Darden, Etienne Win Regional Titles
May 27, 2006
Greensboro, N.C. (hurricanesports.com) – The second-ranked University of Miami women’s track and field team, behind victories from All-Americans Dominique Darden (Harrisburg, Pa.) and Ginou Etienne (Miami Central), finished second at the NCAA East Regional Championships for the second consecutive season.
Miami scored 71.00 points, 8.5 points behind South Carolina, which captures the team title for the second year in a row with a final score of 79.50.
Darden, a 12-time All-American, successfully defended her 400-meter hurdle title. Darden, ranked No. 2 in the nation, was never challenged and cruised to the victory in a time of 56.26.
Etienne, who entered the meet ranked fourth in the East Region, recorded an upset win in the 800-meters posting a school-record time of 2:04.26, the fourth fastest time in the nation this season.
Darden and Etienne then teamed up to lead UM to a win in the 4×400-meter relay in the meets final event. The Hurricane team of freshman Krista Simkins (Ambler, Pa.), Etienne, freshman Ena Leufroy (Atlanta, Ga.) and Darden posted a time of 3:30.01 in winning its third major competition of the season. Miami, which is ranked No. 1 in the nation in the event, also captured the Texas Relays and Penn Relays titles.
The Hurricanes opened the day scoring 14 points in the triple jump. Junior All-American Tabia Charles (Pickering, Ontario), nursing a sore left hamstring, finished second with a mark of 13.41 meters (44-00.00). Teammate Brenda Faluade (Katy, Texas) finished third with a leap of 13.37 meters (43-10.50).
With their finish Charles and Faluade both automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, June 7-10, in Sacramento, Calif.
Also automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships was senior All-American Charlette Greggs (Miami Northwestern) who placed fourth in the 200-meters with a time of 23.49 seconds.
The 4×100-meter relay of junior Amy Seward (Virginia Beach, Va.), Greggs, Darden and senior India Ransom (Largo, Md.) qualified for the NCAA Championships finishing second with a time of 43.86 seconds, the team’s second fastest time of the season. The relay, which is ranked fifth in the nation, was edged by fourth-ranked South Carolina which finished first in a time of 43.85 seconds.
In the discus, sophomore Khadija Talley (Benning, Ga.) placed 26th with a toss of 40.83 meters (133-11.00).
On the weekend the Hurricanes automatically qualified five women in six individual events, and both the 4×100-meter relay and 4×400-meter relay for the NCAA Championships, June 7-10, in Sacramento,Calif.
Miami also expects to receive several at-large berths including Faluade and junior Amy Seward (Virginia Beach, Va.) in the long jump, sophomore Akera Lathan (Miami Southridge) in the shot put and freshman Viktoria Andonova (Coral Springs) in the high jump.
