Hurricanes Ready for ACC Indoor Championships
Feb. 25, 2009
CORAL GABLES – The University of Miami track and field team, with a season-best No. 14 ranking on the women’s side, is set for the ACC Indoor Championships at the Rector Field House on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Feb. 26-28.
The women won two straight ACC Championships in its first two seasons in the conference in 2005 and 2006 and in 2007 they finished as the runner-up. Last season the team placed fourth in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Hurricanes, led by senior Sprinter Murielle Ahoure will look to unseat No. 5 Virginia Tech, a team that has won back-to-back indoor titles.
Ahoure, holds the nation’s best times in both the 60 and 200-meter dashes in 2009 and has yet to lose an individual event this season, going a perfect five for five, with three wins in the 60-meters and two in the 200-meters.
Junior Kristy Whyte, who last year was named the Most Valuable Performer during the outdoor season, ranks in the top-five in the conference in both the 60 and 200-meters and will look to join Ahoure as an effective one-two punch in each event.
Ahoure and White are also is a members of the sixth-ranked 4×400 relay team alongside sophomores Tameka Jameson and Ti’erra Brown.
Brown, one of four women who scored at last year’s championships will compete in two individual events this weekend, the 400-meter dash and her specialty, the 60-meter hurdles.
The other returning scorers for the women are Sophomore Tara Thomas (60-meters), senior Ena Leufroy (800-meters) and Deandra Doyley (long jump, triple jump).
In the high jump, sophomore Megan Novinger will represent the Hurricanes. Earlier this season, she set a new personal best and moved into third place in the school record books with a leap of 1.70m at the Virginia Tech Elite.
The men are led by veterans Cory Nelms, Patrick O’Donnell and Mikese Morse.
In his junior season, Nelms holds the ACC’s best time this season in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.01 seconds. The Neptune, N.J. native will look to improve on his sixth place finish at last year’s meet.
Patrick O’Donnell is the only other returning point scorer from a year ago on the men’s squad and he will set his sights on improving upon his eighth place finish from last season in the 800-meter run.
Junior Mikese Morse ranks third in the conference in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump. His mark of 7.58m in the long jump stands as the lone provisional mark on the men’s team so far this season, but he will look to improve on that this weekend.
Freshman Travis Benjamin is the Hurricanes leader in the sprints and his season-best time of 6.90 would have placed him among the scorers in last season’s championships.
As a team, the men are hoping to improve on their eighth place finish in 2008.
Thursday’s schedule opens with the women’s pentathlon and the men’s heptathlon. Sophomore Diego Rosado will represent the men and freshmen Britney Clark, Jennifer Estime and Rachel Dupree will be featured for the women. The combined events begin at noon for the men and 1 p.m. for the women.
