Jan. 26, 2008

Gainesville, Fla. -

The University of Miami track and field teams competed in the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational on the campus of the University of Florida, Saturday at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

The women's team came into the weekend's invitational after a successful debut at the Illinois Women's Invite last week, while the men opened their 2008 indoor season.

Ti'erra Brown continues to impress, as she reached a provisional mark in the 55-meter hurdles.  Brown crossed the finish line with a time of 7.81, the fastest time of any freshman.

Brown was also part of the 4X400-meter relay team that reached provisional status, with a second place finish at 3:39.63.  The team consisted of two other freshmen, in twin sisters Takecia and Tameka Jameson.  The fourth member was All-American Krista Simkins.

The throws team of seniors Khadija Talley and Misty Barber reached milestones of their own.  Talley with a mark of 15.61 meters, extended her provisional status from a week ago and Barber set a new indoor personal best at 14.20 meters.

All-American Ena Leufroy ran in the 800 meters and barely missed a provisional time with a run of 2:09.90, good for third place.

"I am pleased with some of the individual performances," head coach Amy Deem said.  "However, we need to be more competitive as a team as we head into the Virginia Tech Invitational in two weeks."

For the men, sophomore Elan Daviglus had an outstanding performance in the high jump, placing third with a height of 6-08.75.

Senior Richard Bernard and junior Patrick O'Donnell proved to be a formidable duo in the 800-meter run.  The upperclassman placed third and fourth respectively with times of 1:53.01 and 1:53.25.

The men's and women's team will compete together for the remainder of the indoor season, traveling next to Blacksburg, Va. for the ACC Challenge Feb. 8-9.