Hurricanes Primed for ACC Championships After Strong Miami Elite
April 12, 2009
CORAL GABLES – The University of Miami track and field teams hosted the Miami Elite Invitational and welcomed an All-Star lineup on a rain and lightning delayed day. The Hurricane women, ranked No. 18 in the nation led the way with regional qualifying marks in three events, including both relays.
Led by seniors Murielle Ahoure and Krista Simkins, the women’s 4×100 relay was the first collegiate team to cross the finish line and third overall at 44.39 seconds. Also on the team that earned a regional qualifying time was junior Kristy Whyte and sophomore Charlene Fuller.
“I was happy to get the 4×100 on the track and I think that when we clean up our exchanges we will be a very good 4×100 team,” said Director of Track and Field Amy Deem.
Whyte, Simkins and Ahoure were joined by Tameka Jameson in the 4×400 relay that was the first collegiate team to finish, trailing only the women’s Bahamas team, with a time of 3:37.51. As they did in the 4×100, the women earned a regional qualifying time.
The men’s ACC 60-meter hurdle champion, junior Cory Nelms, reached the regional qualifying time in his third attempt of the season in the 110-meter hurdles, with a time of 14.21.
Sophomore Takecia Jameson became the third different Hurricane to reach a regional qualifying time in the 400-meter hurdles, with her third-place performance of 1:00.27. She joins her sister Tameka and sophomore Ti’erra Brown as those who are eligible to compete to compete in the regional championships in May.
Freshman Brandon Harris, a starting cornerback on the UM football team, raced into the Miami record books as he ran the fourth-fastest 400-meter race in Hurricanes history, crossing the line in a time of 48.43 seconds. It was also the fastest 400-meter time by any Miami runner since Ronald Thorne’s school record of 44.96 in 1996.
In the women’s steeplechase, sophomore Katharine Woodard broke her own school-record by nearly 16 seconds. The Fayetteville, N.C. native was one of three competitors to finish under the meet’s previous record for the event.
The men’s 4×400 team comprised of Nelms, Harris, Patrick Blackie and Patrick O’Donnell were less than three seconds shy of grabbing a regional qualifying time of their own at 3:12.72.
Sophomore Megan Novinger tied her career-high with a leap of 1.70m (5-07.00) in the high jump. The Miami native reached that height for the first time earlier this season at the Hurricane Invitational.
In the final home regular-season meet of his career, senior Vince Giambanco raced to a 4:05.64 finish in the 1,500-meter run, the best finish by any Hurricane so far this season.
Allison Higbee, a freshman pole vaulter out of Lutz, Fla. moved into fourth-place on the school’s all-time list with a vault of 2.95m in her season debut.
Both the men’s and women’s 3,000-meter run were won by a Hurricane on Saturday night. Senior Andrew Chuplis (8:52.53) took the top-spot for the men, while sophomore Emma Steppe (10:35.39) claimed the No. 1 spot for the women.
As the top collegiate finisher in the 800-meter run and second overall, trailing only former Hurricane All-American Tim Harris, O’Donnell closed his home career falling only three one-hundredths of second short of his personal-best time, at 1:51.57 seconds.
In her first collegiate attempt in the 200-meter dash, sophomore Tameka Jameson was the second collegiate student-athlete to cross the finish line, with a time of 24.14 seconds. Fellow sophomore, Tara Thomas, finished at 24.89.
Senior Nene Kamate led five Miami student-athletes in the 400-meter dash with a team season-best time of 55.66 seconds. Kamate’s time was the best of all the collegiate participants. Also running in the event was Mikaela Green, Jennifer Estime, Jamie Stephens and senior Katie McInvale.
For the second time this season, junior Deandra Doyley won the long jump. Her leap of 5.91m (19-04.75) led a trio of Hurricanes that included Christina Madry and Britney Clark.
Senior All-American Ena Leufroy ran her best time of the season in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:12.57. Finishing just behind Leufroy was freshman Janet Price at 2:14.30.
“I thought this was a good last meet for us going into the ACC Championships,” said Deem. “I thought that we competed hard and did what we needed to do to get ready for next week.”
The University of Miami will be the host for next week’s ACC Outdoor Championships, which will feature all 12 of the conference teams. The three-day event will be held at Cobb Stadium beginning, Thursday, April 16. For more details please click here.
