Track Opens NCAA Outdoor Championships Wednesday
EUGENE, Ore. – Eight members of the University of Miami track and field program will battle against the best collegiate track and field athletes in Division I at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships beginning Wednesday.
The Hurricanes 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 on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Ore.
The NCAA Outdoor Championships will be broadcasted live across the ESPN family of networks. You can watch the action on Wednesday beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN 2, Thursday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN 2, Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and on Saturday beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The entire meet, including event-specific streams, will be available on ESPN3and the Watch ESPN app. Fans can also follow the Hurricanes in action via live results by clicking HERE.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6 – MEN’S SEMIFINALS
Kevin Arreaga will kick off the competition for the Canes, competing in the men’s hammer throw. The freshman was the first Hurricane male to earn a trip to the 2018 national meet, qualifying in the men’s hammer throw. 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. Arreaga will throw ninth in Flight 1 of 2, beginning at 5 p.m. ET.
THURSDAY, JUNE 7 – WOMEN’S SEMIFINALS
The Hurricanes have four entries on Day 2 of the NCAA Outdoor Championships and each runner will look to earn a spot in Saturday’s final.
Tiara McMinn will be the first Cane in action, running in the women’s 100m hurdles semifinals. A Miami native, McMinn earned bronze in the women’s 100m hurdles at the ACC Championships and was seventh overall in the East Preliminary with a personal-best time of 13.24 seconds. The freshmanenters the NCAA Championships with the 16th-fastest seed time and is set to run out of Lane 8 in Heat 2 of 3 beginning at 8:02 p.m. ET.
The Canes have two entries in the women’s 400m hurdles at 9 p.m. ET, as 2018 ACC champion Samantha Gonzalez and 2017 ACC champion Anna Runia are among the 24 competitors in the field in Oregon this week. Runia was an automatic qualifier out of the NCAA East Preliminary, 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. Gonzalez is seeded 11thand will run out of Lane 6 in Heat 1 of 3, while Runia enters the NCAA meet as the eighth seed and is set to race out of Lane 7 in Heat 3.
The Hurricanes’ final entry on Thursday is in the women’s 4x400m relay, scheduled for 10:18 p.m. ET. The quartet of Symone Mason, Runia, Michelle Atherley and Gonzalez combined to finish third in Heat 2 at the NCAA East Preliminary with a time of 3:34.67. The ACC champion Hurricanes, who also have freshman Alfreda Steele in the relay pool, ran the 10th-fastest time at the NCAA East Preliminary and enter the meet as the 17thseed. Miami is set to race out of Lane 2 in Heat 3 of the women’s 4x400m semifinals.
Advancing individuals and relay teams will move on to Saturday’s finals, where they will compete for the national championship in their respective events.
FRIDAY, JUNE 8 – MEN’S FINALS & WOMEN’S HEPTATHLON DAY 1
Michelle Atherley will open competition in the women’s heptathlon Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET, kicking off two days of multi-event action for the junior. A native of 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.
Gian Piero Ragonesi is the next Cane set to compete on Friday, as the senior will throw fifth in Flight 1 of 2 of the men’s discus beginning at 8:05 p.m. ET. Ragonesi earned a bronze medal in the discus at the ACC Championships and posted a mark of 54.56m to secure one of the 12 qualifying spots from the East Preliminary. The senior enters the NCAA Championships seeded 20th, but has a season-best mark of 58.33m that was 18thin the NCAA this season.
SATURDAY, JUNE 9 – WOMEN’S FINALS & WOMEN’S HEPTATHLON DAY 2
Atherley is back for the final three events of the heptathlon, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET with the long jump. The junior will follow that with the javelin and conclude the heptathlon with the 800m at 8:13 p.m. ET.
Debbie Ajagbe will wrap up her inaugural collegiate season in the women’s discus at 6:05 p.m. ET. The Miami native, who qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary in the shot put, discus and hammer, is one of five freshmen in the women’s discus field at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Ajagbefinished ninth in the discus at the NCAA East Preliminary with a throw of 52.82m and she enters the meet seeded 21st, while her personal-best mark of 55.07m was 22ndin the NCAA this year.
In addition to Atherley and Ajagbe, the Canes could have competitors in the women’s 100m hurdles final at 7:12 p.m. ET, the 400m hurdles final at 7:57 p.m. ET and the 4x400m relay final at 8:51 p.m. ET.
At the conclusion of the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the top eight finishers in each event will be named First Team All-American, while finishers 9-16 earn Second Team All-America honors and 17-24 receive All-America honorable mention.
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.
