@MiamiTrack Ready for NCAA Championships
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Championships open Friday and seven members of the University of Miami track and field program will represent the Hurricanes at the national meet.
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.
“We are excited for all the athletes that qualified for the national meet,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “They had a tremendous indoor season and we are very happy for them. The indoor championships are one of the toughest in the NCAA to make because it’s the Top 16 in every event. We are very proud of them and they need to be proud of themselves.”
Johnson and Okieme will be the first two Canes in action at nationals, competing in the women’s weight throw at 5 p.m. ET.
“Tiffany and Lea bring out the best in each other,” Deem said. “They have a healthy competition and that brings the best out of you every day in practice. That will translate to being the best in competition.”
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.
“I feel like I am in a better position this year than I was last year,” Johnson said. “Last year I made it in the last meet before nationals, so it wasn’t really expected. This year I almost knew I was going to go so I am a lot better prepared and I feel like I haven’t peaked yet. To throw that far and still feel like I can go further only confirms that I can compete with anyone in the nation.”
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. A Division II national champion last year in the shot put, Okieme is excited to have qualified for the NCAA Championships in the weight throw.
“It feels like a huge accomplishment for me,” Okieme said. “I transferred here from a Division II school and I am really excited for this journey. It shows that I have what it takes to compete at this level and I am proud to make it in the weight throw. I have always been known as a shot put thrower and this shows me that I am more of a complete thrower and not just a specialist. It shows me that the work I have put in has paid off.”
Wimbley will compete in the women’s 400m scheduled for 7:55 p.m. ET on Friday. The standout sophomore enters the NCAA Indoor Championships with the sixth-fastest qualifying time in the country. Wimbley 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.
“It’s a great feeling and I am very honored to go back to nationals again,” Wimbley said. “This time, I am going in the event that I love so that should make it more fun. Also, knowing that I have run with the best in the country earlier in the season lets me know that I am capable of accomplishing my goal of being an All-American. I should be better this time and I am definitely ready to compete.
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.
“She loves the 400 and the 200 and has handled the double very well at conference,” Deem said. “But this is her choice and she is running the event she loves. The 400 is what she looks at as her event. With the growth she has made in the past year and the way she has been practicing with confidence, she is in position to get where she needs to be and that is in the final. She just needs to take the confidence she has been showing and carry it through this weekend.”
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.
“Their goal is to come back finishing in the Top 8,” Deem said. “If they go in and run with confidence, they can achieve that. We showed signs of improvement at the ACC meet before we bobbled the baton. I look for them to run a big personal-best this weekend.”
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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