Canespace: February 2016

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Catch Me If U Can!

The University of Miami women’s track and field team won its third ACC Indoor Championship on Saturday, edging out Clemson and Notre Dame in a highly competitive conference meet that came down to the final event.

The Hurricanes scored 85 points to claim their third ACC Indoor Championship and first since 2006. Miami, who also won the ACC indoor title in 2005 and 2006, scored the most points since posting 99 to finish second in 2007. Clemson finished second with 83 points, while Notre Dame was third with 82 and Florida State finished fourth with 70 points.

The 2016 track title was the tightest race (pun intended) in conference history, with just 15 points separating the champion from the fourth-place team.

“It was a hard fought battle, definitely one of the hardest fought conference championships that I’ve had the privilege to coach,” Miami director of track and field/cross country Amy Deem said. “To see the kids come together the way they did and to have such a balanced team with points coming from the high jump and the triple jump and the pole vault and the throws and on the track, I’m just really proud of them. They stuck together as a team and never got rattled. They really wanted this and believed in themselves and that’s why we have a championship.”

The Hurricanes had a big day in the women’s 400m, winning a gold medal and combining to score 17 points in the event. Shakima Wimbley won gold in the 400m, finishing first with a season-best time of 52.63 seconds that netted Miami 10 points. Aiyanna Stiverne’s time of 53.71 seconds tied her personal-best and placed her fourth, scoring five points for Miami. Brittny Ellis ran a personal-best time of 54.73 seconds to place seventh and score two points for the Canes.

Wimbley and Stiverne also made a big impact in the 200m final, combining for 14 points for the Hurricane women. Wimbley earned her second gold medal of the day, running a time of 23.30 seconds to repeat as ACC champion and score 10 points for the women. Stiverne earned a fifth place finish with a time of 23.87 seconds, adding four points to her team’s score.

“I’ve made the USA team and have won multiple individual medals, but too be able to celebrate with my teammates is special because we all came together to win this championship as a team,” Wimbley said.

Ebony Morrison earned a silver medal in the women’s 60m hurdles and scored eight points for Miami’s women, placing second in the final with a time of 8.19 seconds that was just one-hundredth behind her personal-best that ranks fifth in UM history.

“Day 1 was really hard for me,” Morrison said. “I was constantly thinking negative thoughts and I talked to Coach Deem about it and she assured me to think positively. I prayed about it and asked the Lord to bless me to use what I have and today I did what I had to do and I’m grateful for it. I’m so blessed to be here. Coach Deem has helped me so much. Coming from my mom passing away and not wanting to try anymore to now being part of a team that won a conference championship is just overwhelming and I’m very grateful to be part of it.”

Precious Ogunleye scored the first points of the day for Miami’s women, placing fifth in the women’s shot put with an indoor-best mark of 15.10m. Senior Taylor Gunn reached the shot put finals, placing ninth with a mark of 14.20m.

Alexis Wright finished eighth in the women’s triple jump, scoring a point for the women thanks to an indoor-best mark of 12.14m. Niara Hill just missed the finals, placing 10th with her indoor-best triple jump mark of 12.04m.

The women’s 4x400m relay of Destiny Washington, Stiverne, Ellis and Wimbley combined to win the gold medal with a time of 3:34.72, giving Miami 10 points and clinching the ACC Women’s Indoor Track and Field team championship.

For her efforts, Wimbley was named the 2016 ACC Women’s Indoor Track Most Outstanding Performer. The junior scored 22.5 points for Miami, winning gold medals in the 200m, 400m and 4x400m relay.

“I’m very excited and happy for my team,” Wimbley said. “We finally did what we have been trying to do all season. We worked very hard and were very deserving. I’m just happy to have been able to get so many points and help my team win the title.”

Posted at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (176)

Seniors Save Miami

No. 12 Miami applied smothering defense led by center Tonye Jekiri to hold No. 11 Louisville without a point for nearly 5 minutes down the stretch Saturday to win 73-65.

Miami rallied from a 62-58 deficit and scored 12 consecutive points. Louisville missed nine straight shots, several while pressured by the 7-foot Jekiri.

Jekiri, playing with four fouls, made both ends of a 1-and-1 to put the Hurricanes ahead to stay, 63-62.

Angel Rodriguez had 17 points and seven assists for the Hurricanes (23-5, 12-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who completed a sweep of their nine league home games. The Cardinals (22-7, 11-5) fell behind Miami into third place in the league race with two games left.

Miami's Davon Reed scored 17 points, including a 3-pointer in the final minute to help seal the win. Sheldon McClellan added 13 points.

Quentin Snider had 14 points for Louisville. Sophomore Chinanu Onuaku, who fouled out late in the game, tied a career high with six assists and had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Leading scorer Damion Lee went 3 for 12 from the field, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range. He scored six points, more than 10 below his average.

The Cardinals were shooting 56 percent for the game before their late drought. Jekiri, who had been on the bench for 6 minutes because of his foul trouble, re-entered with 4:50 left and Miami trailing 62-61. His presence down the stretch made a big difference.

So did a roaring capacity crowd. The Hurricanes finished the season 15-1 at home, with the only loss to Northeastern in November.

It was the final home game for seniors Jekiri, McClellan, Rodriguez and Ivan Cruz Uceda.

The Hurricanes shot 59 percent in the first half but trailed 38-36 at halftime because Louisville shot 58 percent. The Cardinals outscored Miami 8-2 to start the second half for their biggest lead, 46-38.

The Hurricanes were without sixth man Ja'Quan Newton, who began a three-game suspension for a violation of team rules.

For Miami, the game was the third of four straight against ranked teams over a 12-day stretch.

Posted at 08:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (28)

Four Play Finishes Four And Oh!

On Saturday night the baseball team pitched a shutout 2-0 win over Rutgers.

Then on Sunday at noon the Hurricane hard-ballers beat the Scarlet Knights easily 8-1. Then at 4 p.m. the Lady Canes hoopsters went to overtime to beat Virginia Tech by the score of 67-56.

Then on Monday night the UM men's basketball team beat #3 ranked Virginia.

Four Play and 4-0 never felt so good!

Here are how the games went down on Sunday, a simply magnificent winter day in South Florida:

Thanks to another dominant showing on the mound from one of its starting pitchers, sixth-ranked Miami finished off an Opening Weekend sweep of Rutgers Sunday with an 8-1 victory.

Toeing the rubber on his 22^nd birthday, junior lefthander Danny Garcia continued a trend started by fellow southpaws Thomas Woodrey and Michael Mediavilla in the first two games of the series.

The Miami native tossed seven shutout innings, struck out four batters and allowed just three total baserunners in an impressive outing. For the weekend, Miami’s starting rotation allowed just one earned run and nine hits across 18 innings – good for a combined 0.50 ERA.

“It felt good. I was just trying to command the fastball, command both sides of the plate, and I felt like I was very successful getting ahead of guys,” Garcia said of his start.

Perhaps more impressively, the three Miami lefthanders struck out 15 batters and issued two walks on the weekend. WQAM radio announcer Joe Zagacki gave that a thumbs up!

“We work so hard in practice and outside of the field at keeping the pitching staff intact,” Garcia said of the rotation. “I feel like we had a very successful weekend, and now we’re [moving on to] Wednesday and [next weekend] Florida.”

Considering both Garcia (1-0) and Mediavilla are first-time weekend starters, head coach Jim Morris was even more pleased with Sunday’s effort.

“I felt really good about our pitching, of course,” Morris said. “That was big. Our rotation is a little bit different than it was last year, and we played really solid defense. The youngest [part] is our hitting. We lost some great hitters.

“We need some of these guys getting their first chance to shine, hit in the middle of the order and do some different things, to get it done. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”

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Playing its first game at the BankUnited Center in two weeks, the University of Miami women’s basketball team came away with a 67-56 overtime victory against Virginia Tech Sunday evening.

No. 18/17 Miami (22-5, 10-4 ACC) had 10 different players score, with freshman forward/center Emese Hof’s 15 points leading the way, to earn a 10th-consecutive win over the Hokies. The victory was Miami’s first in overtime since December of 2011.

As a part of Sunday being Miami’s Play 4 Kay game, the Hurricanes wore pink jerseys and had an honorary captain, Bianca, from the Austen Everett Foundation. Pink towels and t-shirts were given out and The Heroines Choir, a group of breast cancer survivors, sang the national anthem.

“I told them they’re powerful women because they can inspire someone today who really needs inspiration, just by their effort,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said. “No one is going to care if the shot goes in or out, but they will know that team really plays hard and they fight. I think that fight speech really resonated in overtime, for sure. We were definitely inspired by the survivors who were there tonight.”

Miami’s edge remained at five with 43 seconds on the clock, but the Hokies closed the game on a 7-2 run, capped by an off-balance runner by freshman guard Chanette Hicks with 2.2 seconds remaining to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Virginia Tech jumped out to a 55-52 lead in the extra session, but from there it was all Hurricanes. Miami outscored the Hokies 15-1 over the final three minutes and 37 seconds of the game, including 13-straight points over the last two minutes and 13 seconds, to seal the win.

The Canespace Four Play finished out our commitment to "The U" by winning the UM men's basketball game against Virginia. And, let it be known that we hope to keep our undefeated winning streak intact!

Posted at 06:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (153)

Four Play Starts With One Victory

If Saturday night’s performance is any indication, the decision to transition left-hander Michael Mediavilla to the starting rotation could be a difference-maker for the Miami Hurricanes in 2016.

A Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America out of the bullpen a season ago, Mediavilla dazzled through six innings in a 2-0, series-clinching victory over Rutgers at Mark Light Field.

Making the first start of his Hurricanes career, the Hialeah native allowed four total baserunners on the night, and just one Scarlet Knight reached as far as second base – in the game’s first inning.

“It felt great. Just going out there today and starting has been a dream since I was a little kid,” Mediavilla said. “It was a humbling feeling when I out there and got the job done.”

Mediavilla struck out seven batters and needed just 88 pitches to get through the highly efficient outing. He did not walk a batter and surrendered three hits – all singles.

“Starting the game, I felt very comfortable with my curveball, which helped me out a lot,” Mediavilla said. “As the game went on, I felt I had my changeup working and had both pitches going…I established them at a great time in the third inning, and I cruised from then.”

Taking Mediavilla’s place in the pen for the first two games this season has been freshman Frankie Bartow, and he delivered once again. After pitching two scoreless innings in his debut Friday, Bartow stranded a Rutgers baserunner at third with an inning-ending strikeout to maintain Miami’s lead in the seventh.

Juniors Cooper Hammond and Bryan Garcia combined for two perfect innings over the eighth and ninth, with Garcia picking up his second save of the year.

“It was a great game for us. Mediavilla pitched outstanding, needless to say,” head coach Jim Morris said. “But we played really good defense and executed in some situations.”

Rutgers redshirt junior Kyle Driscoll matched Mediavilla early, delivering an effective outing in his first start of the year. He struck out four batters and allowed just one run in 5.0 innings.

Driscoll (0-1), who issued two-out walks to juniors Zack Collins and Jacob Heyward in the first inning, escaped any early damage and allowed just two singles from then until the fifth inning.

“[Driscoll] obviously pitched well tonight, too,” Collins said. “He was throwing a lot of 3-1 [count] sliders and throwing everything for strikes. It was pretty tough to hit him tonight.”

On a night when Miami’s offense totaled just six hits, Collins reached base in all four plate appearances on three walks and a single.

The Hurricanes (2-0) finally broke through in the fifth, when freshman Romy Gonzalez jumpstarted the offense with a double into the left field corner.

After a perfect sacrifice bunt from Randy Batista moved Gonzalez to third, an RBI single from sophomore Carl Chester lined into center put Miami ahead 1-0.

The double was the second in as many nights for Gonzalez.

“That was huge. We weren’t going too hot right there, so him starting the inning like that was big for us,” Collins said.

That was more than enough for Mediavilla, who was overpowering in his sixth and final inning. He recorded back-to-back strikeouts of R.J. Devish and Tom Marcinczyk to end his outing, but was hoping for one more inning when Miami’s coaches decided 88 pitches was enough.

“I didn’t want to get out,” Mediavilla said. “I had the adrenaline pumping, and I wanted to stay in.”

Collins was behind the plate for Mediavilla’s first start and said the southpaw’s ceiling is even higher than what was displayed Saturday.

“He pitched great tonight,” Collins said. “Nowhere near as good as he can be, but he did a great job. It was a game of adjustments for him, because he was used to coming out of the bullpen.”

The Hurricanes had some special visitors (seen above) on campus for Junior Day that apparently lasted into the night. UM coaches could be seen sitting behind home plate with several highly sought after recruits.

The night ended for Canespacers engaged in this weekend's "Four Play" events as they always do: by maintaining proper hydration ratios at the popular Titanic Brewery, where a live band rocked us like Hurricanes.

Miami goes for the sweep of Rutgers Sunday. First pitch for the game, slated for broadcast on ESPN3 and 560 WQAM, is set for 12 p.m. from Mark Light Field.

Posted at 09:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (229)

Batter Up!

Leather, clay, grass and aluminum. One of these things doesn't belong.

But when your University of Miami Hurricanes baseball team takes to the field tonight at 7 PM against Rutgers these four things will all come together to produce fun and excitement at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Stadium.

Canespace will be on hand for the baseball games on Saturday night and Sunday at noon as part of our annual "Four Play" event on the beautiful UM campus in Coral Gables.

We ask you to join us for all of the fun and festivities that will include the two baseball games, a women's basketball game on Sunday at 4 p.m. and a men's basketball game at 7 PM on Monday night at The BUC against Virginia.

Of course we will be at The Titanic Brewery getting properly hydrated along with Ricky, Jerry, Roland and other friends from the 305. So we encourage you to stop by and have a beverage on us if are so inclined!

Posted at 08:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (119)

Four Play Is Back In Vogue

Get ready ladies and gentlemen, because here we go once again!

Over the last two years the Canespace blog has held our annual "Four Play" event in February. We have had a ridiculously good time and the events have been a resounding success each Winter.

So this year we have decided to do it again, but only do it bigger and better than ever. Although after our incredible trip to Miami last year, I am not sure that it may even be possible to top it?

Now before we get too far off track, for all of you newbies and novices who aren't in the know, the Canespace "four play" event consists of attending at least four UM sports events in just four days or less.

And all of these events are held on the warm, beautiful, tropically landscaped University of Miami campus in Coral Gables surrounded by lush palm trees, clear cool blue waters and tons of really hot women. Who could ask for more?

That's right every year from 2013 and henceforth we will be attending two basketball and two baseball games in Miami during the month of February.

Here is the schedule as it currently stands (subject to change):

Saturday 2/20/16: UM baseball at 7 PM vs Rutgers.

Sunday 2/21/16: UM baseball at noon and UM women's basketball at 4 PM.

Monday 2/22/16: UM men's basketball at 7 PM vs Virginia.

Now, if you wanted to be part of this Canespace extravaganza you waited too long. We are locked and loaded and ready to roll. Of course, you can meet us at the Titanic Brewery before all games if you want.

Wish us luck, because the "Four Play" is back in vogue baby!

Posted at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (85)

Foote Was Ahead Of His Time

February 15, 2016

Dear University of Miami Community,

I am saddened to share that Edward T. Foote II, the fourth president of the University of Miami, passed away on February 15. Our community has lost a great civic and academic leader who not only led the positive transformation of our University, but also served as a voice of enlightened engagement for South Florida during especially challenging times.

President Foote's tenure as president from 1981 to 2001 was marked by a far-reaching and rigorous pursuit of academic excellence that helped to distinguish our students and faculty among the finest in the nation. Together with his late wife, Roberta "Bosey" Fulbright Foote, they made Miami their home, and we are a far better and stronger institution and community thanks to them.

Please join me in expressing our deepest sympathies to President Foote's family, his three children—Julia, William, and Thaddeus—and eight grandchildren. The University is planning a celebration of his life and legacy. In the meantime, I encourage you to learn more about his enduring impact on the University here.

With heartfelt gratitude to a remarkable Hurricane,

Posted at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (186)

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

The 2016 Miami Hurricanes took the field for their annual matchup with Hurricanes Alumni Saturday night, emerging with a 17-4 victory at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

Roughly 2,000 fans made their way through the gates for Fan Fest and the Alumni Game, which featured a number of Hurricanes greats taking part in Baseball Alumni Weekend.

Introduced in pregame ceremonies were 2015 MLB All-Star and Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal, former Florida Marlins first-round MLB Draft pick and Hurricanes retired number honoree Charles Johnson, 13-year MLB veteran Orlando Palmeiro and 2015 Miami staff ace and San Francisco Giants minor leaguer Andy Suarez, among others.

Roughly 50 former Canes were introduced during pregame ceremonies.

The Alumni team featured several current minor leaguers – including Dale Carey (Washington Nationals), Garrett Kennedy (Los Angeles Dodgers), and Chantz Mack and Ricky Eusebio (Seattle Mariners). Alex Prendes, a two-time national champion at Miami (1999 and 2001), got the start for the Alumni.

Other players taking part in the game included Kevin Brown, former MLB outfielder Brian Barton, former All-ACC outfielder Nathan Melendres, Jose Trujillo, and sidewinder Sam Abrams, who was pivotal in Miami’s run to the College World Series in 2015 with his work out of the bullpen.

The 2016 Hurricanes scored runs in each of the first four innings to jump out to an early Lead, including a four-run second inning and a six-run third.

Preseason All-America Zack Collins opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly off Prendes in the first inning. An RBI single from Johnny Ruiz made it 2-0 with one out in the second, while Carl Chester followed with a two-run single to center to pad Miami’s lead.

Many Hurricanes made their debuts Saturday night: freshman Romy Gonzalez started at third, freshmen Isaiah Musa and Frankie Bartow pitched in relief, redshirt freshman Ryan Alvarez saw time in right field, juniors Barry Buchowski and Joe Gomez entered the game in the middle innings, freshman Alex MacDonagh worked behind the plate, junior Randy Batista entered and played second base, while redshirt freshman Keven Pimentel pitched a scoreless ninth.

Chester, who hit leadoff for Miami, finished the game 3-for-6 with four RBI. Ruiz went 3-for-4 with four runs scored, while redshirt junior Edgar Michelangeli scored three runs and sophomore Peter Crocitto added three RBI.

Posted at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Hurricane Hoopsters Hang On To Beat Seminoles

Sheldon McClellan scored 20 points and No. 12 Miami fought off a second-half rally from Florida State to win 67-65 on Sunday night.

The Hurricanes led by four with less than a minute remaining when Dwayne Bacon's 3-pointer brought the Seminoles to 66-65. After Davon Reed missed a 3, Florida State had a chance to go ahead but Devon Bookert was short on a 3-pointer from the corner.

Ja'Quan Newton hit one of two free throws for Miami, leaving Florida State one last chance, but Malik Beasley missed a 30-footer that would have won it.

Reed had 14 points and Angel Rodriguez scored 11 for the Hurricanes (20-4, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who secured their fourth 20-win season in Jim Larranaga's five years as coach.

Bookert led Florida State (16-9, 6-7) with 14 points, and Xavier Rathan-Mayes had 12. Bacon and Beasley, who came into the game averaging a combined 33.2 points as the ACC's top freshman duo, were held to 15 — nine for Bacon.

Miami jumped out to an 11-2 lead and was up by seven before Florida State scored eight straight points — consecutive 3-pointers by Benji Bell and Terance Mann's jumper — to take a 15-14 advantage with 10:13 remaining. After the score was tied at 17, the Hurricanes regained control with a 17-5 run and built their largest lead of the half (34-22) with 1:49 remaining.

Tonye Jekiri's layup gave Miami its biggest lead (39-26) before Florida State started coming back. After trailing 45-36, the Seminoles made a 14-5 run to tie it at 50 on Bookert's 3-pointer with 8:44 remaining.

Florida State, though, was never able to regain the lead.

Posted at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (59)

Ebony Beats Ivory

The University of Miami track and field program opened up its stay at the Tyson Invitational Friday. The Hurricanes got off to a solid start in Fayetteville as one Cane earned a top three finish and several others posted strong times and marks at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the University of Arkansas campus.

Ebony Morrison was outstanding once again in the women’s 60m hurdles, placing third with a personal-best time of 8.18 seconds that ranks fifth in UM history. The junior’s path to the finals was an exciting one as she ran a time of 8.26 seconds to head into the semifinals as the third seed.

Morrison then ran the fastest semifinal time among the 16 competitors, posting a personal-best time of 8.21 seconds to earn the top seed heading into the final where she would shave three-hundredths of a second off her career-best.

A trio of Canes competed in the women’s 400m with Destiny Washington leading the way with a time of 55.74 seconds. Anthonia Moore and Samantha Gonzalez each ran season-bests, crossing the finish line in 56.16 and 57.82 seconds.

Throwers Precious Ogunleye and Tiffany Okieme lead the way on the women’s side. Ogunleye won the women’s weight throw at The Armory with a personal-best mark of 21.27m that ranks fifth in the NCAA this year. Okieme currently is in the Top 50 in the country in both the shot put and weight throw, ranking 32^nd in the shot put at 16.02m and 12^th in the weight throw at 20.60m.