Wimbley Advances to 400m Final at USAs

EUGENE, Ore. – Shakima Wimbley is headed to the women’s 400m final at the 2015 USA Track and Field Championships.

Wimbley, who is one of two Hurricanes competing this weekend in Eugene, Oregon, earned one of the eight coveted spots in the 400m final after she placed fourth in Heat 1 of the semifinals with a time of 51.09.

The sophomore is one of only two collegiate athletes to qualify for Saturday’s final, joined by Kendall Baisden of Texas. Wimbley will run her final race at the 2015 USATF Championships on Saturday beginning at 5:32 p.m. ET.

While Wimbley has one more day of competition, freshman Amy Taintor wrapped up the women’s heptathlon with an eighth-place finish. Taintor opened the final day of competition with a second-place finish in the long jump (5.60m). Following the javelin and 800m, Taintor had tallied a score of 4,866 points.

Hurricane alumnus and 2011 NCAA champion T’erea Brown competed in the women’s 400m hurdles, advancing to the semifinals with a time of 57.61 seconds. 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. She will run in Saturday’s semifinal, scheduled to begin at 4:37 p.m. ET. 

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. 

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.