Women’s Track & Field

University of Miami senior Kim Barrett won the shot put and set a new school record with a toss of 17.20 meters (56-05.25) at the Rice Bayou Classic in Houston, Texas.

Barrett’s throw is the best in the nation this season and is an NCAA regional qualifier. Competing in the shot put for the first time this outdoor season after capturing the NCAA Indoor title earlier last month, Barrett dominated the field on Saturday winning by nearly three feet.

Miami senior Adrienne Moss placed third in the shot put with an NCAA regional qualifying mark of 14.91 meters (48-11.00). Not to be outdone, freshman Khadija Talley placed fourth in the discus with an NCAA regional qualifying mark of 47.43 meters (155-07.00).

Also competing this weekend was junior Melanie Schultz at the USF Invitational in Tampa, Fla. Schultz won the 1,500-meters with at time of 4:30.

The Hurricane women return at the Texas Relays, April 6 to 9, in Austin, Texas.

Women’s Tennis

The 11th-ranked University of Miami women’s tennis team remained undefeated in Atlantic Coast Conference action and extended their winning streak to 13 matches when they won four of six singles matches to top No. 10 Duke, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center in Durham, N.C.

With the win the Hurricanes improve to 16-2 overall and 7-0 in the ACC, while Duke falls to 11-5, 2-1 ACC.

The Blue Devils won the doubles point after taking two out of the three doubles matches. Miami’s fourth ranked tandem of senior Megan Bradley and sophomore Audrey Banada defeated Duke’s Tory Zawacki/ Kristin Cargill pair 8-1 to claim Miami’s only doubles win.

Bradley, the country’s No. 1 ranked player, downed No. 39 Katie Blaszak 6-1, 6-1 from the No. 1 singles spot, to tie the match score at one-all.

Banada followed suit with a 6-1, 6-1 straight set victory over Zawacki at the No. 6 position to put the Hurricanes up 2-1.

Duke claimed wins at the No. 5 and No. 2 positions to take a 3-2 lead before junior Melissa Applebaum topped Saras Arasu 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3 to tie the score 3-all.

The match came down to the No. 4 slot where freshman Patricia Starzyk, down in the first set, battled back to win in a tie breaker 7-6 (8-6) and the second set, 6-4, to top Celia Deltour and clinch the win for the Hurricanes.

Brenda Faluade is already making her mark in women’s track and field in just her second year at Miami. Our Chris Hamilton sat down with the All-American jumper.

The Hurricane: What is your favorite event?

Brenda Faluade: Either the long jump or triple jump. Depending on the day either could be my favorite.

TH: Why should people pay attention to women’s track and field?

BF: Honestly, I don’t think we get enough respect. After indoor nationals, which we won, I think we get more, but on campus I don’t think we get enough.

TH: What is one race that you would pay to see?

BF: I would pay to see Flo-Jo [Florence Griffith-Joyner] run the 100-meter and 200-meter against today’s top athletes.

TH: Would she win?

BF: Oh, most definitely.

TH: Is there any rivalry between the track team and the field team?

BF: There is a little joke. The track people think because they run more, that they are in greater shape than us.

TH: Which is more important: setting a personal record or seeing your team finish first in the meet?

BF: Is this a trick question? [laughs] I feel like if I set a personal record and everyone else does what they are supposed to do, then it’s a win-win situation

TH: What is the hardest aspect of running track?

BF: Training. Jumping is so stressful and your body and joints. A lot of us have knee and ankle problems. During practice it hard for us to work beyond the pain sometimes, but we push each other through it.

TH: We’ve seen the commercial played during the NCAA season that says, “Most of us will go professional in something other than sports.” What is your “something other?”

BF: I would like to be a dentist or open up my own exercise clinic.

TH: Some of the best athletes at this school are females: Tina Miller with golf, Megan Bradley in tennis and Tamara James in basketball. Who, if anyone, from track and field could you put in the same category?

BF: I would have to say Kim Barrett. She does the discus, weight throw and shot put. She is in a class of her own.

TH: Joey Gathright, an outfielder for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays baseball team, says he jumps over cars for fun. Is there anything you like to jump for fun?

BF: I jumped fences in the past, not like running away from the cops or anything though. [laughs] Sometimes, I’ll jump up and grab the basketball rim for fun.

TH: Is track just something that you’ve always been good at or did you really have to work at it?

BF: It’s something I’ve always been good at. I used to run every event back in junior high. I guess I was blessed to have the natural talent.

TH: If you could ask any one person any one question, what would it be?

BF: I would ask Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who holds the world record in long jump, what I could do to achieve the same outcomes.

Chris Hamilton can be contacted at c.hamilton2@umiami.edu.

Terrell Walden has a very busy schedule. He is a student, football player, track star and father.

Walden is from the projects of Liberty City in Miami. He has already made a name for himself in the record books. In February 2004, Walden ran the 60 meters and set the Big East Indoor Championship and Carrier Dome record, breaking Santana Moss’ mark by one-tenth of a second with a time of 6.76.

Change is nothing new for Walden. Recently, he switched from cornerback to wide receiver on the football team. He has to put in more time on the practice field and memorize routes but the challenge keeps him motivated.

Walden wants to set a positive example for the youth in his projects.

“As a kid, I had a lot of fun, I used to play sports year around at GC Park,” Walden said. “I need track for football and visa versa so that’s why I stuck with the two. I love both sports equally.”

However, Walden still dreams of playing on Sundays.

“I want to play in the NFL,” he said. “I love to compete; I plan on improving and taking my game to the next level.”

Walden is a junior, so his chance to be selected in the 2006 NFL draft is about a year away. His optimism and dedication should serve him well in his upcoming senior season and the scouts will be watching. Walden was red shirted for the 2003 football season. During the 2004 season, Walden was sidelined by a torn ACL on his right knee that he sustained during practice. He must stay healthy in order to display his talent.

On the track, Walden has excelled in both the 100-meter and 60-meter races. Walden, when recalling breaking Santana Moss’ record in Syracuse, N.Y., cracked a smile and admitted how good it made him feel. However, on Feb. 19 Aulton Kohn of Syracuse University set the new Big East Championship and Carrier Dome record with a time of 6.73.

During the Hurricane Invitational from March 17 to 19, Walden placed 12th out of 29 runners in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.95. On Feb. 18, at the ACC Indoor Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C., Walden placed 19th out of 37 with a time of 7.02 in the 60-meter dash.

Walden cherishes time spent with his two-year-old son, Terrell Jr. He goes home when he gets the chance and he has garnered much respect from his neighborhood peers because of his success.

“Everyone looks up to me in the projects,” he said. “I want to show the kids that you can do positive things.”

Being a student-athlete means having to juggle responsibilities of athletics and academics; Walden uses that mindset off the field.

“I start assignments ASAP,” he said. “Good time management is critical to success.”

Paul Campbell can be contacted at p.campbell62@umiami.edu.

University of Miami divers Jenna Dreyer and Miguel Velazquez were named the women and men’s Atlantic Coast Conference Divers of the Year, respectively, on Wednesday.

These two student-athletes became the first-ever recipients selected for this coveted award at Miami in their ACC debut.

Now they are preparing for the next step in a successful season: the national championships.

The U.S. Open National Championships are another animal totally detached from the regular season and even NCAA competition itself, as it plays more towards national loyalties.

According to Randy Abelman, head coach of the diving team, many of his excelling athletes will have different priorities in the next few weeks concerning diving.

Dreyer, a freshman who also garnered All-American honorable mention honors for the three-meter and 10-meter platform boards, is in South Africa at the moment vying for a spot on her country’s national team.

At the conference championships in Atlanta, Ga., Dreyer was awarded All-Conference honors for her first-place finish on the one-meter board and second-place finish on the three-meter board. On the one-meter board she set a record with a score of 320.75.

The senior Velazquez, a native of Mexico City, will be competing this week in Mexico to secure a spot on its national team. As a member of the UM diving team, he earned the sixth All-American recognition of his career at the NCAA Championships. There he finished third in the nation with a score of 543.50 on the 10-meter platform.

Ableman didn’t see any reason why Velazquez wouldn’t be as successful as he was.

“I was expecting him to have a meet like that,” Ableman said. “After all of the practice and repetitions, he was bound to break out at nationals.”

The men’s and women’s NCAA Championships for swimming and diving were held at the University of Minnesota’s campus in Minneapolis, where Velazquez was one of the 27 ACC swimmers and divers representing the nine league schools.

Last season, Velazquez earned his third, fourth and fifth All-American honors at the 2004 NCAA Championships.

Abelman feels that as a senior it was important for Velazquez to come out on top.

“I want to make sure that when my guys and girls look back there aren’t any regrets,” he said.

The Hall of Fame diving coach said that the inaugural season in the ACC was a success, mainly based on the high standard held at UM, which has produced such Olympic legends as Greg Louganis.

“I think Miami has a strong tradition, and we continue and strive to maintain that tradition,” he said.

The only diver to go to the U.S. Open National Championships and vie for a spot on the national team is Heather Bounds. Her best performance this season was on the Feb. 19 when she amassed a point total of 4423.75 at the ACC championships.

Larry Nolan can be contacted at l.nolan@umiami.edu.

Losing grasp of a potential series win, the ‘Canes suffered two straight losses to split their tilt with Oral Roberts.

Although much effort was made in the last few innings of Sunday’s series finale by standouts Paco Figueroa and Eddy Rodriguez, nothing was enough to beat the Golden Eagles.

Unlike game one of the series, which was marked by unprecedented feats by junior Cesar Carrillo, who became the first pitcher to strike out the side more than once in a game this season. Carrillo pushed his record to 7-0 and ERA to 0.95 this season and has a 19-0 career record. Carrillo, who struck out nine and had no walks on Thursday, held Oral Roberts to just five hits in a 1-0 complete game shutout, the first since a Regional game in 2003.

Game two was highlighted by stellar offensive play, especially by seniors Brendan Katin and Figueroa, who both homered and scored three runs in the first inning. Katin, along with Rodriguez, both had three RBIs in the ‘Canes’ third highest offensive output this season.

Katin followed his first-inning blast with a two-run bases loaded single giving UM a 6-1 lead in the third. Rodriguez sealed the deal with a two-run double that pushed the Hurricanes to an 8-1 lead, which by the end of the ninth turned into a 17-6 victory.

“I think we played well our first two games, but we just have to put the win behind us and focus on the next two games,” Figueroa said.

Game three was fierce as the Hurricanes dropped a heartbreaker 4-3. The ‘Canes led 2-0 after freshman Alex Garabedian drove in Jon Jay with a double off the wall in right-center in the fourth. Jay padded the Miami lead in the fifth with a double to left field that scored Danny Robitaille from second base. But just as quickly, Oral Roberts changed the course of the game as Rene Recio’s infield single plated Tim Torres to give the Golden Eagles the victory.

The final game was marred by controversy. A few lights of hope flickered in the last few innings of the game, thanks to Figueroa, who made a base hit in the eighth, followed by another hit by Walter Diaz, which advanced Figueroa to third although he was called out by the umpire. The controversial call led to roars of boos across the Mark Light Field.

“I [protested ] but the call just didn’t go our way, but I don’t think it was a deciding factor in the game. We made a lot of mistakes,” Head Coach Jim Morris said.

Though some momentum came in the ninth when Miami scored three runs closing the gap to four runs, a final pop fly sealed its fate in a 12-8 loss.

The ‘Canes will now go on to face ACC rival Virginia Tech in a three-game series that begins in Blacksburg this Friday at 7 p.m.

“As we now come up on an ACC game, we got to play better defense and make minimal mistakes, we just got to play better as a team,” Morris said. “I ran out of space on my card just to note all the mistakes we made. This has got to stop.”

Antoinette Cordova can be contacted at a.cordova1@umiami.edu.