Hurdles, Throws and Distance Lead Canes in Texas and Virginia
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami track and field team had a solid showing this weekend, competing at the Michael Johnson Invitational and Virginia Challenge.
Miami’s women’s 4x100m relay team of Carolyn Brown, Kristina Knott, Aiyanna Stiverne and Shakima Wimbley opened the evening running session with a victory, posting a time of 45.28 seconds.
Ebony Morrison also came away with a win, running a time of 13.01 seconds in the women’s 100m hurdles. Stefani Kerrison finished third with a time of 13.60 seconds.
“We had a few solid performances, but overall we did not execute very well,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “Ebony winning the hurdles and the performances of our men’s and women’s throwers highlighted the day.”
Knott was sixth overall in the women’s 100m with a time of 11.58 seconds, while Brown finished ninth with a time of 11.70 seconds.
Isaiah Taylor was the runner up in heat 5 and finished sixth overall in the afternoon section of the men’s 100m dash with a time of 10.56 seconds, while Brandon Taylor won Heat 4 and was seventh overall in the men’s 100m afternoon section with a time of 10.60 seconds.
The Canes had a trio of women finish in the top 10 of the 400m, led by Wimbley’s third place finish with a time of 53.46 seconds. Brittny Ellis was fourth with a time of 53.46 seconds, while Aiyanna Stiverne was sixth with a time of 54.97 seconds.
Anna Runia was third overall in the women’s 400m hurdles with a time of 59.58 seconds, while Samantha Gonzalez finished 11th with a time of 1:04.11. Ibrahim Dodo was eighth in the afternoon section of the men’s 400m hurdles with a time of 55.26 seconds.
Trishelle Leacock was 12th overall in the women’s 200m with a time of 24.94 seconds.
Anne Den Otter finished second in the afternoon section and 14th overall in the women’s 800m run with a personal-best time of 2:16.27. Sean Hagert was the top Hurricane in the men’s 5000m with a time of 15:26.58.
Miami also had several standouts in the field events, as the Canes had a pair of women finish in the top three in the long jump. Amy Taintor and Kerrison finished second and third, respectively, with marks of 5.92m.
Carlos Mangum finished second in the men’s hammer throw with a mark of 65.09m, while Karyna Armstrong led the Hurricane women in the hammer throw with a mark of 50.81m.
Daniel Polinski was third in the men’s shot put with a mark of 16.88m, while Zakiya Rashid finished seventh in the women’s shot put with a throw of 14.47m. Rashid also was second in the women’s discus with a throw of 52.90m.
Kyra Maryland led Miami in the women’s high jump with a mark of 1.67m, finishing eighth overall, while Emily Gale finished ninth in the women’s pole vault with a mark of 3.91m.
“We were focused and sharp yesterday in practice, but today we let the adverse conditions affect our performances,” Deem said. “Something I definitely need to correct if we are going to be successful at ACCs and NCAAs.”
Record-setting Runs at Virginia Challenge
On Friday night, Gabrielle Hesslau cemented her name into the Miami record books. The senior placed seventh in the women’s 10,000m at the Virginia Challenge with a personal-best time of 35:00.31 that broke her own school record. Hesslau shaved 1:13 off her previous personal best, running the ninth-fastest 10,000m time in the ACC this season.
Saturday night was Sean Grossman’s time to shine at the Virginia Challenge and the junior did not disappoint, placing ninth in the men’s 10,000m with a school record time of 30:09.58.
“The last few months have all been to get myself ready for this race, so I’m really happy to see it all pan out,” Grossman said. “I was able to run a big PR that will set me up really well for conference in a few weeks.”
Grossman improved off his previous personal best 10,000m by over two minutes, breaking Matt Mulvaney’s previous school record time of 30:29.44 that was set on March 26, 2004.
“I am really excited for Sean and Gabby,” Deem said. “They have had great outdoor season and continue to get better each week. They’ve really put themselves in position to have a good ACC Championships in a few weeks.”
Miami distance coach Damon Griffiths is excited to see his top distance runners excel in their longest race of the season to date.
“I can’t be any prouder of how they competed this weekend,” Griffiths said. “Coming in, we had goals of attaining marks that could qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary and I feel confident they did that.”
Following this weekend’s action, the Canes will travel to Gainesville, Fla., to compete at the Tom Jones Invitational. To view the complete Miami track and field schedule for the 2017 season, click here.
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