Lea Johnson Advances to NCAA Championships
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Five Hurricanes advanced to the next round in their respective events on the opening day of the NCAA East Preliminary.
The University of Miami track and field program had four student-athletes advance to the quarterfinals in their respective events, while one Cane secured a spot in the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
“I was really happy with the way we ran and performed,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “I thought we could have advanced a little bit more, but overall it was a solid night for us and I am looking forward to the next two days.”
Lea Johnson punched her ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the women’s hammer throw with a 12th place finish at the NCAA East Preliminary. The junior’s mark of 59.85m secured one of the 12 spots from the East region that advanced to nationals in Eugene, Oregon.
“Lea led us off great in the ACC Championship and she led us off again tonight,” Deem said. “I think that gives everybody confidence, because they know what they did after she won at ACCs. For her to advance and be the first one sets the tone for the rest of the weekend.”
Johnson qualifies for her second NCAA Championships of the 2014 season. She represented the Hurricanes in the weight throw at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships.
“I was nervous coming in, but I am glad I was able to advance,” Johnson said. “I love hammer and making it in the weight throw was great. But hammer is the event that I really love so I am so glad I made it to nationals.”
Shakima Wimbley won Heat 3 of the women’s 400m dash with a time of 52.38 seconds. The freshman will be the fourth seed in the quarterfinals scheduled for 6:15 p.m. on Friday.
Jamika Glades finished second in Heat 2 of the women’s 400m hurdles with a time of 58.57 seconds. The sophomore advanced to the quarterfinals scheduled for 7:45 p.m. on Friday, where she is the 20th seed after Thursday’s first round.
Alyssa McClure placed third in Heat 4 of the women’s 100m with a time of 11.72 seconds. The senior ran the 14th-fastest time in the first round and will be back in action in Friday’s quarterfinal scheduled for 6:45 p.m.
Thandi Stewart was Miami’s final athlete to advance, winning Heat 6 of the women’s 800m with a personal-best time of 2:05:00. She improved her second-best time in school history and will run in Friday’s quarterfinal scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
“I am very proud of Alyssa, Shakima, Jamika and Thandi,” Deem said. “The goal is to be Top 3 and get to the next round and that’s what they did. It’s about advancing and they did a great job.”
Alaine Tate finished eighth in Heat 3 of the women’s 800m with a season-best time of 2:07.11 and Taneisha Cordell posted a time of 2:11.66 to place eighth in Heat 1, but neither advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal.
Isaiah Simmons placed 22nd in the men’s shot put with a mark of 18.05m. The sophomore will be back in action on Saturday in the men’s discus.
“I am hoping Isaiah rebounds and has a good discus,” Deem said. “We still have a lot of events to contest in the next two days and hopefully we will take quite a few more on to Oregon.”
Friday’s field events will feature throwers Carlos Mangum (men’s hammer) and Amber Monroe (women’s discus), as well as Alysha Newman in the women’s pole vault and jumpers John-Patrick Friday (men’s triple jump) and Dakota Dailey-Harris (women’s high jump). On the track, Miami will have Kayann Richards (women’s 100m hurdles) running for the first time at the 2014 NCAA East Preliminary.
Saturday is the final day of the 2014 East Preliminary and the Canes will have three competitors in the field events as Simmons and Gian Piero Ragonesi will participate in the men’s discus, while Monroe will compete in the women’s shot put. The Hurricanes will compete in the first and last running events on Friday as the men’s 4x100m relay of Bassim El-Sabawi, TeQuille Jackson, Josh Johnson and Anthony Wolliston hit the track at 6 p.m. ET, while the women’s 4x400m relay of Cordell, Glades, Stewart, Tate, Wimbley and Anthonia Moore are scheduled to run at 9:45 p.m. ET.
The Preliminary championships competitions will be held May 29-31. The East region is competing at North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, and the West region at Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The qualifiers out of these regions will compete in the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 11-14 in Eugene, Oregon.
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