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Sixth Annual CanesFish Tournament A Huge Success

The Habitat for Humanity of the Upper Keys / University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame (UMSHoF) Celebrity Fishing Tournament Presented by Yamaha and Caribee Boat Sales has wrapped its 6th annual tournament. It was held June 24-25 at Founders Park at Mile Marker 87 on the Overseas Highway in Islamorada, Fla.

This unique event gives anglers the opportunity to fish alongside some of their favorite Canes All-Stars and mingle with dozens of celebrity participants. The tournament has continued to be a huge success with over 500 participants, making it one of the largest tournaments in the Florida Keys.

This year’s tournament was co-hosted by University of Miami Hall of Famers and football greats, Alonzo Highsmith and Melvin Bratton. The tournament weekend began Friday evening with a kick-off party, final boat registration, silent auction and captains’ meeting followed on Saturday by a full day of fishing.

On Saturday afternoon, while the Offshore Boats weighed their fish and the Inshore Boats turned in their score cards, Centennial Bank provided a BBQ for the participants and spectators.

After all the fish were weighed and the inshore score cards tallied the results were the following:

OFFSHORE DIVISION:

1^st Place – Tracy Kerdyk on See Shores with a 35.5 lb. Dolphin – Winning $3,000

2^nd Place – Luke Waddell on Stage Two with a 29.1 lb Dolphin – Winning $2,000

3^rd Place – Chris Martinez on Monster Catch with a 26.9 lb. Dolphin – Winning $1,000

4^th Place – Tanya Toro on Halftime with a 25.2 lb Dolphin

5^th Place - Chris Martinez on Monster Catch with a 24 lb. Dolphin

Top Lady Anger – Tracy Kerdyk on See Shores with a 35.5 lb. Dolphin

Top Junior - Luke Waddell on Stage Two with a 29.1 lb Dolphin

King of Fish – Jim Marco on Priority with a 19.7 lb. Wahoo – Winning $500

ADDED VALUE CATEGORIES:

Master of the Ocean – Contagious with 108.1 points – Winning $5,865.00

1^st Place Bucket of Bucks – Monster Catch with 68.8 points - Winning $1,615.00

2^nd Place Bucket of Bucks – Contagious with 60.6 points  - Winning $969.00

3^rd Place Bucket of Bucks – Tiki with 48.8 points - Winning $646.00

INSHORE DIVISION:

Grand Slam Winner - Luca Musico on Line Management with 70.5 overall points

Longest Sea Trout – Kathy Gillen on Dave Denkert – 23” Sea Trout

Longest Snook – Luca Musico on Line Management – 30.5” Snook

Longest Redfish – Kathy Gillen on Dave Denkert – 20” Redfish

The Weigh-in was followed by the Grady White Boats Awards Dinner catered by Mangrove Mike’s Café. There were auctions, music, games and more.

A portion of the tournament proceeds will go to Habitat for Humanity of the Upper Keys, The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, Coastal Conservation Association and the UMSHoF.

“We are pleased to have Yamaha Motors and Caribee Boats as presenting sponsors for our 6th Annual University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame Celebrity Fishing Tournament,” said Gerard Loisel, President of the UMSHoF. “It is thanks to the commitment of these, and all of our great sponsors,  donors and participants that our tournament continues to grow each year.”

Jack Niedbalski from Habitat for Humanity of the Upper Keys added; “Not only are we fortunate, but also proud to be a benefactor of this great summer classic charity tournament. From the entire Habitat for Humanity-Upper Keys Board of Directors we thank all our friends from the U of M Sports Hall of Fame Fishing Tournament for allowing us to be a part of the “U”.”

Tournament Information

The 6th Annual Habitat for Humanity of the Upper Keys/UMSHoF Celebrity Dolphin Fishing Tournament is presented by Yamaha and Caribee Boat Sales and brought to participants by the Monroe County Tourist Development Council. For more information visit www.canesfish.com, call (305) 667-0399 or contact the Tournament Director, Judy Layne at [email protected]. Follow the tournament on Facebook at www.facebook.com/canesfish and Instagram at www.instagram.com/canesfish .

When In Rio Find A Dive

University of Miami diving alum Sam Dorman will trade in orange and green for red, white and blue as he represents Team USA at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Dorman, along with synchronized 3-meter partner Michael Hixon, clinched the U.S. bid in the event Wednesday night with a first-place finish at U.S. Olympic Trials at the IU Natatorium on the IUPUI campus.

Competing together for the first time, Dorman and Hixon posted a first-place score of 1308.36 points. In a heated battle throughout the finals with reigning Olympic bronze medalists Troy Dumais and Kristian Ipsen, it was Dorman and Hixon – partners for just over one month’s time – who emerged victorious.

“Sam is absolutely at the top of his game,” Miami head diving coach Randy Ableman said ahead of Wednesday’s synchro 3-meter finals. “He’s in perfect shape. He’s doing the hardest dives in the world, and doing them spectacularly. It’s very gratifying to be a part of that development, and to see a kid achieve so many of his goals and dreams.”

Dorman is the 12th Hurricane to qualify for the Olympics under the tutelage of Ableman, who just finished his 23rd year at the helm in Coral Gables.

Dorman and Hixon were already among the nation’s best 3-meter divers, but with such limited time together as a synchro team, Dorman said the key was learning how his new partner handled a competition environment.

“I think when we started off, we realized there needed to be a lot of communication and a sense of how we compete and not just how to be synched up. We had to talk to each other and say, ‘Hey, how do you do in meets? How do you work? Do you need to be hyped up? What makes you get all nervous and worked up? How can we both work with each other so we can keep each other’s heads level?’ I think that was the most important part of us doing synchro,” Dorman said.   

2016 will mark the second straight Olympics where a Miami Hurricane diver will represent Team USA; Brittany Viola competed in the platform event at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Dorman and Hixon entered the final round with a lead of 56.52 points over Dumais and Ipsen, a margin that gave them the cushion they needed to secure their trip to Brazil. They won with a score 47.97 points ahead of Dumais and Ipsen’s 1,260.39.

Dorman, 24, is a four-time national team member who has won four synchronized three-meter national titles, most recently with Ipsen at the 2015 winter nationals.

The NCAA three-meter national champion as a senior at Miami, Dorman received a degree in mechanical engineering in 2015. In the past two years he has partnered with some of USA Diving’s elite in synchro competition, including David Boudia, Dumais and Ipsen.

Is It True That The U Has Gone Fishing?

The Habitat for Humanity of the Upper Keys / University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame (UMSHoF) announces Yamaha and Caribee Boat Sales have come back onboard as joint presenting sponsors of the 6th Annual Habitat for Humanity of the Upper Keys/UMSHoF Celebrity Fishing Tournament.

The event added a new Inshore Division to the competition. All activities are set for June 24-25 at Founders Park at Mile Marker 87 on the Overseas Highway in Islamorada, Fla. This year’s tournament will be co-hosted by University of Miami Hall of Famers and football greats, Alonzo Highsmith and Melvin Bratton.

The tournament weekend begins Friday evening with a kick-off party, final boat registration, silent auction and captains’ meeting followed on Saturday by a full day of fishing. On Saturday afternoon, the tournament will host its official weigh-in, followed by the Grady White Boats Awards Dinner and live and silent auctions featuring unique sports memorabilia as well as a marine equipment, tackle, artwork, jewelry, trips and a variety of gift packages.

All events are open to the public. This is the only fishing event of its kind that matches participants with former Miami Hurricanes sports stars for the competition. Cash prizes and trophies will be presented to anglers in various inshore and offshore categories.

A portion of the tournament proceeds will go to Habitat for Humanity of the Upper Keys, The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, Coastal Conservation Association and the UMSHoF. 

Hurricanes Weakened Into A Deep Depression

Two and toast.

That's what your Miami Hurricanes were relegated to at the 2016 College World Series at Ameritrade Field in Omaha, Nebraska. Two games and that was all she wrote for Miami this time around in Omaha. It was simply not good enough and left some UM fans to wonder if Jim Morris has lost his mojo?

Miami’s season came to an end Monday afternoon with a 5-3 loss to UC Santa Barbara in a College World Series elimination game at TD Ameritrade Park.

“I'm disappointed in the way we played out here in Omaha,” head coach Jim Morris said. “We didn't do the little things that we did all year to win the number of games we did.

"I felt like we had a great season coming into it.  But the little things that we've been doing…we didn't hit with on base or make a pitch or make a play defensively that we needed to make to win.  And when you get to this level, you've got to do all the things to win, because everybody out here is playing well.”

It was the Hurricanes (50-14) who struck first, as junior Zack Collins belted a pitch from UCSB starter Noah Davis over the fence in right field for a solo home run to give Miami a 1-0 lead.

It was the fourth home run of this NCAA postseason for Collins and the sixth of his three-year career.

“Just being aggressive. He threw a fastball 1-0 [in the count], and I was aggressive, put the barrel on it, and it went out,” Collins said. “You never know it's gone in this field, especially with the way the wind's been blowing.” 

Garcia (9-5) retired 10 in a row beginning with the groundout from Fisher. The stretch came to an end on a leadoff single from Devon Gradford in the bottom of the sixth.

“I minimized damage, and not even one run scored,” Garcia said of the second-inning jam. “And I just had a mindset of just going up there and dominating and just throwing strikes, competing.”

Immediately after the single by Gradford, play was halted for just over an hour due to lightning.

Garcia returned after the 62-minute delay and induced a popup from UCSB slugger Austin Bush. But Muno doubled down the right field line to prompt a pitching change, and the Gauchos strung together a two-RBI single and back-to-back squeeze plays off reliever Frankie Bartow to take a 5-1 lead.

“You know, playing at Miami, we have quite a few rain delays,” Morris said. “So we're used to handling that, and [pitching coach] J.D. [Arteaga] does a good job of guys throwing.

“[Garcia] got up twice and threw in the cages. And we felt like he was ready to throw…it was kind of after him that's when things went haywire.”

Miami staged a late rally in the eighth to cut the deficit to two runs. Facing UCSB reliever Kyle Nelson, redshirt junior Edgar Michelangeli cracked a one-out double into the left field corner to jumpstart the offense.

Back-to-back singles from sophomore Carl Chester and junior Randy Batista pushed the first run of the inning across. Collins then followed with another RBI single to make it 5-3.

“I feel like we always have a chance. This team all year has come back from plenty of deficits,” Collins said. “We've come back from more than four runs all year. And we had a chance going into the ninth inning. We were all confident of that. And it just didn't happen.”

College World Series: 'Canes vs 'Cats

Fire up the grill and grab your beer and brats because tonight at 8 PM on ESPN2 your Miami Hurricanes (50-12) will face the Arizona Wildcats (44-21) in game 1 of the 2016 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.

For you hard core baseball fans click here for more info and stats on the 2016 CWS teams: http://hurricanesports.com/pdf9/4886106.pdf?&DB_OEM_ID=28700

Here are some basic facts from www.hurricanesports.com about the Canes:

BACK HOME IN OMAHA

• For the second straight season and for the 25th time in program history, the Miami Hurricanes clinched a trip to the College World Series. Miami took two of three from Boston College in the Coral Gables Super Regional from June 10-12 to punch its tickets to Omaha, Neb. 

• The Hurricanes’ 25 trips to Omaha are the second-most of any program nationwide (Texas - 35), while their four national championships (1982, 1985, 1999, 2001) are tied for fifth-most.  

• Miami has an all-time record of 48-40 (.545) in the College World Series, with its 48 wins and 88 total games played both ranking fourth-most in CWS history.  

• Miami has qualified for the College World Series 13 times in head coach Jim Morris’ 23-year tenure at the helm; UM made it to Omaha 12 times in Hall of Fame coach Ron Fraser’s 30 seasons.

FEELING SUPER

• Miami won Game 1 (12-7) and Game 3 (9-4) of the Coral Gables Super Regional against Boston College to clinch one of eight spots in the 2016 College World Series. The Canes lost Game 2 to BC 5-3.  

• With its best-of-three series victory, the Hurricanes improved to 18-11 all-time in the NCAA Super Regional round, including a 14-2 record at Mark Light Field in Super Regional games.  

• UM batted .375 with six homers & 24 runs scored in three games.  

• Miami has never missed the College World Series when named a national seed, having made the field of eight in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2015 and 2016. 

SEVEN HURRICANES SELECTED IN MLB DRAFT

• Miami had seven players selected in the 2016 MLB Draft.

• Zack Collins (first round, Chicago White Sox), Willie Abreu (sixth round, Colorado), Bryan Garcia (sixth round, Detroit), Brandon Lopez (10th round, Minnesota), Danny Garcia (15th round, Seattle), Jacob Heyward (18th round, San Franciso) and Johnny Ruiz (28th round, Houston) were all drafted from June 9-11.

• Collins became UM’s first first-rounder since Yasmani Grandal was drafted No. 12 overall by Cincinnati in 2010.

On To Omaha!

For the second straight season, the Miami Hurricanes will be returning to the College World Series.

Thanks largely to a two-home run, seven-RBI performance from redshirt junior Edgar Michelangeli, the Hurricanes punched their ticket to Omaha, Neb., with a 9-4 win over Boston College in Game 3 of the NCAA Coral Gables Super Regional at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

Michelangeli, who connected on a three-run homer in the second inning and the first grand slam of his career in the seventh, powered a Miami offense that outhit the Eagles, 14-7. The Hurricanes received a sparkling performance on the hill from freshman Frankie Bartow, who served as a bridge to junior closer Bryan Garcia for a career-long 3.1 innings with the game’s outcome hanging in the balance.

Bartow (6-0), who threw 51 pitches, gave way to Garcia with two outs in the eighth, and the school’s all-time saves leader recorded the final four outs to send 2,589 fans into celebration.

The College World Series trip will be the 25^th in program history, the second-most of any school nationwide

"I would like to congratulate our guys. Again, it was a team effort and that’s what it takes to win," head coach Jim Morris said. "We’ve had some very talented teams, but it wasn’t necessarily the best team that won, it was the team that played together as a team.

I've Been Waiting For This Moment For All My Life

Junior catcher Zack Collins was selected in the first round of the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Chicago White Sox Thursday night, becoming the first Hurricane drafted in the first round since 2010.

Collins, a Baseball America first-team All-American, was selected 10th overall by Chicago. He is the first Hurricane to be selected by the White Sox since the 2009 season, and the 14th MLB first-round selection in Miami history.

“It’s indescribable, a dream come true for me,” Collins said. “I’m very excited to hopefully compete for a national championship coming up, and then get my professional career started for the White Sox. I’m proud to be a part of such a great organization.”

The lefthanded slugger delivered another dominant season both hitting and behind the plate in 2016. A finalist for the Johnny Bench Award honoring the nation’s top catcher, Collins is also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award presented by USA Baseball and the Dick Howser Trophy, honoring the nation’s top collegiate player.

“I had an idea of where I was going to go, but there’s nothing like hearing the commissioner of the MLB [Rob Manfred] call your name,” Collins said. “My dad was crying, just hugging him, celebrating with my family, knowing that all the hard work that has been put into it has finally paid off…it was an amazing feeling.”

Collins has batted .358 for the season with team-leading totals of 13 home runs and 53 RBI. His 69 walks are tops amongst all players nationwide, while his .534 on-base percentage and .631 slugging percentage are also team highs and rank among the ACC’s best figures.

The Pembroke Pines, Fla., native continued his ascent into the Miami record books with another prolific year, and currently ranks among the top 10 all-time in both home runs and RBI as a Hurricane.

Zack Attack!

Junior catcher Zack Collins was among those players recognized with first-team All-America honors from Baseball America, the publication announced Tuesday.

The selection of Collins to the first team by Baseball America marks the second straight season that a Hurricane has earned first-team honors; former third baseman David Thompson earned the distinction in 2015. Collins is the 16th Hurricane in history to earn Baseball America First-Team All-America honors, and the 10th under head coach Jim Morris.

Collins, a first-team All-ACC selection for the second straight year, delivered another dominant season both hitting and behind the plate in 2016. A finalist for the Johnny Bench Award honoring the nation’s top catcher, Collins is also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award presented by USA Baseball and the Dick Howser Trophy, honoring the nation’s top collegiate player.

Collins has batted .358 for the season with team-leading totals of 13 home runs and 53 RBI. His 69 walks are tops amongst all players nationwide, while his .534 on-base percentage and .631 slugging percentage are also team highs and rank among the ACC’s best figures.

The Pembroke Pines native continued his ascent into the Miami record books with another prolific year, and currently ranks among the top 10 all-time in both home runs and RBI as a Hurricane.

His 38 career home runs are tied with Randy Guerra (1976-79) and Manny Crespo (1998-2000) for the eighth-most in Hurricane history, while his 177 career RBI are 10th-most. Collins’ 69 walks in 2016 are tied with Fiore (1988) for the fifth-most in a single season in Miami history.

The Water Had Turned Red

In memory of all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice on D-Day...

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune, commonly known as D-Day).

A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August.

The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion in 1944 was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), and General Bernard Montgomery was named as commander of the 21st Army Group, which comprised all the land forces involved in the invasion.

The Normandy coast was chosen as the site of the invasion, with the Americans assigned to land at sectors code named Utah and Omaha, the British at Sword and Gold, and the Canadians at Juno. To meet the conditions expected on the Normandy beachhead, special technology was developed, including two artificial ports called Mulberry harbours and an array of specialized tanks nicknamed Hobart's Funnies.

In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, Operation Bodyguard, using both electronic and visual misinformation. This misled the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in charge of developing fortifications all along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion.

The Allies failed to reach their goals for the first day, but gained a tenuous foothold that they gradually expanded as they captured the port at Cherbourg on 26 June and the city of Caen on 21 July. A failed counterattack by German forces on 8 August led to 50,000 soldiers of the German 7th Army being trapped in the Falaise pocket. The Allies launched an invasion of southern France (code-named Operation Dragoon) on 15 August, and the Liberation of Paris followed on 25 August. German forces retreated across the Seine on 30 August 1944, marking the close of Operation Overlord.

Note: information is from Wikipedia. You can help by clicking on the donate tab on their home page.

Save The Drama For Your Momma

Sophomore Carl Chester capped a three-hit day with the go-ahead single in the top of the 11^th inning, as the No. 1 seed Hurricanes topped No. 3 seed Long Beach State 4-3 in a winners’ bracket game at the NCAA Coral Gables Regional.

Miami (47-11) was one strike away from securing a place in the Coral Gables Regional Championship Game two innings earlier, but an unlikely, pinch-hit home run by Dirtbags infielder Jeff Nellis with two outs in the bottom of the ninth forced extra innings.

Chester’s single to left off LBSU reliever Austin McGeorge was just the second two-out hit of the night for the Hurricanes, and scored junior Jacob Heyward to put Miami ahead. Heyward walked to open the 11th, took second on a sacrifice bunt, and then beat the throw from left fielder Garrett Nelson, sliding in safe at home and sending 2,530 fans into an early celebration.

Freshman Andrew Cabezas (3-1) tossed the game’s final 1.2 innings, needing just 23 pitches to finish off the win.

LBSU plays FAU in an elimination game Sunday at 1 p.m. The Hurricanes will play the winner of that game Sunday night at 7 p.m. with a chance to advance to the NCAA Super Regional round for the second straight season.

Squaring off against 2016 Big West Pitcher of the Year Darren McCaughan of LBSU, Miami All-ACC lefthander Michael Mediavilla delivered a seven-inning, 104-pitch gem.

Mediavilla proved himself a worthy competitor to McCaughan, as he scattered seven hits and allowed just two runs in one of his strongest outings of the season.

The Hurricanes trailed for the early parts of the game and didn’t take their first lead until the seventh inning, when a botched defensive play by the Dirtbags (37-21) put Miami ahead 3-2.

Freshman Frankie Bartow pitched a scoreless eighth before the late dramatics from Nellis.