Canes Wrap Up Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge
LOS ANGELES – Hall of fame coach Amy Deem led the University of Miami track and field program at the inaugural Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge Saturday at USC.
In a meet featuring the five Power 5 programs led by female head coaches, it was fitting to see the Hurricanes have a strong showing in the hurdles, as Deem has earned the reputation as a world-class hurdles coach.
McKinly Brown won the men’s 400m hurdles with a personal-best time of 51.52 seconds that ranks third in school history.
“I thought the hurdlers did a good job today,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “I was proud of McKinly, but I feel like we didn’t do a great job of building on last week overall as a group.”
Tiara McMinn won the women’s 400m hurdles with a time of 59.99, while Samantha Gonzalez finished second with a time of 1:00.76.
“Tiara ran a solid race,” Deem said. “It was a lifetime-best, but I still think she can put herself in the mix a little bit better. Part of being a freshman is you really have to get them to put themselves in the race a little more. That’s what I have to do a better job of just getting her to have the confidence to put herself in the mix.”
McMinn also finished fourth in the women’s 110m hurdles with a time of 13.43 seconds, while Michelle Atherley placed seventh at 13.82 seconds.
Kayla Johnson was second in the women’s 800m with a time of 2:06.29, while Alfreda Steele finished third overall in the women’s 200m with a time of 23.39 seconds.
The Hurricanes finished fourth in the men’s 4x100m relay, as Isaiah Taylor, Myles Valentine, Breon Mullings and Jaalen Jones combine to run a season-best time of 40.63 seconds.
McKinly Brown, Myles Valentine, Jaalen Jones and Breon Mullings team up to finish third in the men’s 4x400m relay with a season-best time of 3:11.74.
Kayla Johnson, Samantha Gonzalez, Michelle Atherley and Tiara McMinn combined to run a time of 3:41.07 and place fifth in the women’s 4x400m.
“I really wish that the team could come out and compete like we did in the discus and the hammer yesterday. We did really well there and has some really big PRs. I don’t know if we are looking ahead, but we didn’t compete on the track today like I know we can compete.”
Miami had a solid day in the field events, as the Hurricanes posted impressive marks in both the jumps and the throws.
Gian Piero Ragonesi finished fourth in the men’s shot put with a season-best mark of 18.49m, while Debbie Ajagbe was fourth in the women’s shot put with a personal-best mark of 14.98m and Zakiya Rashid was sixth with a mark of 14.61m.
Erika Voyzey finished second in the women’s high jump with a mark of 1.73m, while Celine Thompson was fifth (1.63m) and Kyra Maryland placed eighth (1.58m). Tristan Schultheis placed fourth in the men’s high jump with a personal-best mark of 2.06m that is tied for fifth all-time in school history.
Niara Hill led the Hurricanes in the women’s triple jump, finishing third with a season-best mark of 12.47m. Darlene Charles was fourth with a season-best jump of 12.09m, while Peyton Russell was sixth with a season-best mark of 11.98m.
Amy Taintor finished seventh in the women’s long jump with a mark of 5.74m.
The Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge is a two-day scored meet featuring the only five Power 5 track and field programs in NCAA Division I that have a female head coach: Miami, Tennessee, Ohio State, Ole Miss and the host USC Trojans.
Fans can follow the meet via live results by clicking HERE or watch a live stream by clicking HERE.
Following this weekend’s action, the Hurricanes will travel to Gainesville, Fla., to compete at the Florida Relays from March 29-31. To view the complete Miami Track and Field schedule for the 2018 season, click here.
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