Five Canes Compete on Day 1 of NCAAs
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Five members of the University of Miami track and field program competed on the opening night of the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Five of the seven Hurricanes that qualified for the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships were in action on Friday at the Birmingham CrossPlex. Miami had two women compete on the track and two women compete in the field, while the Canes’ lone male representative competed in the field.
Carlos Mangum was the first Hurricane in action on Friday, competing in the men’s weight throw. The junior, who placed second at the ACC Indoor Championships with a school record throw of 21.32m, finished 14th at the NCAA meet with a mark of 20.31m.
Ebony Morrison was impressive in the women’s 60m hurdles preliminaries. The junior, who was a silver medalist at the ACC Indoor Championships, ran a personal-best time of 8.12 seconds. Morrison placed ninth and did not advance to the finals by two-hundredths of a second, but her time moved her into a tie for fourth place in UM history with Sharianne Lawson (2003).
Seniors Tiffany Okieme and Precious Ogunleye represented the Hurricanes in the women’s weight throw. Okieme placed 10th with a mark of 19.97m, while Ogunleye finished 12th with a throw of 19.95m.
Shakima Wimbley wrapped up the Hurricanes in action on the opening night of the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships. The junior finished 13th in the women’s 200m preliminaries with a time of 23.46 seconds and did not advance to the finals.
Two more Canes are scheduled to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday and both were among the best in the ACC in their respective events.
ACC gold medalist Dakota Dailey-Harris kicks off the action Saturday in the women’s high jump at 3 p.m. ET. The senior’s mark of 1.83m set a school record in the women’s high jump and clinched her spot in the NCAA indoor Championships, ranking 16th nationally.
Alysha Newman, who earned a silver medal in the women’s pole vault at the ACC Indoor Championships, enters the NCAA meet with the fourth-best mark in the country: a school-record 4.50m. Her quest for a national championship begins at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday.
ESPN3 will stream the meet live on March 12 starting at 4:55 p.m. ET. A re-air of the championship will take place Sunday, March 13 starting at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and also Wednesday, March 23 starting at 10 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
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 @CanesTrack on Twitter for specific news on UM track and field and cross country. The program is also on Instagram.
