Canes Track Sets Record at ACC Outdoors
RALEIGH, N.C. – The University of Miami track and field program opened competition at the 2013 ACC Outdoor Championships with a record-setting performance.
Standout thrower Isaiah Simmons broke the Miami record in the men’s discus, surpassing Mitch Sammons’ 31-yer-old mark of 175’ 2”. Simmons, a redshirt freshman, placed third in the discus with his record-setting throw of 178’ 6”. He scored all six of the Hurricane men’s points on Thursday to put Miami in fifth place after the first day of competition.
The Woodbridge, Va., native now holds Miami’s outdoor records in shot put (60’ 4”), hammer throw (168’ 10”) and discus. Simmons, who earned All-ACC honors for his Top-3 finish, is scheduled to compete in the men’s shot put on Friday afternoon and the men’s hammer throw Saturday afternoon.
Alyssa McClure and Kelsey Balkwill qualified for the final in the women’s 200m dash. McClure, a junior, ran a personal-best 24.10 to place sixth during preliminaries. Balkwill, a redshirt freshman, was the final qualifier with a personal-best time of 24.45 seconds. Sophomore Jokira JIles and senior Elyse Houston also competed in the 200m dash for the Canes.
Christian Cook was impressive on Day 1 of the ACC Outdoor Championships. The sophomore ran the third-best time in the men’s 400m hurdles, qualifying for the final with a personal-best time of 52.51 seconds. Garrett Nygren also ran for Miami in the 400m hurdles.
Junior Bassim El-Sabawi finshed 15th out of 23 in the men’s 200m dash, posting a season-best time of 21.95 seconds. El-Sabawi’s best time of 21.88 seconds was set in 2011.
Lindsi Arrington placed 16th in a field of 35 who ran the women’s 1500m. The junior posted a time of 4:33.29, third-best in her heat. Senior Greg Kaczka placed 18th out of 40 in the men’s 1500m with a time of 3:52.12. Junior Luke Fontaine also ran the men’s 1500m for Miami.
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