Alysha Newman Makes Canadian Olympic Team
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami pole vaulter Alysha Newman is an Olympian.
Newman, who was the 2016 NCAA runner-up in the women’s pole vault, is the Canadian women’s pole vault champion and secured her place on the 2016 Canadian Olympic Team that will compete in Rio de Janeiro in August. She entered the Canadian Olympic Trials as the heavy favorite to win and delivered on the big expectations.
“This has been a dream of mine since I was little,” Newman said. “To be able to make the Olympic Team by winning my first Canadian senior title and setting a meet record is better than I could have dreamed. I’m so excited to represent my country on the biggest stage and make everyone proud!”
Newman entered the women’s pole vault competition at Foote Field in Edmonton with the bar at 4.20m, passing on the first five heights of the day. She failed on her first attempt at 4.20m, before successfully clearing the bar in her second chance at that height. Newman would clear the next three heights on her first attempt, successfully vaulting over 4.30m, 4.35m and 4.40m.
By clearing 4.40m, Newman broke Stephanie McCann’s Canadian championship record of 4.35m that had stood since 2002. The 2016 Miami graduate now holds the Canadian senior record (4.60m) and the Canadian championship record. She also won her first Canadian senior title and earned a place on the Canadian Olympic Team.
“It has been an incredible journey with Alysha to this point,” Miami jumps coach Jerel Langley said. “I can’t be more proud of her to come out and compete so well in less than ideal conditions and take a title that has been eluding her for a few years. This has been her goal from my very first recruiting conversation with her and to see it become a reality has been awesome.”
A First Team All-American in 2016, Newman was the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championship runner-up and the 2016 ACC Outdoor Champion. The Miami women’s pole vault record holder becomes the ninth Hurricanes track and field student-athlete in program history to earn a trip to the Olympics.
“Alysha has come so far in the last few years,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “She has never wavered on her belief of making this Olympic Team. I am extremely happy for her and know that there is a lot more to come.”
Newman will compete in the qualifying round of the women’s pole vault at the 2016 Olympics on August 16 at 8:45 a.m. ET. Advancing athletes will be back in action in the women’s pole vault final, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on August 19. Track and field events will be held at Estadio Olimpico Joao Havelange in Rio de Janeiro.
The Hurricanes also had an athlete competing on the final day of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Ore. T’erea Brown placed eighth in the women’s 400m hurdles final with a time of 56.29 seconds. An Olympian in 2012 and the 2011 NCAA 400m hurdles champion, Brown advanced to the women’s 400m hurdles final after finishing second in Heat 1 of the semifinals on Friday with a time of 55.70 seconds. She ran a time of 55.47 seconds in the first round of the 400m hurdles, placing second in her heat and earning an automatic qualification to the semifinals.
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to run from August 3-21 in Brazil. The Olympics will be broadcast on NBC and its family of networks.
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