Seven to Represent @MiamiTrack at NCAAs
INDIANAPOLIS — Seven University of Miami student-athletes have qualified to compete in the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Championships.
Shakima Wimbley, Lea Johnson, Tiffany Okieme, Kelsey Balkwill, Taneisha Cordell, Anthonia Moore and Jamika Glades will represent Miami against the nation’s top track and field student-athletes. Competition is slated to begin on March 13 in Fayetteville, Ark., and run through March 14.
Wimbley will compete in the women’s 400m, entering the NCAA Indoor Championships with the sixth-fastest qualifying time in the country. The superb sophomore posted her blazing qualifying time of 51.82 seconds at the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet, finishing second by one-hundredth of a second in that race and setting new University of Miami and ACC Indoor records in the process. Wimbley also had a 200m time of 23.08 seconds that ranked among the Top 16 in the country, but elected to focus solely on the 400m in Fayetteville.
Johnson heads to nationals fresh off earning first team All-ACC honors and repeating as the ACC Indoor Champion in the women’s weight throw with a personal-best mark of 21.45m that ranks second all-time in UM history. The senior was second heading into the finals with a mark of 20.01m, but she posted her winning throw on her fifth attempt of the night to earn her second consecutive ACC Indoor Championship in the women’s weight throw. Johnson’s mark of 21.45m ranks 10th in the NCAA heading into the Indoor Championships.
Okieme also earned first team All-ACC in the women’s weight throw, earning a bronze medal with her personal-best throw of 21.16m. The junior finished third in her inaugural ACC Indoor Championships and also moved into third place in UM history. Okieme’s mark is 12th-best in the NCAA this season.
Balkwill, Cordell, Glades, Moore and Wimbley make up a 4x400m relay pool that will look to improve off Miami’s top relay time of the season. The Hurricanes ran a time of 3:34.88 at the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet in January that sends them into the NCAA Indoor Championships with the 10th-fastest time in the NCAA.
ESPN3 will stream the meet live on March 13 and 14 starting at 7 p.m. ET. A tape delay of the championship will air March 23 starting at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
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