Track Ready for ACC Indoor Championships
CLEMSON, S.C. – The University of Miami track and field team will compete against fellow conference members at the 2018 ACC Indoor Championships.
The three-day meet will showcase the best track and field student-athletes in the ACC, competing Thursday through Saturday at the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex on the Clemson University campus. Miami’s women’s team enters the conference meet as the two-time defending ACC indoor champion, while the Hurricane men will look to put on a strong performance two weeks after competing at Clemson.
Defending ACC pentathlon champion Michelle Atherley and fellow All-ACC performer Amy Taintor will kick off the action for the Canes on Thursday in the women’s pentathlon. Atherley and Taintor enter this weekend’s conference meet with the top two pentathlon scores in the ACC this season.
Miami features several standout sprinters that will hit the track this weekend. Redshirt freshman Alfreda Steele enters the conference championships ranked second in the ACC in the 200m and sixth in the 60m, while true freshman Kayla Johnson is seventh in the 400m and third in the 800m. Junior Samantha Gonzalez is also in the top 10 400m runners, ranked ninth, while freshman Tiara McMinn sits fifth in the women’s 60m hurdles.
The Canes also have several talented athletes in the field events beyond Atherley and Taintor. Erika Voyzey enters the ACC Indoor Championships ranked third in the ACC in the high jump, while Atherley sits sixth in the same event. Taintor heads to ACCs with the ninth-best mark in the conference in the long jump, while Darlene Charles is ranked 10th in the triple jump. Freshman Debbie Ajagbe is ranked ninth in the shot put and 10th in the weight throw, while Zakiya Rashid is seventh in the weight throw.
The Hurricane men are poised to make some noise at Clemson, as Myles Valentine (fourth), Isaiah Taylor (eighth) and Brandon Taylor (13th) are among the top sprinters in the 60m. Henri Delauze is a senior that was fourth in the 400m at the ACC Indoor Championships and will look to improve on that performance this year, while seniors Sean Grossman (15th) and Nathan Kuck (19th) are among the top runners in the 5000m.
Miami has talented men in the field events, as freshman jumper Hasani Knight is eight in the triple jump and 20th in the long jump. Senior Gian Piero Ragonesi leads a gifted group of throwers entering the ACC meet, as the veteran is ranked second in the shot put and eighth in the weight throw. Freshman Kevin Arreaga is fourth in the conference in the weight throw and freshman Michael Holdship is 15th in the same event giving Miami a trio of the conference’s top throwers.
The first Canes in action begin Thursday at noon with the women’s pentathlon. Competition kicks off Friday at 10:30 a.m., with the men’s high jump and the running events start at 1 p.m. with the women’s unseeded 5000m. Championship Saturday begins at 10:30 a.m. with the men’s triple jump and women’s shot put, while the women’s 60m hurdles final begins the running events at noon.
Click HERE for live results of all the action at the ACC Indoor Championships. The complete meet schedule is available HERE.
ACC Network Extra will live stream action the final two days, with former Olympic decathlon gold medalist Dan O’Brien serving as color analyst and working with veteran ESPN play-by-play announcer Shawn Kenney and sideline reporter Hanna Yates. Coverage will air from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Friday and from noon until the meet’s conclusion on Saturday.
Following this weekend’s action at Clemson, qualifying Hurricanes that rank in the top 16 in the NCAA in their events will travel to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas, on March 9-10. To view the complete Miami Track and Field schedule for the 2018 season, click here.
Miami Entries
Men
60m: Myles Valentine, Isaiah Taylor, Brandon Taylor
200m: Ibrahim Dodo
400m: Henri Delauze, McKinly Brown
One MIle: Sean Hagert
3000m: Sean Grossman, Nathan Kuck
5000m: Sean Grossman, Nathan Kuck, Adam George
4x400m: Myles Valentine, Brandon Taylor, Ibrahim Dodo, Henri Delauze, Jaalen Jones, McKinly Brown
Long Jump: Hasani Knight
Triple Jump: Hasani Knight
Shot Put: Gian Piero Ragonesi
Weight Throw: Michael Holdship, Kevin Arreaga, Gian Piero Ragonesi
Women
60m: Symone Mason, Alfreda Steele, Carolyn Brown, Kristina Knott
200m: Symone Mason, Alfreda Steele, Carolyn Brown, Erin Ford
400m: Anna Runia, Samantha Gonzalez
800m: Kayla Johnson
One Mile: Anne den Otter
3000m: Anne den Otter
60m HH: Tiara McMinn, Michelle Atherley, Stefani Kerrison
4x400m: Samantha Gonzalez, Tiara McMinn, Anna Runia, Kayla Johnson, Symone Mason, Michelle Atherley
High Jump: Tiara McMinn, Erika Voyzey, Michelle Atherley, Celine Thompson
Long Jump: Amy Taintor, Darlene Charles, Stefani Kerrison
Triple Jump: Darlene Charles, Niara Hill, Peyton Russell
Shot Put: Debbie Ajagbe, Sherry Lubin, Zakiya Rashid
Weight Throw: Zakiya Rashid, Debbie Ajagbe, Sherry Lubin
Pentathlon: Michelle Atherley, Amy Taintor
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.
