CORAL GABLES, Fla (March 18, 2023) - The FIU track and field program opened up the 2023 outdoor campaign with an outstanding weekend at the Hurricane Invitational, setting the tone for an impressive season ahead with 17 personal bests, 10 NCAA top-25 marks, and two FIU freshman records.
Freshman
Christiana Ellina earned the victory in the javelin with a mark of 48.66m that is third all-time in FIU outdoor history, while
Filippa Miller, coming off second-team All-American honors last outdoor season, took first place in the pole vault with a leap of 4.15m.
"Christiana has been waiting her turn to officially compete, and started her FIU career on a terrific note," said head coach
Ryan Heberling. "Meanwhile - Filippa continues to do the right things and excel. Hats off to the both of them today."
Michaelle Valentin excelled in the throws, throwing a personal best of 59.97m in the hammer (second all-time in FIU history) to take second and 54.76m in the discus for second (third all-time). Those two marks currently rank her in the top ten of the NCAA rankings.
Raynell Chambers set a FIU freshman record in the 400m with a time of 47.46, good for fifth in a 23-person field, while
Cole Crkvenac set a FIU freshman record in the javelin with a mark of 65.80m.
Overall, FIU garnered eleven FIU all-time top five marks, and had nine finishes in the top three. Queshun Watson-Riggins finished second among college athletes in the long jump,
Celia Rifaterra second overall in the high jump,
Hannah Jansen third in the javelin,
Kayden Cecil third in the pole vault, and
Nicole Janse Van Rensburg third in the pole vault.
The Panthers will see split action next week, competing at both the UCF Knights Invitational and Hurricane Collegiate Invitational.
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