Atherley Wins High Jump at ACC Championships
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Michelle Atherley missed the 2017 ACC Outdoor Championships, so she wasted little time announcing her arrival at this year’s conference meet.
The junior earned a gold medal in the women’s high jump, posting an outdoor best mark of 1.74m to win the conference title and score 10 points for the Canes. Atherley cleared the bar on her third attempt, vaulting from fifth to first place, while Celine Thompson added a silver medal in the women’s high jump, clearing 1.69m to finish second behind her teammate.
“The high jump was a competition that really fell in our favor,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “The high jump has been a very strong event for the conference, but today it really worked in our favor with Michelle and Celine. I was really proud of them and the way they handled themselves.”
While Atherley’s gold medal-winning performance capped an outstanding opening day of competition, she also made her mark earlier in the day in the women’s heptathlon. The junior closed out Day 1 of the heptathlon in first place with 3633 points.
“Coming off of my injury last year, I had to make this my comeback season,” Atherley said. “Coming into the ACC Championships, I wanted to build off of my first heptathlon a few weeks ago. I love my school and I love my track, so competing at home is a feeling like no other. There is the excitement and adrenaline of competing for that ACC title paired with a comfort and familiarity that comes with competing on your own turf. As always, there is plenty to improve on, but I am happy with my performance on the first day. I am seeing more consistency and really learning to have fun with competing these events.
“High jump was one event I felt I could have done a lot better and so coming back in the open competition, I really wanted to give it my all and leave it out there on the mat and I have to say I did,” Atherley said. “I am really looking g forward to watching my teammates compete and finishing out the rest of the weekend.”
Atherley won the women’s heptathlon 100m hurdles with a personal-best time of 13.05 seconds that is fifth in UM history. The sophomore finished second in the heptathlon high jump with a mark of 1.67m, was second in the shot put with a personal-best throw of 12.75m and closed out the day with a win in the 200m, posting a personal-best time of 23.93 seconds.
“Michelle started the day off great,” Deem said. “I spoke to the team last night and I told them I felt like we didn’t have that spark indoors. We had Shakima [Wimbley] last year and I just didn’t feel like we had that spark and then Michelle started the meet off with a 13.05 and that was a huge personal-best for her.”
Miami’s women also scored in the throws, as Debbie Ajagbe added three points with a sixth-place finish in the women’s hammer with a personal-best mark of 60.98m that ranks fourth in UM history.
“Debbie had a PR in the hammer,” Deem said. “It’s been great to see her progress this year and I’m excited to see her step up and PR as a freshman at the ACC meet.”
Kevin Arreaga was the first Hurricane to earn a medal at the ACC Championships, finishing second in the men’s hammer throw. The freshman’s mark of 68.90m secured a silver medal and eight points for the Hurricane men’s team score.
“Kevin is never satisfied,” Deem said. “He wants a PR in every meet, but to come as a freshman and get second is great. The guy at Virginia is awesome. He’s a great thrower, but Kevin is just going to keep getting better. I was very happy for him.”
Sean Grossman also scored for the Hurricane men, picking up a point in the 10,000m after finishing eighth with a time of 30:21.53.
“I’m proud of Sean to come into his last ACC meet and score and put himself in position to go to the first round of the NCAA Championships,” Deem said. “He’s put in a lot of hard work, so it’s good to see that hard work pay off.”
Andreas Christodoulou is in second place in the men’s decathlon with 3758 points after five events. Christodoulou opened the men’s decathlon with a time of 11.35 seconds in the 100m. The junior won the men’s decathlon long jump with a mark of 7.19m and posted a season-best of 12.19m in the shot put.Christodoulou finished fourth in the decathlon high jump with a personal-best mark of 1.94m and wrapped up the day with a time of 51.47 seconds to finish third in the 400m.
“Andreas had a great day in the decathlon,” Deem said. “We are looking for him to come back tomorrow and finish strong like he started.”
In addition to the success on the field, Miami had several student-athletes punch their tickets to finals on the track.
Anna Runia won Heat 1 of the women’s 400m hurdles prelims with a time of 57.98 seconds to earn a spot in Saturday’s final. Samantha Gonzalez won Heat 2 and advanced to the final in the 400m hurdles with a time of 58.25 seconds.
McKinly Brown earned a spot in the men’s 400m hurdles final after was second in Heat 1 of the men’s 400m hurdles with a time of 51.91 seconds that was fourth-fastest among all competitors.
Symone Mason leaned at the finish line and wins Heat 1 of the women’s 200m with a time of 23.41 seconds to earn a spot in Saturday’s final. Kristina Knott also earned a spot in the 200m final with a season-best time of 23.52 seconds.
“You always want more, but Anna and Samantha came out and did what they were supposed to do,” Deem said. “I was very extremely proud of KK’s performance today. She’s struggled and for her to come out as a senior in the middle of graduation to come out and just attack that 200, I really hope she has a great next two days. It was just so good to see because she’s been frustrated and she stayed with it and kept believing in herself and came out here and made the final. Hopefully she has a good 100 tomorrow, as well.”
Friday’s competition will begin with the final day of combined events action at 11 a.m., followed by the field events starting at 4 p.m. and the running events opening at 5:45 p.m. Championship Saturday is set to begin at noon with the men’s javelin, while the running finals will start at 5 p.m. with the women’s 4x100m.
Fans can watch the ACC Outdoor Championships on ACC Network Extra beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday by clicking HERE. Saturday’s broadcast begins at 6 p.m. ET and can be viewed HERE. Fans can also follow the meet via live results by clicking HERE.
Following this weekend’s action, qualifying Hurricanes will prepare to compete at the NCAA East Preliminary in Tampa, Fla., on May 24-26. To view the complete Miami Track and Field schedule for the 2018 season, click here.
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