Miami Women Win ACC Indoor Championship
BLACKSBURG, Va. – For the third time in four years, the University of Miami women are the ACC Indoor Champions.
The Canes sealed the deal on Saturday night when the 4x400m relay team won the event with a time of 3:32.75, a Championship record. The team made up of Symone Mason, Brittny Ellis, Kayla Johnson and Samantha Gonzalez scored the final 10 points for the Canes to go ahead of the Florida State Seminoles in second place. Saturday’s time ranks fourth in the UM record books.
“The 4×400 really took ownership of that race tonight with the way they ran, especially running by themselves like that,” UM head coach Amy Deem said. “They really stepped up tonight.”
Miami finished with 91 team points followed by FSU with 85 and Virginia Tech with 84.
“I’m extremely proud of the way our team stepped up today,” Deem said. “The throwers and sprinters/hurdlers really carried our team today with some impressive performances. Obviously I’m happy with winning the Championship, but I’m also really proud of Brittny and Kayla for putting themselves in position for Nationals.”
The ACC Indoor Pentathlon winner and the third-place finisher in the high jump, Michelle Atherley also finished fifth in the event. Atherley scored 22 overall points and 16 in the field to earn 2019 Track Indoor MVP accolades. She was also named the 2018 ACC Outdoor Track MVP.
The Miami women scored 66 points on the final day of competition and climbed four spots in order to win their third Indoor Championship in four years. The women have now won four ACC Championships in the same amount of years.
The Canes dug deep for the points after a tough Day 2 of competition. Selina Dantzler got the final day of competition rolling for the Canes as the freshman earned her first conference medal and finished third in the women’s shot put with a personal-best mark of 15.90m. The mark ranks fourth in UM history.
Sophomore Tiara McMinn took off in the 60m hurdles final as she blew past her competition, tying the NCAA’s second-fastest time of 7.95 seconds while setting a new personal best time. McMinn now boasts Miami’s top time in the event.
The women kept their hot streak alive on the track as the senior Ellis kept her momentum from the prelims and won the 400m with a time of 52.66. Senior Carolyn Brown registered a personal-best time of 7.32 seconds in the women’s 60m dash to take home the silver. Brown now holds the fifth-fastest time in program history.
Johnson gave the Canes eight points in the women’s 800m dash, with a new Miami record time of 2:05.21 and a second-place finish.
The men didn’t leave empty handed as newcomer Raheem Chambers not only broke the UM record in the 60 with his time of 6.62, but also earned second-place in a field of six FSU opponents. It took only three races for Chambers to break the school record.
The men’s 4x400m relay team gave the Seminoles a run for their money, pushing them in the final leg and finished second with a time of 3:12.04. McKinly Brown, Tyrees Moulton, Davonte Foster and Thomas Burns now hold the fourth-best time in Miami history. The men’s team finished 11th, scoring 28 points.
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