2015 @MiamiTrack Indoor Preview: Jumps/Multis
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami track and field team opens its 2015 campaign this weekend and the Hurricanes are ready to embark on another successful season.
The Canes feature a talented roster on both the men’s and women’s sides, sporting one of the deepest and most well-rounded teams in recent history. Today, HurricaneSports.com breaks down Miami’s jumpers and combined events student-athletes.
The Hurricanes have a lot to be excited about in their jumps group. Juniors Alysha Newman and Dakota Dailey-Harris are two of the top female jumpers in the ACC, while John-Patrick Friday has proven himself as one of the best male jumpers in the conference. Add in a quartet of talented freshmen and Miami features a roster of jumpers that could make a lot of noise in 2015.
Newman is already the best pole vaulter in UM history, holding both the indoor (4.35m) and outdoor (4.41m) school records. A first team All-American in both indoor and outdoor track and field a year ago, Newman finished fifth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2014. She also earned a spot among the top vaulters in the country at the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Championships, placing seventh. Newman was also one of the best vaulters in the ACC a year ago, placing third at the ACC Indoor Championships and second at the ACC Outdoor Championships.
Dailey-Harris is one of the best high jumpers in program history, ranking second all-time with a 1.78m mark indoors and second outdoors with a mark of 1.80m. A year ago, she posted her best indoor mark of the season while placing sixth at the ACC Championships. But Dailey-Harris really soared to new heights in the outdoor season, posting a personal-best mark of 1.80m while winning the high jump at the LSU Invitational. She earned a place at the NCAA East Preliminary and advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships after winning a jump off. Dailey-Harris placed 19th in her first NCAA Championships appearance. Now a junior, she hopes to build off her big sophomore campaign from a year ago and medal at both the conference and NCAA meets.
Friday is a talented and versatile jumper for the Miami men, exceling in the long jump, triple jump and high jump. The junior ranks fourth on Miami’s all-time indoor high jump list (2.05m) and fourth on the indoor triple jump list (14.87m). He also is third in both the outdoor high jump (2.08M) and triple jump (15.26m). Friday was a standout in the 2014 outdoor season, earning All-ACC honors by placing second in the triple jump at the ACC Outdoor Championships. A qualifier for the 2014 NCAA East Preliminary, Friday is expected to be a leader for the men’s jumpers in 2015.
While Newman, Dailey-Harris and Friday make up a formidable trio of proven and experienced jumpers, freshmen Alexandra Wester, Amy Taintor, Bailey Vitatoe and Niara Hill add talent and depth to Miami’s jumps roster.
Wester is a heptathlete that coaches believe can qualify nationally in the heptathlon and pentathlon and can be a threat in the long jump. She placed fifth in the long jump at the 2014 German Halls University Championships and has a personal-best of 5523 points in the heptathlon. Wester is expected to make a huge impact for the Hurricanes and will only get better as she continues to grow and develop and adjust to the collegiate system.
Taintor is a talented athlete who is transitioning to multis after winning Connecticut state championships in the 300m hurdles and long jump in high school. A workhorse in practice, she is adjusting to events that are new to her, but is expected to make an impact as a freshman at the ACC level and blossom in to a national-level athlete through her career.
Vitatoe is expected to make an immediate impact for the men’s program and the climb up the ACC rankings. A Georgia state champion in the high jump, he has the potential to be a national-caliber high jumper in his career as he develops in the weight room and adjusts to a collegiate training program. He also has the potential to make an impact in the long jump at the ACC level.
Hill adds depth to a growing women’s jump program. The 2014 Minnesota state champion in the triple jump, she is a very hard worker who brings a great attitude to the group. Improving technical aspects will put her in a position to make an impact for Miami in the triple jump.
The 2015 Miami track and field indoor season is scheduled to begin Jan. 17 at the Nittany Lion Challenge in State College, Pa.
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