Feb. 8, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - In its final preparation prior to the 2007 Conference USA Indoor Championship, the UCF women's track and field team travels to the two-day Clemson Tiger Invitational on Friday, Feb. 9. The Golden Knights kickoff the meet with the shot put at 5 p.m. on Friday and continue competition on Saturday.
Both junior Virginia Traynor (Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian HS) and freshman LaKendra Thames (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange HS) are currently ranked in the league's top 10 in the shot put. Thames owns the school's freshman record in the event at 49-feet, 11.50 inches, while Traynor has a season-best throw of 42-3. Freshman Jessica Francis (Orlando, Fla./Boone HS) also participates in the shot put.
Traynor and Thames are featured in the weight throw as well.
Meanwhile, sophomore Dione Thomas (Jacksonville, Fla./Raines HS) and freshman Ricki Sullivan (Santa Cruz, Calif./Harbor HS) compete in the horizontal jumps. Last weekend at the New Balance Invitational, Thomas placed fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 39-5.25 and 10th in the long jump at 18-9.25. Both marks place her in the conference's top 10. Sullivan earned season-best marks of 17-11.50 in the long jump and 37-3 in the triple jump earlier in the season.
In the pole vault, senior and school recordholder Katie Fowke (Tampa, Fla./Riverview HS) will try to better her season-best mark of 10-11.75 as she goes head-to-head with sophomore Brittney McDermott (Oviedo HS). Meanwhile, freshman Katorie Stinney (Rockledge HS) aims to improve upon her season-best leap of 5-4.25 in the high jump.
Looking toward the pentathlon at the conference championship, sophomore Sheree Carter (Tallahassee, Fla./Godby HS) is entered in both the high jump and 60m hurdles. Carter is ranked second all-time at UCF and third on the C-USA depth chart in the pentathlon after scoring 3,366 points at the Gladstein Invitational at the end of January. Junior and fellow multi-event athlete Tia Harwood (Wyandach, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East HS) joins her in the 60m hurdles.
Also on the track, freshman Feyisara Adaramola (Bronx, N.Y./Trevor Day School) races in the 60m and 200m. She was only one-hundreth of a second off the school record in the 60m dash with a time of 7.61 at the New Balance Invitational and also holds the freshman record in the 200m at 25.23, which she set at the Gladstein Invitational.
In the longer distances, freshman Jenny Clausen (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial HS) vies for the individual title in the 3,000m after breaking the school record in that same event and the 5,000m earlier in consecutive meets earlier this season.
Senior captain Karen Kozub (Alden, N.Y./Alden HS) and sophomore Jamie Rzepecki (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora HS) run the mile. Last weekend in New York, Kozub established a new school record in the 1,000m, while Rzepecki is fresh from running a personal best of 10:26.19 in the 3,000m. The duo is joined by freshman and fellow middle distance runner Carley Dart (Whitby, Ontario/Father Leo J. Austin HS) for the distance medley relay.
The Golden Knights travel to Houston, Texas for the 2007 C-USA Indoor Championship, which takes place from Feb. 23-24. For the latest news and information on the Golden Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF athletics.