Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Wimbley caps UM career with 2nd in 400M final
She had hoped to finish her Miami Hurricanes career with a double national championship.
But Shakima Wimbley — one of the most decorated sprinters in Miami history — came up just short.
Though Wimbley pushed hard down the final stretch of the 400-meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Saturday night, she couldn’t catch Texas’ Chrisann Gordon, whose 50.51 gave her the national title. Wimbley secured national runner-up status with a time of 50.68.
A former star at Fort Lauderdale’s Dillard High, Wimbley won the 400 at the NCAA’s indoor championships earlier this year with a world-leading time of 51.07. Gordon was third in that race.
Though she came up short in her quest to become Miami’s first double national champion since Kimberli Barrett won both the indoor and outdoor shotput titles in 2005, Wimbley leaves Miami as one of the most successful sprinters in Hurricanes history.
During her four-year career, Wimbley swept the ACC titles in her two individual events, the 200 and the 400 meters. This year, she won her fourth consecutive 200-meter conference title with a time of 22.83, setting an ACC record. She defended her 400 indoor title with an NCAA-leading 51.28 that was also an ACC and Miami record. And she has anchored the Hurricanes’ relay teams, the 4x400 group helping Miami clinch the ACC’s team championship.
During the outdoor season, she defended her 400 ACC title with a 50.40, a mark that set an ACC record, an ACC Championships record and a Hurricanes record. And there too, she set the pace for the relays with the 4x400 group again winning the ACC title.
Wimbley is one of 10 women on the watch list for the Bowerman Award, which is given annually to the top male and female NCAA track and field athletes. She was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association South Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year ahead of the national meet and will now turn her attention to her post-college career, with her sights already set on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Wimbley just missed the Olympics last year, something she said has motivated her this season.
“Oh yeah, I just think about that sweet redemption,” Wimbley told the Sun Sentinel ahead of the NCAA outdoor national meet. “This is something I love and I know the main reason I’m in track and field is to show the world how much God has blessed me . ... ”