Young Canes Shine on Day 3 at ACC Indoor Championships
CLEMSON, S.C. – The two-time defending ACC indoor champion Miami women could not make it a three-peat on Saturday, but the Hurricanes learned they have a bright future ahead.
With Miami losing senior stars Shakima Wimbley, Aiyanna Stiverne and Ebony Morrison to graduation, it was no secret that a third consecutive ACC title would be especially difficult to attain.
“I knew it was going to be a tougher championship, but I feel like we are leaving our best throws, our best starts, our best attempts at everything in the warm-up,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “I’m of the belief that if you can do it in the warm-up, then you should be able to do it when the lights come on and I think that’s where we’ve got to get better. We’ve just got to trust ourselves, trust the coaches and get better.”
Deem did not use that an excuse heading into the meet, telling the team in a pre-meet meeting that they would need everyone to step up and contribute if they wanted to win another ring.
“I am disappointed in how we performed overall this weekend, but there are quite a few bright spots,” Deem said. “I feel like we’re a young team and if we use this in the right way as motivation it will be good. I’ve always felt this team is actually a better outdoor team. I think a lot of our athletes are right there. They’ve just got to take that next step, so we’ll go back and regroup and get ready for outdoor and I think you’ll see a completely different team.”
While Miami came up short, finishing tied for sixth with 48 points, the Hurricanes had five freshmen step up to score points on the final day of competition with three earning medals in their first ACC Indoor Championships.
“I am really excited about our freshmen,” Deem said. ” A lot of our freshmen scored in their first ACC Championships, so I am excited about that and I think we can build on that.”
Debbie Ajagbe got the scoring started for Miami, finishing sixth in the women’s shot put with a personal-best mark of 15.10m that added three points to the Hurricane women’s team score.
Tiara McMinn finished third in the women’s 60m hurdles final with a personal best time of 8.17 seconds, earning the freshman a bronze medal in her first ACC Indoor Championships. McMinn reached the final by running a then-personal-best time of 8.22 seconds to win Heat 2 of qualifying heats and automatically advance to the final.
“Tiara had a huge personal-best,” Deem said. “Right now, she is top 20 in the country as a freshman, so I am excited about that.”
Alfreda Steele was second in section 1 and finished fourth overall in the women’s 200m final with a personal-best time of 23.49 seconds. The freshman, who ran a then-personal-best time of 23.51 seconds to qualify for the final, scored five points for the Hurricane women.
Kayla Johnson also scored in her inaugural ACC Indoor Championships appearance, finishing seventh in the women’s 800m final with a time of 2:07.11 to pick up two points for Miami’s women.
Niara Hill added two points for Miami’s women, as the senior finished seventh in the women’s triple jump with an indoor-best mark of 12.54m.
The Canes closed out the meet with a bronze medal in the women’s 4x400m. Johnson anchored a relay that was led off by freshman Symone Mason followed by juniors Michelle Atherley and Anna Runia to win section 3 and finish third overall with a season-best time of 3:35.23.
“I’m really excited about where we will go on the women’s relay,” Deem said. “I saw some really good things there today, but I know we are better than that.”
Gian Piero Ragonesi led the Hurricane men on Saturday, earning a bronze medal in the shot put with a throw of 18.28m. On his final throw, the senior secured his third place finish and scored six points for the Miami men.
“I’m happy for Gian,” Deem said. “I know he always wants to throw further, but it was a good performance by him to get the bronze.”
Myles Valentine finished fourth in the men’s 60m final with a time of 6.72 seconds. Valentine, who entered the final with the third-fastest qualifying time, scored five points for the Miami men.
Senior Sean Grossman made the most of his final race at the ACC Indoor Championships, finishing sixth in section 1 and 14th overall in the men’s 3000m with a personal-best time of 8:20.35 that shattered his own school record by five seconds. Fellow senior Nathan Kuck was 17th in section 1 and 32nd overall with a personal-best time of 8:36.73.
Miami’s men closed out the meet with a season-best time in the 4x400m. McKinly Brown, Henri Delauze, Jaalen Jones and Ibrahim Dodo combined to finish third in section 2 and fifth overall in the men’s 4x400m relay with a season-best time of 3:11.35 that ranks third all-time in UM history.
“I am happy for them,” Deem said. “It’s always good to finish out the season with personal-bests. To finish both relays on a positive, I think was great. I’m frustrated because I don’t think we competed to the best of our abilities this weekend, but I’m also excited because I think we have the opportunity to be a very good outdoor team.”
The Hurricane men finished 12th overall with 21 points.
Click HERE for the final meet results from the 2018 ACC Indoor Championships.
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.
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