Canes Excel at Hurricane Invitational
CORALGABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami track andfield program kicked off their outdoor season with a strong start at theHurricane Invitational.
“It was a great day to start the outdoor season,” said Amy Deem,Miami’s director of track and field and cross country. “A lot of ourstudent-athletes started their outdoor season well today.”
The Hurricane throwers had a lot of success on Day 1 of theHurricane Invitational. Isaiah Simmons kicked off his outdoor career with avictory, placing first in the men’s hammer throw with a toss of 168′ 10″.
On the women’s side, sophomore Lea Johnson finished third in the hammerthrow, covering 164′ 8″ on her second throw, while sophomore Amber Monroeplaced sixth with a throw of 144′ 10″.
“I am really happy with the hammer throw,” Deem said. “Isaiah gotthe win in his first meet and that was great for him. Lea and Amber also showedsome good things today.”
A pair of jumpers also stood out on Friday. Freshman John-PatrickFriday finished third in the men’s high jump, clearing 6′ 6″ while freshman DakotaDailey-Harris won the women’s high jump, clearing 5′ 7.75″.
“That was a great opener for Dakota,” Deem said. “She was veryaggressive today and I expect her to have a lot of big jumps as the outdoorseason continues.”
Sophomore Sean Pezzulo finished third in the men’s 5000m with a timeof 15:35.27 while freshman Kevin Marsh placed fifth with a time of 15:48.50. SophomoreAJ Ricketts posted a time of 16:36.80 in his first start of the outdoor season.
In the women’s 5000m, junior Taylor Votek posted a time of19:25.06 in her first race of the season.
Saturday’s events kick off at 9 a.m. with the decathlon. The men’s4x100m relay, starting at 1 p.m., is the first of 18 running events scheduledfor Day 2 of the meet. Field events are also scheduled for a 1 p.m.start, beginning with the women’s shot put, men’s discus throw and men’s longjump.
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