Jan. 15, 2005
ORLANDO - Junior Astrid Claessens placed third in the mile as the UCF women's track and field team opened up its indoor season at the Florida Intercollegiate on Saturday.
Claessens, who was a late entry for the Golden Knights, crossed the finish line in a time of 5:13.01 to top all UCF athletes, while sophomore Karen Kozub took eighth at 5:20.32. Freshman Elizabeth Miller also placed 11th in the event at 5:27.40 followed by junior Andrea Morrow in 12th at 5:29.43.
Also finishing in the top 10, junior transfer Marivi Mercado was ninth in the 3,000m with a time of 10:50. In her collegiate debut, rookie Vicky Chin finished seventh in the 400m at 59.61 and ninth in the 55m hurdles at 8:19, setting a school record in the latter. Sophomore LaToya Williams also ran to an eighth place showing in the 400m.
In the field events, senior captain Ann-Louise Larsen earned seventh in the high jump with a leap of 5-4.25 and junior Rian Thomas was tenth in the weight throw with a mark of 49-5.75.
The Golden Knights return to action on Jan. 22 at the Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nev., then the entire team competes in the Carolina Classic on Feb. 5.