Seven Canes Advance to ACC Finals
By Ashleigh Young
HurricaneSports.com
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – On the second day of the ACC Indoor Championships, the Miami track and field program had seven student-athletes advance to the finals.
Junior Tiara McMinn was the first Cane to make it to a final as the Miami native ran the fastest 60m hurdles time at 8.08 seconds. McMinn is the defending 60m hurdles champion and will compete in her first final at 12:10 on Saturday.
McMinn also advanced to the 200m final, running the fourth-fastest time in the event with a personal best time at 23.83 seconds. Freshman Jacious Sears ran the second-fastest time of the day in the event at 23.67 seconds and will also advance to Saturday’s final.
Sears is the final Cane to advance to two finals, as the freshman ran Miami’s fastest 60m prelim time at 7.25 seconds. The time ranks as the third-fastest time in program history tied with teammate Alfreda Steele. Steele was the second Cane to advance to the 60m final with her time of 7.26 seconds, the fourth-fastest time in the event.
“I was really proud of our women’s sprinters today. I think they really stepped up, across the board, I think all had either season bests or lifetime bests,” director of Track and Field/Cross Country Amy Deem said. “The name of the game today is to advance, and they did. They don’t have a lot of experience on this track, [Jacious] and Tiara, and for them to go out there and do what they did was huge. I’m excited to see what they are going to do tomorrow.”
Amuru Patterson claimed a spot in the same final with her personal best time of 7.35 seconds.
Raheem Chambers was the fifth Cane to advance to a final as the senior ran the third-fastest 60m time at 6.63 seconds. Chambers entered the 60m prelim with the second-fastest time in the nation and will advance to the finals for the second year in a row.
“Raheem did what he needed to do in the first round and he’ll be ready to run a good race tomorrow,” Deem said. “It’s going to be a great competition in the men’s 60m.”
Senior Brittny Ellis will try to defend her 400m title on Saturday after qualifying with a season best time of 53.04 seconds. Ellis posted the fastest time of the day, edging out senior Janae Caldwell of Florida State.
“Brittny knows what it takes to run well on this track,” Deem said. “She has before and she did again tonight, so it was a good race for her.”
Kayla Johnson was the final Cane to advance to an event final, running the fastest 800m time at 2:06.48 minutes. Johnson won the race in dominating fashion, outrunning her nearest competitor by over one second.
“She’s been able to put a great 400 and a few 600s together this season, and to see her put a strong 800 up today was exciting to see,” Deem said. “Both her and Britt did what they needed to do today and I’m ready to see what they put together tomorrow.”
Darlene Charles just missed the women’s long jump final, finishing 10th in the event with an indoor personal best mark of 5.77m. Emma Langlois competed in her first ever indoor 5000m and finished with a time of 18:04.51.
Andrew Madden and Edward Wintergalen finished with personal bests time in their respective events. Madden finished the men’s mile in 4:21.59, while fellow freshman Justin Rittenhouse shed three seconds off his PR at 4:24.49. Wintergalen posted Miami’s fastest 400m time at 47.77.
Miami continues championship action Saturday with the men’s shot put and triple jump at 11 a.m., followed by the women’s pole vault and 60m hurdles.
