STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The University of Miami track & field program is set to kick off its 2014 indoor schedule at the Nittany Lion Challenge.
The Canes travel to State College, Pa., where they will compete against Pitt, USF, Cornell, Georgetown, Ohio State, Iowa State and host Penn State. The Nittany Lion Challenge will be held at Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.
“We’re just really excited after a really strong fall,” Miami director of track & field/cross country Amy Deem said. “We have a great coaching staff this year and n practice it’s been a really, really strong fall for us. We’re really excited to get started and to see where we are.”
Miami brings back several talented student-athletes that Deem anticipates will be leaders on and off the track for the Hurricanes. On the men’s side, Deem believes sophomore Isaiah Simmons is in for another big year after winning the ACC indoor and outdoor shot put titles.
“I’m really excited about Isaiah,” Deem said. “It’s his second year with Coach Young and he’s had a very strong fall. I just think he’s going to really continue where he left off last year. He’s definitely one of our leaders on the men’s side, not only by trying to do the right things and working hard but by his performance also. I look for him to provide strong leadership in this indoor season.”
While Simmons is providing leadership at a young age, Deem expects veterans Alyssa McClure and Alaine Tate to provide a good example for her female student-athletes.
“It’s their senior year and they’re really motivated to have their best year and they both have been working extremely hard,” Deem said. “I’m really looking to see in these first couple weeks who steps up in competition, too. I think it’s easy to be a leader on the track and sometimes at practice but, again, in practice and competition you really see who’s ready to go and who had those leadership qualities.”
Miami has a very talented group of newcomers joining the team this year. Deem believes all the newest Canes can be impact student-athletes, but she singled out one women’s runner that could make a big splash in her first collegiate meet.
“We’re excited about all of them but I’m going to stick to Shakima Wimbley this weekend,” Deem said. “We’re bringing some of the newcomers in fairly slowly, but I’m excited about Shakima. She’s a South Florida girl from Fort Lauderdale. I’m not even sure except for maybe on a video if she’s ever seen a banked track, so we’re excited to see how she responds.”
Beyond Wimbley, newcomers Anthonia Moore, Morgan McClure, Precious Ogunleye and Gian Ragonesi will make their Hurricane debuts this weekend. Redshirt freshmen Kayann Richards and Lateisha Philson will compete for the first time as Canes.
“They are motivated and we are looking forward to seeing how they perform,” Deem said. “As the weeks progress, we will be adding some of the football players back in and Alysha (Newman). On paper I’m very excited about what we have, but I think by February we’ll really know what we have on both the men’s and women’s side going into more of our championship time of the year.”
The Hurricanes will have women competing in 13 different events, while there will be men participating in 12 events. All the student-athletes are anxious to perform at a high level, but Deem is more focused on seeing her team’s effort than the results.
“I just really want to see a good, competitive effort,” Deem said. “If you go out there and you’re competitive and you give it everything you got and you fall a little short, you can fix that. But, if you go out there and you kind of let your nerves get the best of you, it’s not really a true indication of what you can do. Obviously then you’ve got to fix that mental aspect of it, but really I just want them to go out and lay it out there. Let’s see where we are and hopefully they will give the coaches a good indication of what we need to get them ready for as the season progresses.”
Men’s Entries
60m: William Waldon
200m: Bassim El-Sabawi, William Waldon
400m: Anthony Wolliston, Joseph Ryan, Davin Johnson, Garrett Nygren
600m: Douglas Dourado, Connor Adams
1 Mile: Connor Adams
3000m: Jonas Frenzel, Luke Fontaine, Sean Pezzulo
60m HH: TeQuille Jackson
4x400m: TeQuille Jackson, Bassim El-Sabawi, Joseph Ryan, Anthony Wolliston, William Waldon, Davin Johnson, Garrett Nygren, Douglas Dourado
High Jump: John-Patrick Friday
Long Jump: Richard Tema
Triple Jump: Richard Tema
Shot Put: Isaiah Simmons, Gian Ragonesi
Women’s Entries
60m: Alyssa McClure
200m: Lateisha Philson
400m: Shakima Wimbley, Kelsey Balkwill, Shannon Wright, Jasmyne King, Anthonia Moore, Morgan McClure
600m: Alaine Tate
800m: Taneisha Cordell
1 Mile: Lindsi Arrington, Alaine Tate
3000m: Lindsi Arrington
60m HH: Jamika Glades, Lateisha Philson, Kayann Richards
4x400m: Kelsey Balkwill, Shakima Wimbley, Jamika Glades, Alyssa McClure, Anthonia Moore, Jasmyne King, Shannon Wright, Morgan McClure
High Jump: Dakota Dailey-Harris
Triple Jump: Alexis Wright
Shot Put: Precious Ogunleye, Amber Monroe
Weight Throw: Precious Ogunleye, Lea Johnson
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