Canes Set to Compete at NCAA Indoor Championships
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Four individuals and the women’s 4x400m relay team will represent the University of Miami track and field team at the 2019 NCAA Indoor National Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
This year’s championship events will be available to live stream via ESPN3. Day 1 event streaming will begin at 6:30 p.m. with Day 2 coverage beginning 5 p.m. Live results of the events can be found here.
Senior Michelle Atherley will be the first Cane to compete as she opens up competition in the women’s pentathlon on Friday. Atherley currently leads the nation in the event after scoring 4,498 points at the ACC Indoor Championships, setting a conference championship record and a program record after sweeping all five events.
Atherley is scheduled to start with the 60m dash at noon followed by the high jump, shot put, long jump and conclude with the 800m set for 5:30. The North Port, Fla., native finished sixth in the event at last year’s NCAAs, scoring a season-best mark of 4,257 points.
Sophomore Tiara McMinn is the second Cane scheduled to compete on Friday as she enters the 60m hurdles currently tied for the second-fastest time in the nation with Janeek Brown of Arkansas. McMinn has continued to be a threat in the event as she’s bested previous personal records in every race this season. McMinn set a new personal-best time of 7.95 seconds to earn the gold medal at the ACC Championships, while breaking the program record along the way.
McMinn is scheduled to run in the prelims at 6:07 p.m. at the Birmingham Crossplex in heat 2, which includes Brown. The top two finishers in each event plus the next four best times will advance to the finals, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Senior Brittny Ellis will compete in the women’s 400m at 6:27 p.m.. Ellis enters the event after cruising to a first-place finish at ACCs with a time of 52.66 seconds. Ellis, who holds the 15th-best time in the nation, is the lone student-athlete representing the ACC in the event.
Sophomore Kayla Johnson will compete in the final individual event for Miami at 7:17 p.m. in the women’s 800m. Johnson crushed the program record at ACCs when she finished second with a time of 2:05.21, claiming her second UM record of the season.
Miami’s ninth-ranked 4x400m relay team is scheduled to compete in Saturday’s final at 6:40. The team made up of sophomore Symone Mason, Ellis, Johnson and senior Samantha Gonzalez climbed into the program’s Top 5 list in their last outing at ACCs, running a time of 3:32.75, which ranks fourth in Miami history. The relay team’s first-place finish helped the Canes win their third ACC Indoor Title in four years.
Miami will open up its outdoor season on March 15-16 when it hosts the Hurricane Invitational.
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