Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A track star’s triumph
UM’s Shakima Wimbley seeks to end collegiate career with a double national crown
UM’s Shakima Wimbley out for big finish.
CORAL GABLES — She has been on this stage several times already, but this time it feels different.
Maybe it’s because this weekend will mark the last time she races wearing Miami’s orange and green. Or maybe it’s because she’s still fueled by the fact she narrowly missed a chance to run in last year’s Olympics. But the most likely reason, Shakima Wimbley will say, is that now she believes in herself in a way she hasn’t during the first three years of her decorated Hurricanes career.
As she prepares to take the track Thursday night in Eugene, Ore., for her semifinal heat of the 400 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Wimbley has her sights on making history at Miami. She is aiming to become the program’s next double national champion and the first since Kimberli Barrett won both the indoor and outdoor shot put titles in 2005.
Wimbley — a former standout sprinter at Dillard High in Fort Lauderdale — already owns the NCAA’s indoor crown in the 400, a title she claimed with a world-leading time of 51.07 seconds back in March.
Adding the outdoor title would be a fitting way to end her time at Miami, a four-year stretch during which the tall sprinter has rewritten not just the Hurricanes’ record book, but the Atlantic Coast Conference’s records, too.
“It’s been a bittersweet feeling, knowing this is my last year,” said Wimbley, who will also compete in Miami’s 4x400 and 4x100 relays at nationals. “This year, I wanted to do what I’d never done before and accomplish a lot of goals that I’ve spoken on the past. … I want to be able to look back and say I gave it all I had.”
Despite her records, the fact she’s won confer-
“I want to be able to look back and say I gave it all I had.” Shakima Wimbley ,UM sprinter
ence titles in her eight individual events, and her All-American status, Wimbley is the first to concede she hasn’t always run her best in crucial moments.
Often, she’s been her own worst enemy, too awed by who was running beside her to accept the fact that she, too, belonged in that race and in the spotlight. An avid track fan herself, she has spent hours scouring and analyzing the times of her competitors, wondering if she could match up, if she belonged.
But last summer, when she finished fifth in the 400 at the U.S. Olympic Trials, something changed.
“I was extremely disappointed, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. The times that were run, I felt like I was capable of doing that. I’d done it at least twice,” Wimbley said. “And I felt like I should have made the team. I’d worked so hard to get to that point. Now I feel like it’s a blessing in disguise, because it sparked a new fire inside me. I came into this year and I was like, ‘No more losing. No more if I should’ve, if I could’ve, if I would’ve. Everything was going to be do or die, and I was going to lay it all on the line.”
Added longtime Miami track coach Amy Deem, who coached the US Olympic team in 2012: “I think that’s been the thing that’s gotten her over the top. … She’s talked a lot about the Olympic Trials and how disappointing that was. I think it’s been a great motivator for her going into NCAAs.”
Since coming up short that night in Eugene, there’s been no stopping Wimbley, who has remained true to her Dillard roots by often returning there to train during her breaks from school.
She won her fourth consecutive 200-meter ACC title with a time of 22.83, setting a conference record. She defended her 400 indoor title with an NCAA-leading 51.28 that was also an ACC and Miami record. And she paced the Hurricanes’ relay teams, the 4x400 group helping Miami clinch the ACC team title.
Her dominance has continued during the outdoor season, with Wimbley defending her 400 ACC title with a time of 50.40, a mark that set an ACC record. There, too, she set the pace for the relays with the 4x400 group again winning the ACC title.
At the national championship meet this weekend, she’ll face tough competition from Texas’ Chrisann Gordon, who has posted a 50.64 outdoor time and is ranked No. 2 just behind Wimbley, while Kendall Ellis of USC has posted a 50.66 and ranks third in the nation.
Even Miami teammate Aiyanna Stiverne could be a threat, the former Nova High standout earning a spot in the semifinals and posting a 52.19 that ranks among the top 12 times in the nation.
All season, Wimbley and Stiverne have pushed each other to succeed. They expect that will continue this weekend as they both look for both individual and relay titles.
“I’m going to make sure I’m pushing her or she’s pushing me. We have a great dynamic, and we know if one of us is slacking a little bit, then we can pick it up and make sure we keep each other balanced,” Stiverne said. “When we warm up for the 400 together, we make sure our heads are in the game and we’re good before we even get in the blocks.”
Ultimately, that’s part of what Wimbley says has made her time at Miami so memorable.
All the success has all been special. But finding teammates and coaches willing to push her to become the athlete — and person — she has become will be what she misses most after Saturday’s finals.
“I try not to think about this being my last meet at Miami,” Wimbley said. “At ACCs and regionals, I had to walk away a couple of times. I just love my ‘U’ family so much. I don’t think they’ll ever understand what they did for me. … These people gave me this opportunity, they trusted in me. They believed in me. They saw something I didn’t see in myself and they’ve been there 100 percent. … I’m so grateful.”
Added Deem, “She’s been that rock for our team. She’s not a vocal leader, but she’s definitely led by example … It’ll definitely be a sad moment after that last race, but I’m looking forward to her future. She’s going to have a great career moving forward.”