Day Two of Hurricane Invite Shows Promising Start to Season
March 19, 2011
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Day two of the University of Miami’s Hurricane Invitational started on a high note as UM freshman Nicole Cummings earned a victory in the women’s heptathlon with 4,404 total points at Cobb Stadium on Saturday morning.
Cummings maintained her day one lead in the heptathlon with a 5.60m (18-04.50), first-place mark in the long jump despite fourth place finishes in both the women’s javelin (17.50m – 57-05.00) and the women’s 800-meter run (2:48.77).
UM junior Britney Clarke placed second in the event with 4,318 total points, while fellow junior Rachel Dupree rounded out the field in fourth (3780 pts.) despite a first place time of 2:32.03 in the 800-meter run.
As action continued into the afternoon, Hurricane freshman Luke Fontaine’s 4:02.14 time was good enough for second place in the men’s 1500m run, while sophomore Matthew Wilson finished fourth at a time of 4:07.31.
In field events, `Cane freshman Kyla Buckley placed second in the women’s shot put with a 14.82-meter toss, while former Miami star Kimberli Barrett broke a Hurricane Invitational record surpassing Zara Northover’s 2004 mark of 16.39m with a 16.40m (53-09.75)throw.
Elsewhere in the field, UM juniors Ashley Holmes and Miranda Wilson finished third (43.78m 143-08) and fourth (42.40m 139-01), respectively, in the women’s discus throw, and `Cane junior Jason Johnson placed fourth in the men’s long jump with his 6.96m (22-10.00) leap.
Hurricanes filled three of the top five spots in the women’s 1500m run with freshman Lindsi Arrington placing first (4:45.70), senior Katherine Woodard placing fourth (4:55.10) and sophomore Allison Ludwick finishing fifth (4:57.03) in the field of 19.
In hurdles, unattached Ronald Forbes surpassed former Hurricane Lance Leggett’s 2006 men’s 110m hurdles record of 13.89 seconds with his 13.80 second time.
UM freshman Thandi Stewart earned the Hurricanes their third first-place finish of the day with her 58.87-second performance in the women’s 400m hurdles.
UM freshman Bassim El-Sabawi finished fourth in a field of 24 in the men’s 100m dash with a time of 10.81 seconds, while in the women’s 100m dash, freshman Alyssa McClure’s 12.00 second time was good enough for fourth place out of 19 in the event.
UM men held three of the top five finishes in the 800m run as junior Brian Laskowski (1:55.80), junior Austin Rector (1:56.53) and sophomore Gregory Kaczka (1:56.97) finished second, fourth and fifth, respectively. Hurricane junior Jennifer Estime’s 2:15.81 time in the women’s version of the same event earned her a fourth place finish.
In the final track event of the day for UM, `Cane senior Ashley Dukes placed third in the women’s 200-meter dash with a time of 23.82 seconds.
Overall, 19 Hurricanes finished in the top five of their respective events, making the 2011 outdoor season opener a positive one for Miami. Track and field action continues on April 16th at Cobb Stadium with the Hurricane Alumni Invitational.
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