April 27, 2011
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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - After making the leap back into the national Top 25 at No. 17 this week, the UCF outdoor track & field will return to competition at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia beginning Thursday morning. The Knights last ran on April 16 at Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville.
The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track & field competition in the United States, beginning in 1895 and features more than 10,000 participants from high schools, colleges and clubs from home and abroad. The event is hosted by the University of Pennsylvania at historic Franklin Field.
The Knights are scheduled to compete in 12 events over the three days of competition. Thursday marks the first day for UCF and will see the Black and Gold run in the 400-meter hurdles, the 4x100 relay, and the 4x400 relay, while also competing in the long jump. Jacquelyn Gilchrist will represent the Knights in the college division of the long jump at 4 p.m., while sophomore Sonnisha Williams will compete in the championship division at noon.
Thursday's championship division of the 400-meter hurdles will feature Sandy Jean and Aisha-Maree Frazier. The event is slated for a 10 a.m. start.
The second day will see UCF compete in seven events: 4x100 relay, 4x200 relay, shuttle hurdles, the triple jump, 100 meters, 100-meter hurdles and the sprint medley.
Dominique Booker, Lynne Layne and Sheila Paul will all run in Friday's preliminary heats of the 100 meters, which begin at 3:30 p.m. The 100-meter hurdles will also have three Knights competing as Jackie Coward, Karessa Farley and Mica Wimberly will run in the first day of heats set to start at 3:50 p.m.
The Knights will wrap up the weekend with the 4x800- and the 4x400-meter relays as well as the finals in the 4x200 relay, the 100 meters and 100-meter hurdles. The 4x800, like Friday's sprint medley and shuttle hurdles, is in the Championship of America division.
Less than a week after representing Antigua at the CARIFTA Games in Jamaica and winning a bronze in the 400 meters, Afia Charles will also be making the trip with her teammates to compete in some of the relay events. Charles won bronze in a personal-best 54.23 in the Under 20 division Saturday afternoon.
Following the few days in Philadelphia, the team will return to Orlando to host the UCF Twilight on Thursday, May 5. The Twilight is the final home meet of the season and will feature a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of the new UCF Soccer and Track Stadium.