Sports Briefs

BASEBALL

For the fourth time this preseason, the University of Miami baseball team earned a national ranking. In the first USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll, the Hurricanes were slated at No. 14.

The Canes open against Rutgers on Feb. 20 at the newly renovated Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

SWIMMING/DIVING

The University of Miami swimming and diving team lost 183-104 to host Maryland and 188-90 to Richmond at a tri-meet Saturday.

Miami (9-7) was hurt by the absence of the one-meter and three-meter diving events, which erased 26 possible points for the Canes. On the season, Hurricane divers have finished in the top three in every one of those events.

Sophomore Annika Saarnak placed second in both the 100 and 200-yard freestyles while freshman Dana Hatic finished second in the 100-yard backstroke and third in the 200-yard breaststroke. Sophomore Tiffany Petzold established a personal best in the 1000-yard freestyle and came in third.

UM wraps up the dual race season at 11 a.m. against host Florida International University. The Canes defeated the Panthers 150-68 back in October.

TRACK/FIELD

Junior transfer Mikese Morse earned a victory in the long jump with a distance of 7.54 meters Saturday at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational at the University of Florida.

Sophomore Tara Thomas and junior Ashley Dukes each made provisional times in the 55-meter dash with Dukes finishing just ahead in the final. Sophomore All-American Ti’erra Brown crossed the finish line with a provisional time of 7.84 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles.

Miami heads to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Elite, Feb. 6-7.

Information compiled from hurricanesports.com.