Wrapping up the indoor season, the Canes headed north to Clemson where the team competed in the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Miami found success during the three-day affair and returned to Coral Gables with an impressive resume.
Freshman Oskar Bambals set expectations high on the first day in the 800 meter race preliminaries. He ran a time of 1:48.78, setting a new personal best and finishing second overall. Bambals ran a time of 1:49.29 in the final and took home third place.
On the women’s side, senior Kayla Johnson qualified for the finals in the 800 meter race with a time of 2:05.18, a new personal best time. Freshman Sierra Oliveria joined her in qualifying with a time of 2:07.81, also a personal best time. Johnson went on to finish fourth in the final setting a personal best time again (2:03.80) and Oliveria finished eight overall.
To wrap day one, freshman Taylor Wright took home the gold in the high jump clearing a mark of 1.79m for a season best jump. Senior Debbie Ajagbe threw a season best 21.76m in the weight throw and finished with a bronze. Junior Hannah Hall bested her personal record with a mark of 19.53m in the weight throw. Ajagbe went on to defend her title as shot put champion throwing 16.74m and was named ACC Women’s Indoor Field MVP for the second year in a row.
On the men’s side, senior Kevin Arreaga took home gold in the weight throw with a mark of 21.26m and sophomore Jeffrey William threw a personal best mark of 18.30m.
The sprints headed day two with the women’s team performing at a high level of competition. Graduate student Alfreda Steele placed first overall in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.25 and while sophomore Jacious Sears was disqualified from the 200 meter dash preliminaries on the first day, she finished fourth overall in the 60m dash with a time of 7.40.
Freshman Moriah Oliveria finished third in the women’s 400 meter dash preliminaries with a time of 54.52. She went on to the final where she placed second overall with a personal best time of 54.08. Miami also had a trio of freshmen run personal best times in the men’s 400 meter dash preliminaries. Ramy Berberena (47.75), Ryler Gould (49.16), and Jalen Gorson (49.39) all outperformed previous times.
Senior Tiara McMinn finished first overall in the 60 meter hurdles preliminaries running a season best time of 8.02 and sophomore Lauryn Harris finished fifth overall with a personal best time of 8.28.
In the field events, sophomore Russell Robinson jumped a season best mark (7.35m) in the long jump and sophomore Kevin Snyder jumped a personal best mark (7.02m). While sophomore Lauryn Harris took third overall in the long jump with a mark of 6.18m.
To cap the meet, the Canes made a few podium appearances on day three. McMinn took home the gold in 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.00 and the women’s 4×400 relay finished first overall (3:37.35) led by Harris, M. Oliveria, Johnson and S. Oliveria. Steele finished second in the 60m dash equaling her personal best time of 7.25 and Sears finished fifth overall (7.40).
In a 15 team deep ACC pool, the women’s team went on to finish second overall with 85 points, only behind rivals Florida state who had 95 points. The men’s team finished 10th overall with 27.5 points. The Canes head home for two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas on March 12-13.