Miami Track Ready for NCAA Outdoor Championships
EUGENE, Ore. – NCAA champion Shakima Wimbley headlines a group of nine student-athletes representing the Hurricanes at the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
In addition to Wimbley, seniors Ebony Morrison and Aiyanna Stiverne, junior Kristina Knott and sophomores Carolyn Brown, Brittny Ellis, Erin Ford, Samantha Gonzalez and Anna Runia are ready to compete at the national meet that runs June 7-10 at Historic Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.
The action for the Hurricanes begins on Thursday with the women’s semifinal round. Miami has entries in the women’s 400 meters, women’s 100 meter hurdles and both the women’s 4×100 and 4x400m relays.
The Canes will kick off the track competition with the women’s 4x100m relay semifinal, scheduled for 7:32 p.m., ET. Miami enters the meet as the ninth-fastest team in the country this season with a time of 43.36 seconds. The quartet of Brown, Wimbley, Stiverne and Knott defended Miami’s title at the 2017 ACC Championships, setting conference, ACC Championship and school records in the process. Miami will race out of Lane 7 in Heat 1.
Morrison is next on the track, competing in the women’s 100m hurdles semifinals at 8:32 p.m., ET. The standout senior is back in Eugene for the second straight year as a Hurricane and Morrison enters the meet ranked 10th with a time of 12.96 seconds. A Second Team All-American a year ago in the 100m hurdles, Morrison will race out of Lane 4 in Heat 2 of Thursday’s semifinals.
Wimbley and Stiverne give the Canes a pair of competitors in the women’s 400m semifinals, scheduled for 9 p.m., ET.
Wimbley, who was the 2017 NCAA indoor 400m champion with a world-leading time of 51.07 seconds, will race out of Lane 4 in Heat 2. The 2017 USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year and Bowerman Award Watch List honoree enters the meet with an NCAA-leading time of 50.40 seconds that is the eighth-best time in the 400 meters all-time.
Stiverne is slated to run out of Lane 5 in Heat 3 and the senior will look to continue her success after running a season-best time of 52.00 seconds in the 400m at the NCAA East Preliminary. The 2017 ACC women’s 400m bronze medalist enters the meet ranked 12th in the country in the event.
The women’s 4x400m relay is the final event scheduled for Thursday’s competition, beginning at 10:48 p.m. ET. The two-time defending ACC champion Hurricanes are slated to race out of Lane 6 in Heat 2 of the semifinals. Miami’s relay team of Runia, Ellis, Stiverne and Wimbley is the fifth-fastest team in the NCAA this season with a time of 3:27.87.
Advancing individuals and relay teams will move on to Saturday’s finals, where they will compete for the national championship in their respective events.
The NCAA Outdoor Championships will be broadcasted live across the ESPN family of networks. You can watch the Hurricanes Thursday beginning at 7:30 p.m., ET on ESPN 2 and on Saturday beginning at 6:30 p.m., ET on ESPN. The entire meet will be available on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN app.
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 @CanesTrack on Twitter for specific news on UM track and field and cross country. The program is also on Instagram.
