Canes Shine in Field Events on Day 2 at #ACCITF Championships
CLEMSON, S.C. – The University of Miami track and field program was led by several competitors in the field events on Friday at the 2018 ACC Indoor Championships.
Miami’s throwers and jumpers combined to score 16 points for the orange and green, with seven points coming in the throws and nine points in the jumps.
Kevin Arreaga’s first attempt in the men’s weight throw was measured at a personal-best 20.28m. His next throw was even better, coming in at 20.75m to set a new personal-best and put him at second all-time in Miami History. The big throw also earned Arreaga a bronze medal at his first ACC Indoor Championships and scored six points for the Hurricane men.
Zakiya Rashid added a point for Miami’s women, finishing eighth in the women’s weight throw with a mark of 19.27m.
Celine Thompson picked up five points for the Hurricane women, finishing fourth in the high jump with a personal-best mark of 1.72m. Erika Voyzey added four points for the women, finishing fifth in the high jump with a mark of 1.69m.
“I was proud of Celine,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “I thought the high jumpers did well and Kevin, in only his second meet, had a big throw and medaled. Considering this is only his second meet, I am excited for him. His future is bright”
In addition to the success in the field events, Miami saw four different student-athletes advance to the finals on the track.
On her birthday, Tiara McMinn won Heat 2 of the women’s 60m hurdles with a personal-best time of 8.22 seconds to advance to Saturday’s final. Michelle Atherley was third in Heat 2 with a season-best time of 8.37 seconds, finishing ninth overall and missing the final by one spot.
Myles Valentine won Heat 3 of the men’s 60m with a time of 6.73 seconds, earning a spot in Saturday’s final with the second-fastest qualifying time.
“Myles came in and took care of business and I think he is ready to put another good one on the track,” Deem said.
Alfreda Steele advanced to the women’s 200m final with a personal-best time of 23.51 that was third-fastest among qualifiers.
Kayla Johnson wins Heat 3 of the women’s 800m with a time of 2:06.80 and advances to Saturday’s final with the third-fastest time during preliminaries.
“I was excited for our freshmen,” Deem said. “Tiara had a big personal-best in the 60 hurdles and Kayla ran a gutsy race, but I think some of the other kids have got to feed off that.”
“We’ve just got to get better,” Deem said. “I feel like we’ve struggled all year to compete to the level that I know we are ready to compete at. I think we’ve got to get focused on getting better. It starts with the coaching staff. We’ve got to find ways to get them to compete like they’re practicing and to go out there with the confidence that they show in the warm-ups and in practice. We’re just not doing that right now.
Three seniors had solid performances in their final ACC Indoor Championship meet on Saturday.
Nathan Kuck won the men’s unseeded 5000m with a personal-best time of 14:23.45 that ranks second in UM history. Fellow senior Sean Grossman was seventh in the unseeded 5000m with a time of 14:53.33.
Amy Taintor reached the finals of the women’s long jump, finishing ninth with a mark of 5.87m.
“Our kids have got to go out there and run with confidence,” Deem said. “They can’t focus on whether they like indoor or not. The bottom line is we are a better team than we are showing and I’ve got to find a way to get them better. We will get better. We’re a much better team than we are showing this weekend, but we’ve just got to continue to get better and move forward.”
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 day, 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 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.
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.
