Track Prepares for Tiger Paw Invitational
CORAL GABLES, Fla. –Ā The Miami track and field team squares off against countless ACC opponents in its third indoor meet of the season at the Tiger Paw Invitational.
Returning to Clemson, S.C., for its second meet on the orange and purple track, Miami looks to improve times and marks and produce quality finishes in its final regular season meet.
Plenty of Canes saw success in their last outing in Clemson, including graduate student Alfreda Steele and freshman Oskars Bambals. Steele finished second in the womenās 60m dash with the then-seventh-fastest time in the NCAA at 7.26 seconds.
āThis weekend, I really just want to put my race together and execute everything Iāve been working on in practice,ā Steele said. āWhen I do that, Iām going to run a big PR and that is mostly what Iām looking forward to doing this weekend.ā
Making a return to the fast track before ACCs is an added bonus for one of Miamiās veteran student-athletes.
āItās a big advantage [running at Clemson again] because weāre competing here for the second time this indoor season and weāll be right back for conference competing a fast track at that,ā Steele said.
Bambals also saw success in his first meet on Clemsonās track, breaking into Miamiās all-time top five list in the menās 800m with his time of 1:51.02 At the time, the freshman produced the 21st-fastest time in the NCAA.
āI really just want to improve my results in every event and get up in the NCAA rankings to have a chance to go to nationals,ā Bambals said.
The Canes took home other wins while on the Tigersā home track with sophomores Taylor Wright winning the womenās high jump and Jacious Sears claiming the 200m event and finishing third in the 60m dash.
This weekendās meet will be a good test to see where the Canes rank among the conference as all but Florida State, Louisville and Notre Dame will be in competition for the two-day meet. Miami will make its way back to Clemson in just two weeks for the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships.
