@MiamiTrack Ready for NCAA East Preliminary
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nineteen members of the University of Miami track and field program will represent the Hurricanes at this weekend’s 2015 NCAA East Preliminary.
Eight men and 11 women make up the group of 19 Hurricanes scheduled to compete in 18 events at the NCAA East Preliminary from May 28-30 in Jacksonville. A year ago, Miami had 20 student-athletes qualify for regionals, competing in 15 different events.
The Preliminary championships competitions will be held May 28-30. The East region will be held at North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, and the West region at the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. 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 10-13 in Eugene, Oregon.
Carlos Mangum will be the first Hurricane in action, competing in the men’s hammer throw at noon on Thursday. Tiffany Okieme will represent the Canes in the women’s shot put at 3:30 p.m., while Alysha Newman will compete in the women’s pole vault at 4:30 p.m. and John-Patrick Friday will be the final Cane in the field events, competing in the men’s long jump at 7 p.m.
Several Hurricanes will also hit the track on the opening day of the three-day meet. Jamika Glades and Kelsey Balkwill will open the running action at 4:30 p.m. in the women’s 400m hurdles, while Christian Cook and Robert Grant will compete n the men’s 400m hurdles beginning at 5 p.m. Shakima Wimbley will run in the women’s 400m at 7:20 p.m., followed by Henri Delauze in the men’s 400m at 7:45 p.m. Taneisha Cordell is the final Hurricane scheduled to compete on Thursday, running the women’s 800m at 8:10 p.m.
Friday will feature Glades opening the running action in the women’s 100m hurdles at 5 p.m., while Cook and Artie Burns will compete in the 110m hurdles at 5:30 p.m. Miami will also look to have several athletes competing in the quarterfinal in the 400m, 800m and 400m hurdles. In the field, the Canes will have Precious Ogunleye competing in the women’s discus at noon, while Gian Piero Ragonesi will throw the men’s discus at 4 p.m.
Miami has three competitors scheduled to open Saturday’s action in the women’s hammer at 1:30 p.m., as Ogunleye, Okieme and Lea Johnson will look to earn a trip to the NCAA Championships in Oregon. Ragonesi and Daniel Polinski will compete in the men’s shot put at 5 p.m., while Dakota Dailey-Harris will look to earn her second straight trip to Oregon when they women’s high jump begins at 6 p.m. Friday is scheduled to be Miami’s final competitor in the field events, competing in the men’s triple jump at 7 p.m.
In addition to all the action in the field events Saturday, Miami will look to have competitors advance to Oregon in the women’s 100m hurdles, men’s 110m hurdles and women’s 200m. The Hurricane women’s 4x400m relay relay pool of Wimbley, Cordell, Balkwill, Glades, Anthonia Moore and Amy Taintor will be the final Canes on the track, competing at 9:25 p.m.
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.
