Canes Earn Three Medals at ACC Championships

Canes Earn Three Medals at ACC Championships

MEET RESULTS

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Three Miami track and field athletes made their way to the podium on Day 2 of the ACC Indoor Championships. 

Final results from today’s events can be found here

Senior Andreas Christodoulou capped off the men’s heptathlon in the 60m hurdles, pole vault and the 1,000m run to give the Canes their first medal on Day 2. Christodoulou finished fourth in the hurdles, running a 8.46 to earn 869 points. He then earned a second-place finish in the pole vault with his mark of 4.20m and concluded the event in the 1000m with a time of 2:55.11. Saturday’s performance was the Cyprus native’s highest finish in the indoor event, scoring 5,020 points. 
 
Debbie Ajagbe was the next Hurricane to step on the podium, earning Miami’s second bronze medal of the day. The sophomore advanced to the final in the women’s weight throw off a personal-best throw of 20.75m. Ajagbe’s mark held on for a third-place finish and gave the Miami women six team points. 
 
Yesterday’s women’s pentathlon winner, Michelle Atherley wasted no time getting back on the podium. The senior finished third in the women’s high jump with a mark of 1.69m. Atherley added nine team points, helping the Canes close the day with 25. Atherley is responsible for 19 of those points. 
 
Sophomore Tiara McMinn has not slowed down in the 60m hurdles and continues to climb both the NCAA leaderboard and UM’s record books. McMinn ran the fastest time in the prelims and boasted a new personal-best time of 8.04 seconds, which ties Miami’s second-fastest time and is tied for the fourth-fastest in the NCAA. Both McMinn and Atherley advanced to tomorrow’s final scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
 
“T had a great day today,” Deem said. “Each race she’s building more and more confidence, but I still feel like she can run even faster tomorrow.” 
 
Symone Mason etched her way into the 200m final Saturday after boasting an indoor personal best time of 23.75 seconds. Mason will be joined by McMinn who finished seventh with a time of 24.01 seconds in the final set for 3 p.m.
 
“Symone will give it everything tomorrow and she’s excited about being in lane six,” Deem said. “I’m looking for her to run faster tomorrow and finish the race better technically and Tiara snuck into this final, so I hope to see her get us a point in the event.” 
 
Senior Carolyn Brown, who has made every 60m final this season, continued that trend Friday night as she boasted a personal best time of 7.35 seconds. Brown’s time just missed the program’s top five mark by .02 seconds. The Hampton, Va., native will compete in tomorrow’s final at 2:20. 
 
“I’m really proud of Carolyn,” Deem said. “She’s won an ACC Championship in the 4x100m, but this is her first individual championship. Hopefully she goes out there and competes hard but I want her to enjoy the moment. 
 
Brittny Ellis was the lone Cane to reach the 400m final, recording the fastest prelims time of 53.15 seconds despite having four experienced Canes enter the event. Day 2, and the 400m in particular, did not pan out the way the Canes expected to. 
 
“It’s going to be a battle tomorrow because we definitely didn’t do ourselves any favors today and didn’t get the job done in the 400,” Deem said. “The points are still out there to do what we need to do, but I really expected more altogether.” 
 
On the men’s side, newcomer Raheem Chambers posted a time of 6.65 seconds in the 60m prelims to tie for second place. The Jamaica native tied the program’s top time in just his second race as a Cane. 
 
Tristan Schultheis was the final Cane to boast a personal record, registering a mark of 2.09m in the men’s high jump. The mark tied David Njoku’s mark for the second best indoor mark in program history. 
 
The Miami women will look to get back on track in tomorrow’s finals. Heading into the final day of the Championships, Miami is currently tied for fifth with Florida State with 25 points. Louisville leads the meet with 50 points. The women’s shot put final scheduled for noon will lead off the final day of competition and the men’s 4x400m relay will round it up at 4:50 p.m.  

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