GOLF
Sophomore Christina Hirano finished tied for sixth by shooting an even-par 72 for her highest finish as a Hurricane as UM shared the title at the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic on Tuesday at Cougar Point Golf Club in South Carolina.
Miami won its first team tournament since the 2004-05 season, when the program won the Ryder Florida Collegiate Golf Championship.
The Hurricanes shot a season-best 904 for the tournament, tying Central Arkansas. Neither team could participate in a playoff due to travel arrangements. Four UM golfers placed in the top 40 of the 215 golfers in the field.
Miami will compete in the Spartan Invitational hosted by San Jose State on Monday in San Jose, Calif.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Senior guard Jack McClinton is among 30 mid-season candidates for the 2009 Naismith Trophy, given annually to the player of the year as voted on by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, which comprises basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from across the country.
This year’s award will be presented at the NCAA men’s Final Four in Detroit.
McClinton, the ACC’s all-time 3-point field goal percentage leader (.446), also leads the ACC this season in 3-point field goal percentage (.477) and 3-pointers per game (3.2). He ranks among the league’s top five in both scoring (20.1 ppg) and free throw percentage (.860).
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Freshman guard Shenise Johnson was named the ACC Rookie of the Week after she nearly led the Hurricanes to upset wins over two ranked teams. This marks her third such accolade of the season.
She fell a rebound shy of a triple-double against No. 23 Virginia when she scored 25 points, distributed a career-high 10 assists and grabbed nine rebounds. The 2008 McDonald’s High School All-American currently leads all ACC freshmen in points (13.3), free-throw percentage (.848) and steals (2.7). Johnson is second in rebounds (6.8) and assists (4.0).
BASEBALL
Former Hurricanes Alex Cora and Carlos Gutierrez have been named to team Puerto Rico for next month’s World Baseball Classic.
Cora, a recent signee with the New York Mets, is an 11-year Major League Baseball veteran with 688 career hits. Gutierrez, a first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins last year, went 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA with the Class A Advanced Fort Myers Miracle last season.
Team Puerto Rico, along with fellow Pool D members Dominican Republic, Netherlands and Panama, will play its first round games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.