talley ranks school-record holder ranks fourth in the East Region and 14th in the nation.
