Hurricanes Set to Travel to NCAA East Regional
May 28, 2008
CORAL GABLES – The 24th-ranked University of Miami women’s track and field team will move one step closer to it’s pursuit of a national championship as the Hurricanes head to the NCAA East Region Track and Field Championships, May 30-31, at Mike Long Track on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Miami will have 14 student-athletes competing in 13 individual events and two relays. The Hurricanes deep and talented group is highlighted by senior Khadija Talley, four-time All-American Krista Simkins and the 2008 ACC Most Valuable Performer Kristy Whyte.
Earlier this season, Simkins won the 11th NCAA individual national title by a Hurricane when she won the 400-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
Talley, who ranks fourth nationally in the discus, will also be competing in the shot put and the hammer throw. She has won the ACC discus title each of the last two years for the Hurricanes and finished second at least year’s East Regional. Talley will be joined in the shot put by fellow senior Misti Barber and in the discus by freshman Miranda Wilson. Kaitlin Nazario, also a senior, will be competing in the javelin.
In her sophomore season, Whyte picked the ACC Championships to show her talents, as she won both the 100 and 200-meter titles. She will look to qualify for the NCAA National Championships with a strong showing this weekend.
A pair of freshmen hurdlers will be making their regional debut. Ti’erra Brown and Takecia Jameson have qualified in both the 100 and the 400-meter hurdles and aim for a shot at nationals as they will run in the preliminary heats this Friday.
Another freshman, Tameka Jameson, will be joining Simkins in the 400-meters, after running a season-best time of 54.30 at the ACC Championships.
Junior All-American Ena Leufroy qualified for the regional on her last chance at the Georgia Tech Invite with a time of 2:09.23.
In the jumps, Miami will be represented by Viktoria Andonova and Deandra Doyley. Andonova has leapt 1.75m in all seven of the meets she has participated in this season, finishing no worse than second in all of them.
Doyley will be in both the long and the triple jumps. She has won two meets in each of the events this season with her best marks at 6.09 and 12.39 meters.
All the action begins Friday at 1 p.m., as Talley and Wilson vie for a spot in the national championships. The running events are slated to start at 3:30 p.m. All of the running events on Friday will be preliminary heats, with the top eight advancing to the Saturday’s regional finals.
