Miami Opens 2009 Outdoor Season With Hurricane Invitational
March 18, 2009
CORAL GABLES – The University of Miami track and field teams open their outdoor schedule hosting the Hurricane Invitational, Thursday-Saturday, March 19-21 at Cobb Stadium.
At least 20 universities from around the country will be represented at the first meet of the 2009 outdoor season, including ACC foes Clemson, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.
“There are a lot of great teams competing this weekend,” said director of track and field Amy Deem. “With quality teams comes great performances.”
Just five days ago, Morse became the fifth member of the men’s program to earn indoor All-America accolades. His mark of 7.80m (25-07.25) in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor National Championships was good for a fifth-place finish. The Tampa native will be competing in the outdoor long jump on Saturday for the first time since placing ninth at the U.S. Olympic Trials last July.
“We are really excited to open our outdoor season at home,” added Deem. “We had a lot of great performances during the indoor season, with Murielle (Ahoure) winning a National Championship and Mikese becoming an All-American.”
The Atlantic Coast Conference’s 60-meter hurdle champion, junior Cory Nelms will be competing in two events this weekend, the 110 and the 400-meter hurdles. He will be joined by freshman Devon Hill. Hill was a finalist at the ACC Indoor Championships in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing fifth.
A year ago, Nelms earned All-ACC status in both the 110 and 400-meter hurdles at the ACC Outdoor Championships in Atlanta with third-place performances in each event.
The ACC Outdoor Performer of the Year in 2008, Kristy Whyte will be running in the 400-meters an event that she did not run in a year ago. Whyte is just three weeks removed from her performance at the ACC Indoor Championships, where she placed fourth in both the 60 and 200-meter dashes. The junior will also run in the 4×100 relay.
Deandra Doyley set her indoor personal-best record in the long jump in her last competition at the ACC Championships. The ACC runner-up during the outdoor season a year ago, the Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. native is looking to improve on her personal best on Saturday. Doyley will be joined in the long jump by freshman Brittni Finch and junior Christina Madry.
Sophomore Tameka Jameson, who was an ACC scorer in the indoor 400-meters this season, will be running in the 400-meter hurdles on Saturday. Last outdoor season, as a freshman, Jameson crossed the finish line with regional qualifying times on two occasions. The Upper Marlboro, Md. native will look to start her outdoor season on a high note once again.
The school record holder in the 1,000-meters, senior Patrick O’Donnell, will be running in his best event, the 800-meters on Saturday.
The meet gets underway on Thursday with the start of the women’s heptathlon at 10 a.m. and the men’s decathlon at 11 a.m. Sophomore Diego Rosado will represent the Hurricanes in the decathlon. In the heptathlon, freshmen Rachel Dupree and Britney Clarke will both be competing. The multi events will continue Friday morning beginning at 10 a.m.
On Friday, the field events get underway with the javelin and junior Chris Tringali will get things underway at 3 p.m. for the men. Freshman footballer Micanor Regis will compete for the first time in his collegiate career in the men’s shot put at 6 p.m.Also on Friday, both the men’s and women’s teams will compete in the lone running event of the day in the 5,000 meters. The men will be led by seniors Andrew Chuplis and Vince Giambanco, while the women are headed by sophomore Emma Steppe and freshman Anna Bona. The races will start at 7 and 7:20 p.m. respectively, closing out the days activities.
“We get to run on our home track three times this season, including the ACC Championships next month,” said Deem. “It’s always a privilege to compete in front of our family and friends.”
FRIDAY, MARCH 20
3:00 PM Hammer (w) Javelin (m) women follow immediately High Jump (m) women follow immediately6:00 PM Shot Put (m)7:00 PM 5000 (m)7:20 PM 5000 (w)
SATURDAY, MARCH 21
Field Events11:00 AM Hammer (m)12:00 PM Pole Vault (m) Long Jump (m) Long Jump (w)2:00 PM Shot Put (w) Discus (m)3:00 PM Triple Jump (m) Triple Jump (w)3:30 PM Pole Vault (w)4:30 PM Discus (w)
Running Events1:00 PM 4 x 100 Meter Relay (m)1:10 PM 4 x 100 Meter Relay (w)1:20 PM 1,500 Meter Run (m)1:30 PM 1,500 Meter Run (w)1:45 PM 110 Meter High Hurdles (m)2:00 PM 100 Meter High Hurdles (w)2:15 PM 400 Meter Dash (m)2:30 PM 400 Meter Dash (w)2:45 PM 100 Meter Dash (m)2:55 PM 100 Meter Dash (w)3:10 PM 800 Meter Run (m)3:20 PM 800 Meter Run (w)3:30 PM 400 Meter Int. Hurdles (m)3:45 PM 400 Meter Int. Hurdles (w)4:00 PM 200 Meter Dash (m)4:15 PM 200 Meter Dash (w)4:30 PM 3000 steeplechase (m)4:45 PM 3000 steeplechase (w)5:00 PM 4 x 400 Meter Relay (m)5:15 PM 4 x 400 Meter Relay (w)
