It was a celebratory weekend at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational, as the Miami Hurricanes track team excelled in their last home meet of the season.
It was senior night for 13 seniors, each of whom received a framed Miami track jersey.
On the men’s side, the graduates included sprinter Christian Cook, jumper Innocent Jacob and distance runner AJ Ricketts.
For the women, 10 athletes were recognized for their successes during their UM careers. They were hurdlers Kelsey Balkwill and Kayann Richards; middle distance runner Taneisha Cordell; distance runners Ally Finical and Julia Koch; sprinters Jokira Jiles and Shannon Wright; and thrower Lea Johnson.
On Friday, it was Johnson who led the Canes. Johnson won the women’s hammer throw with a distance of 58.61m. It was an ideal ending to the senior’s UM career, which has flourished this season. Johnson won the 2015 indoor weight throwing competition and was named an indoor first team All-American.
It was also a strong weekend for the women’s throwers, as Precious Ogunleye won the women’s discus after hurling one 49.30m, and Tiffany Okieme won the women’s shot put with a distance of 14.83m.
Sophomore Carlos Mangum was the top college thrower in the men’s hammer throw, setting a personal record of 63.27m at the Alumni Invitational. Mangum is the Miami outdoor hammer throw record holder.
Shakima Wimbley, Miami’s standout sophomore sprinter, led the women’s 4x100m relay to a second place finish. The quartet of Wimbley, Kayann Richards, Trishelle Leacock and Kesley Blackwill raced to a 44.82 second finish, which was the top collegiate time.
Wimbley also motored to the best collegiate time in the women’s 200m, tying the fourth fastest time in UM history and setting a personal record of 23.08 seconds.
Jakima Glades, who was an All-ACC performer in the 400m hurdles last season, won the women’s 100m hurdles with a time of 13.43 seconds. Glades finished second in the 400m hurdles, but set a personal record with a time of 57.51 seconds.
Alysha Newman jumped to new heights, winning the women’s pole vault after clearing a height of 4.15 meters.
Next, the Hurricanes track and field team will move to Gainesville on April 24 to take on the field at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational.