Hurricanes Primed for NCAA Outdoor Championships
June 5, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 18th-ranked University of Miami women’s track and field team will send seven student-athletes to compete in six different events as it heads to the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships held June 6-9 at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium.
In search of their first national title, head coach Amy Deem and the Hurricanes will open competition Wednesday as junior Khadija Talley competes in the qualifying round of the discuss at 4:30 p.m. followed by seniors Amy Seward and Brenda Faluade who will compete in the long jump qualifying rounds at 5:45 p.m. and senior Ginou Etienne, who will participate in the first round of the 400-meters at 6:20 p.m.
Talley, the 2007 ACC Outdoor Champion in the discus, automatically qualified for a spot in Sacramento with a second-place finish in the same event at the NCAA East Regionals last weekend in Gainesville, Fla.
Seward, the 2007 ACC Outdoor Field Performer of the Year, won the East Regional title in the long jump last weekend with a mark of 21-01.50 feet (6.44m) while Faluade, the 2007 ACC Outdoor Champion in the long jump, currently holds the nation’s fifth-best mark in the long jump this season at 21-05.00 feet (6.53m).
A two-time All-American (2004, 2006) in the event, Faluade will also compete in the triple jump which is slated to begin Friday at 3:15 p.m.
Thursday’s action will see sophomore Krista Simkins, who was crowned the 2007 ACC Outdoor Champion in the 200-meters, run in the first round of the 200 at 3:50 p.m. followed by the UM 4×400-meter relay team of freshman Kristy Whyte, Etienne, sophomore Ena Leufroy and Simkins competing in the semifinals at 7:10 p.m.
Etienne should lead the UM 400-meter relay quartet with the experience of having earned All-America honors in the same event in each of the previous three seasons, including a second-place finish at last year’s championships.
Friday’s action will be televised live from 8:30-11:30 p.m. (EST) on CSTV while CBS will broadcast competition on Saturday from 1-3 p.m. (EST).
