@CanesTrack Wins Three ACC Women’s Indoor Awards
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami track and field program earned three ACC Women’s Indoor Track and Field Awards, as announced by the conference office on Friday.
Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem repeated as the ACC Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year, while Shakima Wimbley picked up the ACC Women’s Indoor Track Performer of the Year honor. Michelle Atherley was named ACC Women’s Field Performer of the Year in her first season in the conference.
“Shakima and Michelle had outstanding indoor season,” Deem said. “To watch them get better each week throughout the season and finish the season with their personal best marks at the NCAA Championships is what you want as a coach.”
Wimbley claimed the gold medal in women’s 400 meters at last weekend’s 2017 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, posting a world-leading time of 51.07. In the process, the senior bettered her own ACC record for the fourth time this season. Wimbley also anchored the Hurricanes’ 4×400 relay team, which earned first-team NCAA All-America honors with a seventh-place time of 3:31.85. Last month, Wimbley earned Most Valuable Women’s Track Performer honors at the ACC Indoor Championships for the second consecutive year after earning three gold medals while breaking her own record in the women’s 200 meters with a time of 22.83 and setting a then-new mark in the 400 meters of 51.20.
In addition to being named the ACC Freshman of the Year following both the 2014 Indoor and Outdoor seasons, Wimbley has captured the sport’s last two ACC Women’s Track Performer of the Year awards, having also been recognized at the end of the 2016 Outdoor season.
Atherley registered a school-record point total of 4,319 to place fourth in the women’s pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She opened the competition with a time of 8.21 seconds in the 60m hurdles, tying her personal best from the ACC Indoor Championships 60m hurdles final. The sophomore followed with a mark of 1.75m in the high jump and posted a personal-best 12.69m in the shot put. The North Point, Fla., native had a long jump of 5.67m and closed out the pentathlon with a time of 2:17.05 in the 800m to score five points for her team.
The strong performance was the second in two weeks for Atherley, who piled up a meet-record 4,281 score while earning the gold medal at the ACC Championships on Feb. 23.
Deem led her squad to the ACC Women’s Indoor Championship for the second consecutive year, as the Hurricanes finished with 113 points to withstand a strong challenge from second-place Clemson (98). Deem was named the South Region Women’s Coach of the Year, and Miami went on to a tie for eighth place at the NCAAs, keyed by Wimbley’s 400 gold medal, a strong relay team finish and Atherley’s fourth-place finish in the pentathlon.
The ACC Coach of the Year honor is the sixth overall for Deem, who was recognized twice in both 2005 and 2006 after the Hurricanes swept the women’s ACC indoor and outdoor title each of those years. Deem’s selection as 2017 ACC Coach of the Year gave the Miami women three of the league’s major awards for the Indoor Track and Field season.
Miami will be on its home track at Cobb Stadium in three of the first four weeks of the outdoor season, beginning with the Hurricane Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Canes will also host the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational on March 25 and the Hurricane Alumni Invitational on April 7-8.
Following this weekend’s action, the Canes are back in action at the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational on March 25. To view the complete Miami Track and Field schedule for the 2017 season, click here.
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.
