Track Ready for ACC Indoor Championships
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Miami track and field team will compete against fellow conference members at the 2017 ACC Indoor Championships.
The three-day meet will showcase the best track and field student-athletes in the ACC, competing Thursday through Saturday at the Loftus Sports Center on the University of Notre Dame campus. The 15th-ranked Miami’s women’s team enters the conference meet as the defending ACC indoor champion, while the Hurricane men will look to build off their successful performance from a year ago.
The Hurricane women are led by reigning ACC Women’s Indoor Track Most Outstanding Performer Shakima Wimbley. The national leader in the indoor 400m (51.28), Wimbley will look to defend her 2016 gold medal in the event. The senior superstar, who is a three-time defending ACC indoor champion in the 200m, has the opportunity to become the first woman in ACC history to win four consecutive 200m indoor titles.
Miami has three women ranked in the top three in the ACC in the 400m: Wimbley, sophomore Brittny Ellis (53.05) and senior Aiyanna Stiverne (53.39). Ebony Morrison, who was a silver medalist in the 60m hurdles a year ago, heads into her final ACC Indoor Championships as the top-ranked 60m hurdler with a time of 8.13 seconds.
The Hurricanes will also look to defend their gold medal in the women’s 4x400m relay. Miami currently leads the ACC and ranks fifth in the NCAA with a time of 3:31.88.
Miami could also get major contributions from newcomers Kristina Knott in the sprints, Michelle Atherley in the pentathlon and hurdles and Erika Voyzey in the high jump, as all three have nationally-ranked marks this season.
On the men’s side, the Hurricanes will look for big performances in the sprints. Miami has three of the top men’s 60m sprinters in the ACC: school record holder Myles Valentine (6.65) is second, while sophomore Isaiah Taylor (6.77) ranks seventh and freshman Brandon Taylor is ninth (6.79)
Junior Henri Delauze is looking to have a strong showing in the men’s 400m, as he enters the meet ranked fourth in the conference with a time of 47.42 seconds. Delauze is also a key component of Miami’s 4x400m relay that is ranked fourth in the ACC with a time of 3:12.10.
A pair of veteran throwers lead the Hurricanes in the field events, as 2016 silver medalist Carlos Mangum will look to earn another medal in his final ACC Indoor Championships. The senior currently sits third in the ACC in the weight throw at 21.22m, while junior Daniel Polinski is ranked seventh in the shot put at 17.10m.
Sophomore Andreas Christodoulou will look to earn his first ACC indoor heptathlon title after winning the men’s decathlon at the 2016 ACC Outdoor Championships. Freshman Tristan Schultheis also is looking for a big mark in the men’s high jump after opening his indoor season in early February.
ACC Network Extra will live stream action the final two days, with former Olympic decathlon gold medalist Dan O’Brien serving as color analyst, reprising the role he first filled at the 2015 ACC Outdoor Championships. He will be joined by veteran ESPN play-by-play announcer Shawn Kenney. Coverage will air from 3:30 p.m. through 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 24, and from noon until the meet’s conclusion (approximately 4 p.m.) on Saturday, February 25.
Following the ACC Indoor Championships, qualifying Hurricanes that rank in the top 16 in the NCAA in their events will travel to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas, on March 10-11. To view the complete Miami Track and Field schedule for the 2017 season, click here.
Miami Entries
Men
60m: Myles Valentine, Brandon Taylor, Isaiah Taylor
200m: Breon Mullings
400m: Henri Delauze, McKinly Brown, Ibrahim Dodo
800m: Tom Gassner, Luke Dublirer
3000m: Sean Grossman
5000m: Sean Grossman, Michael Miano
60m HH: McKinly Brown
4x400m: McKinly Brown, Henri Delauze, Breon Mullings, Ibrahim Dodo, Tom Gassner
High Jump: Tristan Schultheis
Long Jump: Andreas Christodoulou
Shot Put: Daniel Polinski
Weight Throw: Carlos Mangum
Heptathlon: Andreas Christodoulou
Women
60m: Carolyn Brown, Kristina Knott, Ebony Morrison
200m: Shakima Wimbley, Aiyanna Stiverne, Brittny Ellis, Carolyn Brown, Kristina Knott, Erin Ford
400m: Shakima Wimbley, Aiyanna Stiverne, Brittny Ellis, Anna Runia, Samantha Gonzalez
600m: Amy Taintor, Anne Den Otter
1 Mile: Anne Den Otter
3000m: Gabrielle Hesslau, Anne Den Otter
5000m: Gabrielle Hesslau
60m HH: Ebony Morrison, Michelle Atherley, Stefani Kerrison
4x400m: Shakima Wimbley, Aiyanna Stiverne, Brittny Ellis, Erin Ford, Amy Taintor, Samantha Gonzalez, Anna Runia
High Jump: Erika Voyzey, Amy Taintor, Celine Thompson
Pole Vault: Amanda Gale, Emily Gale
Long Jump: Amy Taintor, Stefani Kerrison, Darlene Charles, Kristina Knott
Triple Jump: Darlene Charles, Peyton Russell, Niara Hill
Shot Put: Sherry Lubin, Zakiya Rashid
Weight Throw: Karyna Armstrong, Zakiya Rashid, Sherry Lubin
Pentathlon: Michelle Atherley, Amy Taintor
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 @MiamiTrack on Twitter for specific news on UM track and field and cross country. The program is also on Instagram.
