Ajagbe Named Field MVP and Shot Put Champion
By Ashleigh Young
HurricaneSports.com
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Debbie Ajagbe was heard from the other side of the track as the junior celebrated her second ACC title of the weekend in the women’s shot put.
Ajagbe’s lifetime best throw of 16.80m gave the Miami native her second gold medal of the weekend, which also earned her ACC Field MVP honors. The mark ranks third in Miami program history.
Ajagbe’s MVP honors makes it back-to-back field MVP honors for the women of Miami. Michelle Atherley won the award last year after taking the pentathlon and the third-place finish in the high jump.
“It was great to see Debbie put together a performance like that at the right moment,” director of Track and Field/Cross Country Amy Deem said. “She’s put in the effort and has trained hard and I’m really happy it all came together for her today.”
Freshman Hannah-Sophia Hall also made her way onto the podium in the shot put with a third-place finish at a personal best mark of 16.40m. The mark moved into fourth on Miami’s all-time list. Sherry Lubin also recorded a personal best mark of 16.15m, claiming the final spot on Miami’s top five list. The shot put squad scored a total of 21 points for the Canes’ women’s team.
Freshman Jacious Sears made her way onto the podium two times on Saturday. Sears earned her first medal in the 60m dash, finishing second with her time of 7.25 seconds, tying her personal best time. Minutes later, Sears finished third in the women’s 200m with her time of 23.68 seconds. Sears scored 14 team points.
“She had a great weekend and showed real composure, not even as a freshman, but as a competitor,” Deem said. “She was able to put together two great days and great performances for our team. They future looks bright right now.”
For the second year in a row, Raheem Chambers finished second in the 60m dash. The senior finished with a time of 6.61 seconds. Alfreda Steele and Amuru Patterson finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 60m dash. Steele finished at 7.28 seconds while Patterson crossed the line at 7.46 seconds.
Brittny Ellis added eight points to Miami’s team total with her second-place finish in the women’s 400. For the second consecutive race, Ellis ran a season-best time, finishing at 52.71 seconds.
“The goal is to win the meet of course, but I’m proud of the way she was able to put two performances together this weekend,” Deem said. “She trained hard and put two back-to-back season bests together and I hope it’s enough for NCAAs.”
Kayla Johnson added five more points with her fourth-place finish in the women’s 800m dash. Johnson ran a season best time of 2:06.35 minutes.
Miami’s women finished second overall in the team standings with 73 points, while the men finished 12th with 16 points.
