@MiamiTrack Starts Well at McCravy Memorial
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Miami track and field program had a solid start to its stay at the 2015 Rod McCravy Memorial Meet.
The Canes had several student-athletes compete on the opening day of the two-day meet on the University of Kentucky campus.
“I’m excited about this team and although it is early in the season, I wanted to see how we handled competing against some of the nation’s best,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “Our combined event athletes came out with a strong effort and Lea [Johnson] came out and competed with some of the best throwers in the country and had a season-best.”
Freshman Amy Taintor finished sixth in the women’s pentathlon with a score of 3,612 points that ranks third in Miami history. Taintor closed out the pentathlon with a victory in the women’s 800m run, posting a time of 2:17.89. Fellow freshman Stefani Kerrison placed 10th in the women’s pentathlon with 3,400 points.
Senior Lea Johnson placed fourth in the women’s weight throw with a season-best mark of 20.46m. Junior Tiffany Okieme just missed a Top 5 finish in the women’s weight throw, placing sixth with a mark of 19.65m. On the men’s side, sophomore Carlos Mangum finished ninth overall in the weight throw with a mark of 18.62m.
Junior John-Patrick Friday placed fifth in the men’s high jump with a mark of 2.04m. Fellow junior Dakota Dailey-Harris finished sixth overall in the women’s high jump with a jump of 1.77m.
Josh Johnson and Tracy Howard competed in the men’s 200m dash, while Jokira Jiles and Lateisha Philson represented Miami in the women’s 200m dash.
The Hurricanes are one of 15 teams competing at the University of Kentucky, including 2014 Men’s and Women’s NCAA Indoor Champion Oregon, 2014 Women’s SEC Indoor Champion Florida, 2014 Men’s SEC Indoor Champion Arkansas, 2014 Big XII Women’s Indoor Champion Texas and 2014 Men’s and Women’s ACC Indoor Champion Florida State. LSU, Georgia, Baylor, Virginia, Ohio State, USC, Missouri, Illinois and the host Kentucky Wildcats round out a talent-rich field that will compete in Lexington.
The Rod McCravy Memorial Meet is back in action on Saturday at 10 a.m. with the men’s heptathlon 60m hurdles and conclude at 4:25 p.m., with the men’s 4x400m relay. The Rod McCravy Memorial Meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network+ beginning at noon on Saturday.
For all the latest information on the Miami Hurricanes, follow the official Twitter feed, @MiamiHurricanes, or “Like Us” on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes. Follow @MiamiTrack on Twitter for specific news on UM track and field and cross country. The program is also on Instagram.
