Strong Showing for `Canes at Day One of Hurricane Invitational
March 18, 2011
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Hurricane Invitational saw an impressive showing for the University of Miami in the team’s first competition of the 2011 outdoor season as several members of both the men’s and women’s squads earned top-five honors in their events at Cobb Stadium on Friday.
Day one of the two-day meet included fellow Atlantic Coast Conference program Clemson, as well as South Florida participants Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University and Nova Southeastern University along with Division III Bowdoin College (Maine).
Freshman Nicole Cummings leads all competitors in the heptathlon, finishing day one with 2,956 total points and leading the field in both the 100m hurdles (14.45 seconds) and shot put (11.44m).
UM juniors Britney Clarke and Rachel Dupree are currently second (2,760 pts.) and third (2,738 pts.) behind Cummings.
Former Hurricane Viktoria Andanova, registered as unattached, broke a Hurricane Invitational record for the women’s high jump, breaking her own meet record she set in 2004, with her 1.84m mark. UM senior Megan Novinger and sophomore Kristen Myers finished second and third in event with 1.75m (5-08.75) and 1.60m (5-03.00) finishes respectively.
In the women’s hammer throw junior Hurricanes Ashley Holmes (51.43m – 168-09.00) and Miranda Wilson (49.80m – 163-05.00) placed second and third, respectively, while freshman Kyla Buckley finished fifth with a 47.31m (155-02.00) toss.
Miami Senior Charles Michel finished second in the 5000m with a time of 15:18, while Hurricane freshman Sean Pezzulo earned fourth place, finishing in 15:49.
In the women’s 5000m a pair of UM seniors, Katherine Woodard (18:03) and Emma Steppe (18:04) placed second and third, respectively, while freshmen Brooke Dovell’s 18:08 time was good enough for fourth place in the event.
Day one events for Miami concluded with the men’s pole vault, in which ‘Cane freshman Jeremiah Sheehy earned fourth place honors with his 4.10m bound.
“We just want to see where the kids are at going into the outdoor season,” said Associate Head Coach Calvin Robinson. “Some were where we expected. Some were not where we expected coming off Spring Break. For us, ACC Conference comes a little early. So we’re trying to use this meet to get prepared for that.”
The Hurricane Invitational continues tomorrow with the women’s shot put, men’s discus and men’s 4×100 meter relay all slated to start at 1:00 p.m.
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