Newman Sets Multiple Records on Senior Day
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Alysha Newman was one of several seniors to have stellar performances on the final day of the 2016 Hurricane Alumni Invitational.
Newman set a new school record and became the NCAA leader in the women’s pole vault, when she cleared 4.52m. But the senior was not done yet, clearing a personal-best 4.60m to set the ACC record and the Canadian National record and earning the victory in her final home meet as a Hurricane with a mark that currently ranks fourth in the world.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better performance in front of my family and friends on Senior Day,” Newman said. “Everything from the coaching, to the trainers to the conditions went perfectly and set me up to have a big day. All of my hard work is paying off and a day like today just gives me more motivation heading into the rest of the outdoor season. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for me and my teammates.”
Senior Dakota Dailey-Harris won the women’s high jump in her final home meet, setting a new school record with a mark of 1.85m.
Fellow senior John-Patrick Friday opened his day with a second place finish in the men’s high jump, clearing a personal-best 2.11m to move in to second place in school history. Friday also finished third in the men’s long jump with a season-best mark of 7.44m and fellow senior Innocent Jacob finished sixth with a jump of 7.29m.
Precious Ogunleye finished third in the women’s discus with a throw of 46.24m, while Alexis Wright placed fifth in the women’s triple jump with a mark of 11.97m.
Senior Jamika Glades finished fourth in the women’s 400m hurdles with a time of 59.71 seconds, while fellow senior TeQuille Jackson posted a season-best time of 14.42 seconds in the men’s 110m hurdles.
Joseph Ryan posted a time of 49.30 seconds in the men’s 400m invitational, while fellow senior Anthony Wolliston ran a season-best time of 49.44 seconds.
Kevin Marsh ran a personal-best time of 15:34.11 in the men’s 5000m, placing fifth in his final race at Cobb Stadium.
“We had big PRs from our seniors, like JP and Dakota,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “And there aren’t enough words to say what Alysha did today. It’s great to see because all athletes will have good times and bad times, so it’s great to see them have a big day in their final home meet.”
In addition to the strong performances by the seniors, several Hurricanes posted stellar times and marks on the last day of the final home meet of the 2016 outdoor season.
The Hurricanes won the women’s 4x100m relay as the team of Shakima Wimbley, Carolyn Brown, Aiyanna Stiverne and Ebony Morrison combined to run a season-best time of 43.75 seconds that ranks third in school history.
The women’s 4x400m relay team of Destiny Washington, Stiverne, Anna Runia and Wimbley posted a season-best time of 3:31.73 to win the event, while a second 4x400m relay of Samantha Gonzalez, Glades, Brown and Trishelle Leacock finished fifth with a time of 3:46.63.
Wimbley turned in an impressive 400m time, winning the event with a time of 51.62 seconds, while Morrison placed fifth in the women’s 100m hurdles invitational with a time of 13.39 seconds. Meridith Louisville won the women’s open 400m with a personal-best time of 58.25 seconds.
“I feel pretty good,” Wimbley said. “This was my first meet opening up in the 400m and we got better times in the 4x100m and 4x400m. I just wanted to make sure I executed each race and I felt pretty good. I’m happy with what I ran today and I just want to build from here going forward.”
Gian Piero Ragonesi won the men’s discus with a school record throw of 57.10m, while Daniel Polinski had a personal-best throw of 49.95m to finish sixth. Ragonesi also finished second in the men’s shot put with a throw of 18.09m, while Polinski had a season-best throw of 16.77m to finish third.
The Hurricanes had three strong performances in the multi-events, led by freshman decathlete Andreas Christodoulou. After entering Saturday with 3,658 points, Christodoulou won the 110m hurdles with a personal-best time of 14.74 seconds. He also won the discus (34.52m), pole vault (4.20m) and javelin (56.28m). The freshman closed out the day with an 800m time of 4:51.19 that wrapped up his decathlon victory with 7,060 points that ranks second in school history.
Amy Taintor, who opened the day in fifth place with 2,900 points, started off the final day of the heptathlon with a victory in the long jump (5.68m). A personal-best javelin throw of 27.47m kept Taintor’s solid day going and she finished the day with a season-best 800m time of 2:23.60 to place second in the women’s heptathlon with 4,857 points.
Stefani Kerrison entered Saturday’s competition in second place with 3,114 points and started her day with a 5.40m long jump that placed her third in the event. A 25.71m javelin throw kept her momentum going and she closed the day with a time of 2:43.21 in the 800m to finish third with a score of 4,718 points that ranks fourth in school history.
Anne Den Otter won the women’s 5000m with a personal-best time of 18:14.36. Gabrielle Hesslau placed fourth (18:34.10), while Carla Rodriguez (18:51.52) and Mulloy Manning (19:48.66) each turned in personal-best times in the 5000m.
Brown finished sixth in the women’s 200m with a personal-best time of 23.79 seconds, while Destiny Washington was 11th with a time of 24.23 seconds. On the men’s side, Henri Delauze finished 12th with a time of 21.50 seconds and Breon Mullings was 15th with a time of 21.56 seconds.
Leacock and Runia each had their best times of the season in the women’s 100m invitational with Leacock posting a time of 11.99 seconds and Runia finishing in 12.07 seconds. Niara Hill finished fourth in the women’s triple jump with a mark of 12.03m.
Sean Grossman finished third in the men’s 1500m invitational with a season-best time of 4:00.06. He also won the men’s 5000m with a time of 15:19.25, while Jonathan Keller ran a personal-best time of 15:55.55 in the men’s 5000m.
“We wanted to go back and build that foundation again after indoor season,” Deem said. “We had a lot of things going well, but I feel like today we started to really come together. For our success at the ACCs and nationally, that is what we need. Our relays had a good building block today and I think we need to get everybody on the same page so that we are at our best at the right time.”
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