Three Hurricanes Advance at National Championships
June 11, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The 13th-ranked University of Miami women’s track and field team endured a three-hour weather delay during the opening day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, but saw three student-athletes advance into latter rounds at the University of Arkansas’ McDonnell Track.
Three-time All-American Murielle Ahoure needed to place in the top-four in her semifinal heat of the 100-meter dash to advance to Friday’s 8:35 p.m. final. At 11:55 p.m., the Bristow, Va. native did just that, placing fourth in the second and final semifinal heat with a time of 11.56 seconds. Her time was the fifth-fastest of the round.
Ahoure’s semifinal appearance was made possible with her first-round performance earlier in the evening. The senior’s heat winning time of 11.17 seconds was more than enough to move advance her to the next round.
Sophomores Ti’erra Brown and Tameka Jameson took first and third place respectively in the second of five first round 400-meter hurdle heats, allowing both to compete in the semifinals, Friday at 7:45 p.m. Brown’s time of 56.90 was a season-best and the second-best time of her career, it was also the second-best time of the opening round, behind only UCLA’s Nicole Leach (56.46). Jameson crossed the line in a time of 58.08 seconds.
The 4×100 relay, ranked eighth heading into the championships, fell just one place short of advancing to Friday’s final, finishing third in the second of four semifinal heats with a time of 44.44 seconds, Wednesday evening. Sophomore Tara Thomas ran the opening leg before handing off to junior Kristy Whyte, senior Nene Kamate was responsible for the third leg while Ahoure anchored the team’s third best time of the season. The winner of each of the four heats all advanced to the final along with the five best remaining times. The Hurricanes had the 10th-fastest time of the 19 participating teams.
Junior Deandra Doyley, the lone UM student-athlete to compete in a field event, leapt 5.98m (19-07.50) in the long jump in her semifinal flight on Wednesday. The Lauderdale Lakes native needed to be among the top-12 to move on to the final, but came up less than five inches short, closing her season with an 18th finish.
Both the No. 6 ranked Ahoure and No. 10 Whyte will be competing in the 200-meter dash first round on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. with the semifinals later in the evening at 7:35 and the finals on Saturday at 1:35 p.m.
The remaining three days of the meet will be streamed live at ncaa.com/champinships and recaps of each day’s event will be available at hurricanesports.com. On Friday, June 12, CBS College Sports will begin live televised coverage at 7 p.m. with CBS covering Saturday’s events beginning at 1 p.m.
