In the second biggest meet of the season, and with the lights of the ACC focused on them, the University of Miami indoor track and field team’s stars shone brightly. Through ACC championship weekend, many Hurricanes reached new heights, set new records, and took home individual glory.
Starting with the record breakers, quite a few broke into Miami’s top five, but two sophomores found themselves taking gold and making history. Kennedy Sauder took first in the high jump and reached 2.21 meters, jumping from second to first in the record books. Edgar Campre, in the heptathlon, broke his record by 125 points with a score of 5903, 159 more than anyone else in the competition. Campre, on his way to gold, dominated the competition, placing first in five of the seven events.
A team of women Hurricanes also took home gold over the weekend. The 400-meter relay team of grad student Makenzy Webster-Pierre, seniors Kennedy Brace and Moriah Oliveira, and sophomore Gabriella Grissom captured first in the event with a time of 3:32.83.
Over the weekend, several others etched their names into various Miami top fives. In the 200-meter race, two upperclassmen – senior Jalen Gordon (21:57) and the aforementioned Webster-Pierre (23:41) – set new personal bests and shot into the top five. Webster-Pierre did it in the finals of the 200m, where she came in fourth place.
Her teammate in the 400-meter relay, Gabriella Grissom, made her own history, setting a new personal best at 2:04.74 and improving on her already second-place time in the 800-meter.
In the 400-meter race, freshman Ace Malone set a new personal best in the finals of 47.35 and improved on his fifth-place time. He was accompanied by senior Solomon Strader, who took fourth in the finals with a time of 47.06. Malone wasn’t the only freshman to accomplish this, as Ashton Torns found his way into the top five with a time of 6.75 in the 60-meter.
Though maybe not making the top five, several others claimed new personal bests. Grad student Taylor Wright accomplished this as she took home bronze in the women’s high jump, her height 1.8 meters, tying her best that ranks third all-time for Miami. Grad student Christina Warren did it twice in the 60-meter hurdles, getting 8:40 to qualify for the finals and then in the finals clocking in at 8:37, good for fourth place. In prelims for the 400 meter, Kennedy Brace set a new personal best at 54.11. Lastly, senior Oskars Bambals in the 800-meter finals set a new season best at 1:47.89, just a tenth of a second behind the personal best he set last year.
The busy weekend’s final results might have been lukewarm, just sixth place for both the men and the women, but the championships brought out the best in so many of the ‘Canes. It is encouraging as the season transitions into the outdoors.
The indoor season is ongoing, with the national championships in Boston just two weeks away.