Miami Hurricanes track and field started their season off strong with 11 victories at the Hurricane Invitational.
Miami’s first win of the weekend came when sophomore Matthew Thomas took first in the 3000-meter. Thomas finished with a time of 8:44.98 and was followed up by three other ‘Canes who took the second through fourth spots.
Most of Miami’s wins came on the second day of the meet with 10 victories throughout Saturday. Devoux Deysel opened the day with a javelin throw of 76.52 m, the best throw in the entire nation, to take first place in the meet. Aaron Kim later on recorded a 2.11m high jump, fourth all-time in Hurricanes history, to take first. Miami’s 4x100m relays dominated the day with both the men’s and the women’s with first place finishes. The men’s squad of senior Lance Ward, junior Carter Cukerstein, and sophomores Ashton Torns and Ace Malone claimed the second fastest time in Hurricanes history at 39.76 seconds. For Cukerstein that wasn’t his only victory as he also had the best individual 100m with a time of 10.68.
In the 400m, Miami held the top two spots, led by Sanaa Hebron in first with a time of 53.64 and Serena Tate in second. In the 200m, Miami’s women had three of the top four spots, with Alyssa Robinson first with a time of 23.28. For the men, Ace Malone came in second with 21.09.
Over with the distance runners in the 6k steeplechase, sophomore Maddie Scheier took first place, and elsewhere in the 1500m recorded the fifth fastest time with 4:27.94. Scheier wasn’t the fastest, though, as senior Daphneee Lavassas took first place with a time of 4:24.78.
Over with the throwers, Heath Vernor and Desomond Coleman got their season started with new bests in the hammer throw Friday. Vernor’s mark of 61.83m was good for fourth all time in the school’s record books, and Coleman’s mark of 59.68 was good for fifth. Vernor wasn’t done, as later on in the discus he took home a second place finish with a throw of 48.45 m.
Rounding out the impressive performances, Christina Warren took first in the triple jump, jumping into the fifth spot in Miami’s all-time outdoor records.
Miami will be back in Cobb Stadium next weekend in the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational for their second and final home meet. The event will run from March 28 to 29.