Hurricanes Takes Second Place at ACC Outdoor Championships
April 19, 2008
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>ATLANTA– The No. 7 University of Miami women’s track and field team finished in second place the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, held on the campus of Georgia Tech at Griffin Track. The Hurricanes scored 94 points on the final day, earning five ACC championships along the way.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Miami moved up four positions on Friday and two more on Saturday to earn their second-place finish as a team with a total of 127 points. For the second straight year they finished runner-up to Virginia Tech who ended the championships with 172 points.
Head coach Amy Deem on her team’s performance, “I am very pleased with the outcome here today, as a team we performed as well as we could for and as a coach that’s all you can ask for.”
Kristy Whyte took two of the individual titles for herself. She won the 100-meters in a time of 11.66 seconds, into the wind. Then the sophomore ran her personal-best time in the 200-meters, claiming her second title. Her time of 23.48 moved her up 13 spots in the national rankings to No.12. The Pembroke Pines native still wasn’t finished for the day, claiming a part the 4×100-meter relay championship and a runner-up finish in the 4×400-meter relay.
“Two weeks ago Kristy told me she wanted to step up and take a bigger role with the team, and today she did just that,” said Deem. “She hasn’t run the 100-meters in year and for her to come out and perform like she did today was impressive.”
Two-time All-American Krista Simkins won the 400-meters in a personal-best time of 52.90, she was also a part of the 4×100 relay that took first. The junior finished fifth in the 200-meters with a time of 23.99.
The other half of the champion 4×100 relay team consisted of freshmen Tara Thomas and Charlene Fuller. With Simkins running the anchor the women finished with a regional time of 44.80.
Last week at the Miami Elite in Coral Gables, senior Khadija Talley launched the discus an astounding 57.10m, good for the best mark in the nation. Saturday she didn’t quite reach that distance, but she did win her second straight ACC Championship in the event as well as setting the ACC meet record with her throw of 55.76m. Freshman Miranda Wilson scored in the discus as well in her first ACC Championship, placing fifth with a season-best and regional mark of 47.78m. Senior Misti Barber made it three Hurricanes to score in the event with a seventh place mark of 46.89.
“Khadija once again performed wonderfully and to have three throwers in the finals of the discus was great to see,” added Deem.
Ti’erra Brown scored in two events on the day, earning all-ACC honors in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best and second-place finish of 56.72. She finished behind only Virginia Tech’s Queen Harrison who ran the nation’s fastest time at 55.16 seconds. The freshman Brown also ran to a fourth place finish in the 100-meter hurdles in 13.40 seconds.
Freshman Takecia Jameson joined Brown, earning all-ACC accolades for her third place finish in the 400-meter hurdles. Her time of 57.98 was a season-best and five-hundredths of a second off her career-best time.
The 4×400-meter relay team of Whyte, Tameka and Takecia Jameson and All-American Ena Leufroy finished second with a season-best time of 3:34.76, earning all-ACC honors.
Also scoring individually for Miami was Thomas in the 100-meters with a sixth place finish at 12.09, and Tameka Jameson with a season-best time of 54.30 for a fifth-place finish in the 400-meters.
The Hurricanes are back on the road net week as the team head to Philadelphia to take part in the prestigious Penn Relays Thursday, April 24 through Sunday the 26th.
