EUGENE, Ore. – The University of Miami track and field program will have two student-athletes competing this week at the USATF Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Shakima Wimbley and Amy Taintor travel to Hayward Field to compete against the best track and field athletes in the country. Wimbley will run in the women’s 400m in the USATF Outdoor Championships, while Taintor will compete in the women’s heptathlon in the USATFA Junior Championships.
Wimbley has been a standout all year for the Hurricanes. The superb sophomore recently earned a pair of First Team All-America honors, finishing fifth in both the 400m final and in the women’s 4x400m relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Wimbley, who has NCAA’s fastest 400m time this season, 50.84 seconds, battled windy conditions over the first 200m of the final. Wimbley competed hard through the finish line, but came up short of her ultimate goal, placing fifth with a time of 52.08 seconds.
One of the most decorated runners in the country this year, Wimbley was the 2015 ACC Outdoor Champion in the 400m and 200m and was named the ACC Women’s Track MVP. Her latest accolade came on Monday when she was announced as the South Regional Women’s Track Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. She also qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in both the 400m and the 4x400m relay.
A member of the Team USA at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships, Wimbley will begin her quest to represent the United States for the second consecutive year on Thursday in the first round of the women’s 400m, scheduled for 7:20 p.m. ET.
Taintor heads to the USATF Junior Championships off a strong collegiate debut season. The freshman placed seventh in the women’s heptathlon at the ACC Outdoor Championships with a personal-best score of 4,997 points, third-best in UM history. Her score also earned her a place in the field for the 2015 USATF Junior Championships.
She opened the final day of the heptathlon placing fifth in the long jump with a mark of 5.53m and closed out the heptathlon with a second place finish in the 800m, posting a season-best time of 2:16.12. Taintor added two points to the Hurricane women’s team score, helping the Hurricanes place third at the conference meet.
Taintor will compete over the first two days of the USATF Outdoor Championships, opening with the heptathlon 100m hurdles at 1 p.m. ET and competing in the high jump, shot put and 200m on Thursday. The freshman will close out the heptathlon on Friday, beginning with the long jump at 1 p.m. and competing in the javelin and closing with the 800m at 4:05 p.m. ET.
While Wimbley and Taintor are current Hurricanes competing in Oregon this week, a Miami track and field alumnus is also going to be in action. 2011 NCAA champion T’erea Brown will compete in the women’s 400m hurdles, beginning with the first round at 9:40 p.m. ET on Friday. Brown, who was a six-time All-American at Miami, was a member of Team USA at 2012 Olympics where she was coached by Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem.
Athletes will earn spots on the 2015 IAAF World Championships team set for August 22-30 in Beijing, China, as well as on the Pan Am Games, Thorpe Cup, Pan Am Juniors and NACAC Championships teams.
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