Alysha Newman Wins ACC Performer of the Week

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Miami’s Alysha Newman was named ACC Indoor Track and Field Female Performer of the Week after posting the top pole vault mark in the country.

The sophomore made her Hurricane debut at the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet in Lexington, Ky., this past weekend and Newman skyrocketed to the top of several record books.

Newman cleared her opening height in women’s pole vault with a jump of 3.88m, breaking the school record previously held by Lauren Koutrelakos (3.20m, 2003). The transfer for Eastern Michigan already sat atop Miami’s record book, but she was far from done.

The Delaware, Ontario native continued to soar to new heights, winning the women’s pole vault with a mark of 4.31m. The jump not only topped her Miami record mark from earlier in the day, but also set a new meet record and put her atop the NCAA pole vault rankings for the 2014 indoor season.

“I was very impressed with Alysha’s performance this weekend,” Miami director of track & field/cross country Amy Deem said. ”She’s had minimal practice since arriving at Miami so opening up basically where she left off last summer was great. We’re very excited about her. She is just going to get better as the season progresses.”

Newman’s efforts meant that the ACC Indoor Performer of the Week award was returning to Coral Gables for the second consecutive week. Freshman Shakima Wimbley earned ACC Performer of the Week honors a week ago after winning the 400m and anchoring Miami’s 4x400m relay to victory at the Nittany Lion Challenge.

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