GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Miami’s Shakima Wimbley was named ACC Women’s Track Performer of the Week after a stellar showing at the 2016 Nittany Lion Challenge.
Wimbley’s 2016 season got off to an outstanding start, finishing first in the two events in which she competed at the Nittany Lion Challenge. The two-time defending ACC indoor 200 meters champion won that event with a time of 23.33 seconds, just one-hundredth of a second behind the meet record. Wimbley’s time is the fastest among ACC sprinters and ranks second nationally.
The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native was also a key member of the Miami 4x400m relay team that finished first with a time of 3:42.11. The junior teams with freshmen Brittny Ellis and Samantha Gonzalez and junior Anthonia Moore to run the 12th-best time in the country this season.
“I’m really excited for her,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “She came out and she’s motivated. The big strides and big time improvements that she has made in the past aren’t going to come as easily as they have in the past because she is already at 50-point (in the 400m) and 23-low indoors (in the 200m) so it was nice to see her open up a little bit faster than she did last year at Penn State.”
Winning ACC weekly awards is nothing new for Wimbley, whom won ACC Performer of the Week three times in 2015. A standout sprinter, Wimbley ran the fifth-fastest indoor 200m a year ago (23.08) and the fourth-best indoor 400m time (51.82). Wimbley, who was the ACC Indoor Champion in the 200m and was All-ACC First Team in both the 200m and 400m, represented Miami at the NCAA Indoor Championships. As a sophomore, she earned Second Team Indoor All-America Honors in both the 400m and the 4x400m relay.
“I’m excited about where she is and I think she is in a really good place,” Deem said. “I am excited about where the whole team is and to have that type of leadership and for her to start off where she left off last year is not only a positive for her, but for the whole team.”
Wimbley and the Hurricanes will travel to Lexington, Ky., this weekend for the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet on January 22-23.
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