Track Women Earn Team and Individual USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s track and field team was named a 2020 NCAA Division I Women’s Track and Field All-Academic Team as announced by the U.S Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Thursday.
Nine women from the Miami track and field team were also named All-Academic athletes after earning a 3.25 GPA or higher and finishing the indoor track & field season ranked in the top 96 in any championship individual event. Debbie Ajagbe, Molly Caudery, Brittny Ellis, Sherry Lubin, Amuru Patterson, Jacious Sears, Alfreda Steele, Celine Thompson and Taylor Wright joined 650 other athletes receiving individual distinction.
Ajagbe capped off her historic season earning ACC Indoor Championship Field MVP honors, was the shot put at weight throw ACC Indoor Championships Champion, ACC Women’s Field Athlete of the Year and was the ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year. The Miami native was set to compete at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in the weight throw after recording a program record mark of 22.55m and ranked No. 5 in the NCAA. She also boasts a 3.58 GPA in Mechanical Engineering.
Caudery’s 3.57 GPA in Physiology earned the England native’s first All-Academic honor. Caudery registered a top mark of 4.05m in pole vault during the 2020 season and also boasts Miami’s second-best mark in school history at 4.18m.
Ellis was one of 45 women to earn All-Academic honors who boasted a 4.0 GPA. Ellis recently earned the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, was one of two Miami women to be nominated for the NCAA Women of Year award and capped her historic career with the Canes earning a silver medal in the women’s 400m dash. Ellis is also a four-time ACC team champion.
Lubin capped her season ranked No. 35 nationally in the women’s shot put and finished fourth at the ACC Indoor Championships with a personal-best mark of 16.15m. She also earned a 3.3 GPA majoring in Psychology.
Patterson finished the season running a time of 7.46 seconds in the 60m dash at the ACC Indoor Championships, which ranked 36th nationally. The junior earned a 3.5 GPA studying Human and Social Development.
After a stellar freshman campaign, Sears concluded the school year with a 3.35 GPA in Human Resource Management. In her first conference meet, Sears scored 14 points for the Canes with a second-place finish in the 60m dash and a third-place finish in the 200m dash.
Steele also boasted a 4.0 GPA studying Liberal Arts and capped the season with a fourth-place finish at the ACC Indoor Championships with her time of 7.28 seconds. She highlighted the season running Miami’s third-fastest time in the 60m at 7.25 seconds, tied with Sears.
Thompson graduated from UM in May with a 3.37 GPA studying Exercise Physiology. She finished her final season with the Canes recording a personal-best mark of 1.75m early in the season at Texas Tech.
Wright opened up her season entering Miami’s top 5 marks in the high jump with a mark of 1.80m, which ranks No. 3. The freshman capped her season with the academic award and a 3.9 GPA studying Exercise Physiology.
