Two Canes Advance to NCAA Outdoor Championships
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Shakima Wimbley and Aiyanna Stiverne punched their tickets to the 2017 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The Hurricane seniors became the first two members of Miami’s track and field team to secure spots in next month’s national championship meet, advancing to Eugene, Oregon in the women’s 400m.
Wimbley won Heat 3 of the women’s 400m with a time of 51.23 seconds, posting the fastest time out of all 24 competitors in the NCAA East Preliminary quarterfinals.
Stiverne earned her trip to Oregon when she won Heat 1 of the women’s 400m quarterfinal with a personal-best time of 52.00 seconds that ranks fifth all-time in UM history.
Brittny Ellis finished sixth in Heat 1 and 13th overall in the women’s 400m quarterfinals with a time of 52.46 seconds, but did not advance to Oregon in the 400m.
“The goal was to get three people in and unfortunately it wasn’t Brittny’s day,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “Aiyanna had a heck of a day. That was a great personal-best run for her and she ran very composed. Shakima worked on a couple things. I thought the way she ran from 330 to 400, some changes she made will really help her at NCAAs. Those were positives. Obviously, Brittny was a hit, but she will come back and give us a great leg on the relay tomorrow.”
In addition to the two moving on to Oregon, the Hurricanes had two women advance to the quarterfinals in the 100m hurdles, as Ebony Morrison and Stefani Kerrison each earned automatic qualifier spots after impressive first round runs. Morrison was second in Heat 4 with a time of 13.03 seconds, while Kerrison finished second in Heat 3 with a time of 13.36 seconds.
“I was pleased with the 100 hurdles,” Deem said. “I thought Ebony and Stefani both competed very well. The focus now is to get the hurdlers and relays through tomorrow.”
Anna Runia finished sixth in Heat 2 and 15th overall of the women’s 400m hurdles quarterfinals with a time of 58.38 seconds, but did not advance to the NCAA Championships.
Kristina Knott and Carolyn Brown represented the Hurricanes in the women’s 200m first round, with Knott finishing fourth in Heat 3 at 23.57 seconds and Brown placing sixth in Heat 3 at 23.77 seconds.
On the men’s side, Henri Delauze finished seventh in Heat 3 and 19th overall in the 400m quarterfinals with a time of 47.09 seconds. The junior did not advance to the NCAA Championships.
Miami also had two field event competitors in action on Friday. Zakiya Rashid finished with a mark of 49.48m in the women’s discus, while Erika Voyzey represented the Hurricanes in the women’s high jump.
On Saturday, Miami is set to have Darlene Charles and Niara Hill compete in the women’s triple jump at 6 p.m., as well as the women’s 4x100m relay, women’s 4x400m relay and men’s 4x400m relay.
The 2017 NCAA East Preliminary will be broadcast on SEC Network+ beginning Saturday at 6 p.m.
The qualifiers out of the East and West Preliminaries will compete in the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 7-10 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
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