@CanesTrack Wraps Up Hurricane Invitational
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami track and field program closed out the opening weekend of outdoor season with several impressive performances at the Hurricane Invitational.
The Canes earned four top five finishes in the relays on Saturday, led off by a second place performance in the women’s 4x100m relay. The quartet of Stefani Kerrison, Darlene Charles, Erin Ford and Trishelle Leacock combined for a time of 46.13 seconds.
The women’s 4x400m team of Anna Runia, Erin Ford, Amy Taintor and Anthonia Moore finished second with a time of 3:45.11.
Miami’s 4x400m team of Breon Mullings, Henri Delauze, Myles Valentine and Ibrahim Dodo finished second with a time of 3:11.40, while the quartet of McKinly Brown, Brandon Taylor, Isaiah Taylor and Michael Taylor placed fourth with a time of 3:18.55.
“I was really pleased on the men’s sprints side,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “We decided to just take a step back and just work on their strength this weekend and I thought they competed hard in the 4×4. We took a week to train and get stronger and get ready for their events. A lot of people ran off events this week and ran well.”
Anne Den Otter earned a victory in the women’s 1500m, as the sophomore finished atop the field of 29 with a time of 4:35.61.
The Canes had three women finish in the top 10 of the women’s 200m, led by Ford in third place with a time of 24.32 seconds. Runia was fourth with a personal best time of 24.36 seconds, while Trishelle Leacock finished eighth with a time of 24.93 seconds.
Mullings won Heat 2 of the men’s 400m and finished fourth overall with a time of 47.75 seconds that ranks fifth all-time in UM history.
“We’ve challenged Breon,” Deem said. “He’s not a huge fan of indoor track, but there is indoor and outdoor in our season. I think he stepped up today and I look for him to have a better outdoor season and this is the first step in the right direction.”
The Canes also had a good day in the field events, with several student-athletes excelling in the jumps and throws.
Zakiya Rashid was third in the women’s discus with a personal best mark of 50.19m that ranks fourth in UM history. Sherry Lubin finished fifth in the women’s discus with a mark of 44.11m and was second in the women’s shot put with a mark of 14.14m.
Andreas Christodoulou won the men’s javelin with a mark of 57.14m. Christodoulou also finished eighth in the men’s discus with a throw of 38.18m.
Daniel Polinski was second in the men’s discus with a throw of 48.81m and fourth in the men’s shot put with a mark of 16.10m.
Taintor led a trio of Hurricanes in the top three of the women’s long jump with a personal best mark of 6.12m. Stefani Kerrison finished second with a mark of 5.93m, while Darlene Charles was third with a long jump of 5.81m.
Erika Voyzey was third in the women’s high jump with a mark of 1.70m that is tied for fifth in school history. Kyra Maryland and Celine Thompson tied for fifth place with marks of 1.60m. Tristan Schultheis was tied for fifth in the men’s high jump with a mark of 2.00m.
“I was really pleased with Zakiya and some of our field event kids,” Deem said. “It was nice to get outside and start to work on the discus and javelin. In that aspect, it was nice to see some of the events where some of the younger kids stepped up and got some things done. We’ve got to get better and got to work hard for next week. Our goal is to get better every week. I think we need to get a little more focused and really get ready to be a better team next week.”
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.
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