Atherley Breaks Heptathlon Program Record
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Michelle Atherley broke her previous Miami record in the heptathlon with the NCAA’s current third-best mark of the season.
Atherley closed out the final four events of the heptathlon to lead the ACC with the top mark of 6,100 points. The North Port, Fla., native began the day winning the long jump with a mark of 6.09m to total 877 points. She followed with a first-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 12.99m, followed by a mark of 35.10m in the javelin. Atherley closed out her day winning the 800m run with a time of 2:12.84 and 923 points.
Freshman Solomon Strader ran the fifth-fastest 400m dash time in Miami history, winning the event with a time of 46.58. Senior McKinly Brown ran a personal-best time and finished second with a time of 47.24.
Senior Xavier Coakley tied his personal-best time of 13.81 seconds, winning the men’s 110m hurdles.
Alfreda Steele won the women’s 200m dash with her time of 22.47, while fellow senior Asa Burke won both the men’s 100m (10.55) and the 200m (21.19).
The women’s 200m dash also saw freshmen Lauryn Harris finish seventh with a time of 24.28 and Blanca Hervas in ninth with her time of 24.46 seconds. Three Canes also competed in the 800m run as Sierra Oliveira posted the top time at 2:09.14, while Kennedy Brace and Natalie Varela crossed over at 2:14.96 and 2:16.86, respectively.
On the men’s side, Oskars Bambals finished second in the 800m with his time of 1:50.52 and Colin Wilson finished at 2:06.55.
Miami swept the 1500m as Emma Langlois finished first on the women’s side at 4:35.26, while Dillon Fields paced the men at 4:20.45.
Closing out the track events, Miami’s women of Jacious Sears, Kayla Johnson, Hervas and Brace won the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:39.58. The men’s team of Jalen Gordon, Ryler Gould, Khamal Stewart-Baynes and Raheem Chambers finished second at 3:20.44.
The women’s throws group dominated the day with first and second place finishes in the shot put. Selina Dantzler won the event with a mark of 15.60m, while Hannah Hall finished just behind her at 14.80m. The women’s discus also took the top four positions as Debbie Ajagbe finished first with a time of 53.85m. Kristina Rakocevic improved her No. 5 mark in Miami history, finishing second at 52.31m. Dantzler finished third at 49.63m and Hall finished just behind at 48.71m.
Russell Robinson and Kevin Snyder took the top finishes in the men’s triple jump with marks of 15.83m and 15.34m, respectively.
Miami returns to Gainesville, Fla., for the Tom Jones Invitational on April 16-17.
