Canes Open Competition at NCAA Championships
EUGENE, Ore. – Isaiah Simmons and Gian Piero Ragonesi were the first members of the University of Miami track and field program to compete at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Simmons and Ragonesi competed in the men’s shot put on the opening day of the 2016 NCAA Championships. Fourteen student-athletes are in Eugene representing the Hurricanes at the NCAA meet.
“Isaiah and Gian had great seasons this year,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “As an athlete, you always want to finish the season with a personal-best, but they competed hard and that’s all you can ask.”
Ragonesi led the way for the Hurricanes, finishing 13th with a throw of 18.76m. The junior, who ranks second in school history in the men’s shot put, opened the competition with a throw of 18.30m. Ragonesi’s second attempt was his best, posting a mark of 18.76m, and he closed the day with a throw of 18.33m.
“I think it was a great experience and I had a lot of fun,” Ragonesi said. “I missed a couple of my throws. I wish I could have done better, but overall I had a pretty good year and I’m happy about it. It’s hard to get here. There is a lot of great competition out there. I have one more year to go out and throw as far as I can so I can come back here and be an All-American. I had a great time competing and I have a standard now that my teammate left me and that’s to break his school record.”
Simmons closes his Hurricane career with a 23rd-place finish at the NCAA Championships. The senior’s best throw in the men’s shot put was on his final attempt, posting a mark of 18.23m. Simmons, who holds the school record in the men’s shot put, opened the competition with a foul, before posting a mark of 18.06m on his second attempt and finishing his day with his best throw of 18.23m.
“It’s been an uphill battle dealing with a lot of injuries,” Simmons said. “I’m proud and at peace, even though I didn’t get to compete like I wanted to because of my foot injury. I just wanted to go out and have fun and compete the best I could. It was fun to compete with Gian today. I’ve pretty much given him the torch now and the records are all up for grabs for him. I told him to bring an ACC title back and continue a legacy that I hope I started and I want him to keep building on that. Coming into college I had high expectations. I wanted to be an ACC champion and national champion. Those were some of my goals and I accomplished all but one of them. I am very happy with what I have accomplished to this point.”
The Hurricanes had women advance to the national meet in the 400m, 100m hurdles, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, pole vault, high jump and hammer throw. Miami had men qualify for the NCAA Championships in the shot put and triple jump. The 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., from June 8-11.
For the second straight year, the NCAA Outdoor Championships schedule has been divided by gender. The men will compete on Wednesday, June 8, and Friday, June 10, while the women are in action on Thursday, June 9, and Saturday, June 11.
All four days of the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be broadcast live on the ESPN family of networks. Thursday’s broadcast begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN3, with coverage on ESPNU starting at 7:30 p.m. and on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET. Friday’s telecast starts at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN3 and continues at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Saturday’s broadcast begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN3 and at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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