Miami Women Back in Rankings After Strong ACC's

March 2, 2010

CORAL GABLES – The University of Miami women’s track and field team returned to the national rankings in the sixth U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTCCCA) poll of the year on Tuesday.

“It’s always nice to be ranked, but our goal is to improve upon that ranking at the NCAA Championships later this month,” said Director of Track and Field Cross Country Amy Deem.

The Hurricanes’ ranked 25th in the latest poll, are led by Ti’erra Brown and Deandra Doyley, who both hold national rankings in two events.

Brown is the nation’s fifth-ranked 60m hurdler, after a season-best effort at the ACC Indoor Championships this past weekend – finishing with a time of 8.16 seconds. The Hampton, Va. native is also the No. 13 ranked woman in the 400m dash, again with a strong performance at the ACC’s with a 53.34 finish.

In her senior campaign, Doyley had career-bests in the long and triple jumps over the weekend, reaching marks of 6.45m (21-02.00) and 12.91m (42-04.25) for No. 8 and No. 12 rankings, respectively.

Ashley Dukes, the 13th-ranked student-athlete in the 60m dash won the ACC Championship in the event on Saturday and holds a season-best time of 7.33 seconds.

Takecia Jameson reached provisional status in two events at the conference championships, in the 200m dash – where she earned All-ACC status with a third place finish at 23.82 seconds, and in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.42 seconds.

Sophomore Brittni Finch joined Doyley in the national rankings in the long jump, rated as No. 19 in the event with a mark of 6.30m (20-08.00).

The quartet of Kristy Whyte, Brown and Takecia and Tameka Jameson hold the No. 13 ranking in the 4×400 relay, as they raced to a 3:36.18 finish at the Tyson Invitational in February.

The Hurricanes are just 10 days away from the NCAA Indoor National Championships, held at the University of Arkansas’ Tyson Field House in Fayetteville, Ark.