Canes Shine at NACAC U23 Championships
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Shakima WImbley and Ebony Morrison earned gold medals as part of Team USA at the 2016 NACAC U23 Championships.
The two University of Miami track and field standouts were in action at the IX NACAC U23 Championships in El Salvador. Wimbley competed in the women’s 400m and the 4x400m relay, while Morrison ran in the women’s 100m hurdles and on the USA’s 4x100m relay.
Wimbley earned a gold medal in the 4x400m relay, anchoring the United States’ relay team to victory with a time of 3:28.45 on Sunday. The rising senior had a busy weekend in El Salvador, opening competition Friday in the women’s 400m preliminaries. A First Team All-American in the event in 2016, Wimbley won Heat 1 of the 400m with a time of 52.24 seconds to earn an automatic qualification into Saturday’s final. She placed sixth in the 400m final, running a time of 54.71 seconds while battling a cramp.
Morrison also came home with a gold medal, running the anchor leg on Team USA’s 4x100m relay team that set a NACAC U23 record with a time of 42.93 seconds. The rising senior competed on Miami’s 2016 4x100m relay that earned Second Team All-America honors at the 2016 NCAA Championships and she was also a Second Team All-American in the 100m hurdles, an event she excelled in at the 2016 NACAC U23 Championships. Morrison finished second in Heat 1 of the 100m hurdles preliminaries with a time of 13.16 seconds to advance to the finals. The Miami native placed fifth overall in the final with a time of 13.32 seconds.
Wimbley and Morrison helped the United States dominate the medal count at the NACAC U23 Championships. Team USA brought home 62 total medals, including 25 gold, 26 silver and 11 bronze. The IX NACA U23 Championships were held at Jorge “El Magico” Gonzalez National Stadium in San Salvador.
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