Eight Canes on Path to NCAA Outdoor Championships
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Another June brings another trip to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the Miami Hurricanes.
The Canes have eight entries in the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held June 6-9 at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., and each took a unique path to the national meet.
Michelle Atherley was the first Hurricane to secure a spot in Oregon, qualifying in the women’s heptathlon. A junior from North Port, Fla., Atherley was the ACC women’s heptathlon champion and earned ACC Women’s Field MVP after an incredible performance at the 2018 ACC Outdoor Championships that included individual titles in the heptathlon and high jump, as well as scoring in the 100m hurdles and helping win the 4x400m relay. The school record-holder in the heptathlon, Atherley enters the NCAA Outdoor Championships ranked No. 11 in the women’s heptathlon with a score of 5,816 points.
While Atherley knew she was headed to the national meet, the rest of her Hurricane teammates had to secure their trip to Oregon through their performance at the NCAA East Preliminary. Miami added seven qualifiers last weekend in Tampa, Fla., rounding out the Canes’ eight entries with six on the women’s side and two in the men’s competition.
Kevin Arreaga was the first Hurricane male to earn a trip to the 2018 national meet, qualifying in the men’s hammer throw. The freshman was the opening Cane in action at the NCAA East Preliminary andfinished eighth overall in the men’s hammer to claim one of the 12 qualifying spots from the East Preliminary. The Madrid native and ACC silver medalist enters the meet as the 11thseed with a mark of 68.53m, but has a school record mark of 70.64m that was 12th-best overall in the NCAA this season.
Gian Piero Ragonesi was the next Cane to earn a trip to Eugene, qualifying in the men’s discus on May 25 and becoming the first of four Hurricanes to advance to Oregon on that day. The senior, who earned a bronze medal in the discus at the ACC Championships, posted a mark of 54.56m to secure one of the 12 qualifying spots from the East Preliminary and enters the NCAA Championships seeded 20th.
A pair of Canes earned a trip to the NCAA Championships in the women’s 400m hurdles, as 2018 ACC champion Samantha Gonzalez and 2017 ACC champion Anna Runia were among the 12 advancing from the East Preliminary. Runia was an automatic qualifier, finishing third in her heat with a time of 57.04 seconds, while Gonzalez’s second-place finish in her heat with a time of 57.18 seconds secured her place in the field at the national championships. Runia enters the NCAA meet as the eighth seed, while Gonzalez is seeded 11th.
Debbie Ajagbe, who qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary in the shot put, discus and hammer, battled both the elements and her competitors in Tampa. Inclement weather delayed the start of the third flight in the women’s discus, but that would not stop the freshman from finished ninth with a throw of 52.82m. Ajagbe is one of five freshmen in the women’s discus field at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships and she enters the meet seeded 21st.
Tiara McMinn became the third Miami freshman to qualify for the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships when she advanced to nationals in the women’s 100m hurdles. A Miami native, McMinn was seventh overall in the East Preliminary with a personal-best time of 13.24 seconds and enters the NCAA Championships with the 16th-fastest seed time.
The Hurricanes’ final entry in the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships came in the women’s 4x400m relay, as Symone Mason, Runia, Atherley and Gonzalez combined to finish third in Heat 2 with a time of 3:34.67. The ACC champion Hurricanes earned an automatic qualifying spot to the NCAA Championships, running the 10th-fastest time at the NCAA East Preliminary and enter the meet as the 17thseed.
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