Miami's Devon Hill and Ashley Dukes Win ACC Indoor Titles
Feb. 27, 2010
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The University of Miami track and field teams completed the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships at Virginia Tech’s Rector Field House and saw both Devon Hill and Ashley Dukes win their first conference titles Saturday afternoon.
For the second straight season, a Hurricane won the men’s indoor 60m hurdle championship. This time the honor went to sophomore Devon Hill. The Trenton, N.J. native broke his own school record along the way at 7.78 seconds, also improving his NCAA qualifying mark. Last year’s champion, Cory Nelms, placed fifth with a time of 7.90 seconds.
“Devon is young and I still think he has a tremendous upside, said Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Amy Deem. “As well as he has performed during this indoor season, It think that he will be even better during outdoors.”
Ashley Dukes won her first ACC title, with a blazing performance in the 60m dash. After running the third-fastest qualifying time on Friday at 7.44 seconds, the Hollywood, Fla. native crossed the finish line in the final in 7.34 seconds. The win is the second straight in the event for the Hurricanes as Murielle Ahoure won it last year.
“Ashley has percevered through so much,” commented Deem after Dukes had missed portions of the last two seasons. “I am extremely proud of her. It is tremendous what she has accomplished to this point and I feel she will only get better.
In the 400m dash, Ti’erra Brown placed second and Tameka Jameson was fourth at 53.34 and 54.41 seconds, respectively. Both times were new personal-bests, with Brown moving into fourth place in the school record book.
In the highly competitive 60m hurdle final, Brown placed third with a time of 8.16 seconds – behind only Virginia Tech’s Queen Harrison, who ran an ACC record 7.94 and Kristin Castlin. Takecia Jameson also scored for the `Canes, placing eighth at 8.49 seconds.
“Ti’erra had a great meet,” said Deem. “She competed in a couple of the most competitive events in the ACC. She might say that she would want to have finished better, but set a new PR in the 400 and was right at it in the hurdles.”
After an All-ACC showing in the long jump on Friday, Doyley did the same on Saturday as she placed third in the triple jump. Her mark of 12.91m (42-04.25) was a lifetime best for the Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. native and moved her into fourth place in Miami history. Sophomore Brittni Finch also reached a personal-best of her own in the event, reaching a distance of 12.52m (41-01.00).
After scoring in the 400m dash, Takecia Jameson earned All-ACC honors with a third-place showing in the 200m dash finals. Her time of 23.82 seconds was a personal-best.
Megan Novinger was just a centimeter shy of her personal-best as she finished seventh in the high jump with a mark of 1.74m (5-08.50).
With a throw of 13.98m (45-10.50) in the shot put, Miranda Wilson placed seventh, earning two points for her team.
“Miami’s expectations are to win the ACC Championship,” said Deem. “However, we did everything we could to improve as a team as we head into NCAA’s in a couple weeks.”
After advancing through the qualifying round in the 60m dash, Hurricane football players Travis Benjamin and Lamar Miller placed fourth and sixth in the final with times of 6.74 and 6.84 seconds respectively. Benjamin reached a new personal-best with his performance.
Fellow football player Brandon Harris placed sixth in the 400m dash with a time of 48.11 seconds.
The men’s 4×400 relay team, consisting of Nelms, Patrick Blackie, Harris and Hill placed fifth in the 4×400 relay with a season-best time of 3:13.25.
As a team, the women were fifth with a total of 56 points, while the men scored 29 points, good for ninth place. Florida State won the men’s team championship while Clemson took the women’s title.
“I am extremely proud of what our student-athletes accomplished,” added Deem. “I very proud that we had multiple lifetime-best times and marks. In a conference championship, that is all I can ask for. As a coach, it makes me feel good when the team performs as well as they did today.”
The Hurricanes will send a select group of student-athletes to the Alex Wilson Invitational next weekend to either earn NCAA qualifying marks or to improve on the ones they currently own.
The NCAA Championships run from March 12-13 at the University of Arkansas’ Tyson Field House, the site of the Tyson Invitational – where Miami competed earlier this season.
