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Winter Garden's Thames Breaks UCF Freshman Record at Florida Relays

April 7, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (www.UCFAthletics.com) - Freshman LaKendra Thames (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange HS) broke the school's freshman record en route to winning the discus as the UCF women's track and field capped of competition at the Florida Relays on Saturday.

Thames captured top honors with a throw of 149-feet, 10 inches to establish the new record. Earlier this season, she also set freshman records in the shot put and the weight throw. The former recordholder, junior Sade Kusimo (Winter Park, Fla./Lake Howell HS) took third in the event at 135-10, while freshman Jessica Francis (Orlando, Fla./Boone HS) was fifth at 131-5.

Later in the day, Thames took 11th in the shot put with a toss of 41-6.50.

Meanwhile, sophomore Dione Thomas (Jacksonville, Fla./Raines HS) posted a personal-best leap of 40-4.25 for sixth place in the triple jump "A" division. The effort ranks third all-time at UCF and narrowly missed meeting the NCAA Regional standard. Earlier in the afternoon, her classmate Ricki Sullivan (Santa Cruz, Calif./Harbor HS) recorded a personal-best mark of 38-11.75 to place second in the triple jump "B" division.

Representing the UCF men's cross country squad, junior Paul Fitzpatrick (Ocala, Fla./Vanguard HS) broke the school record in the 3,000m steeplechase at 9:42.37.

The 4x400m relay team of senior Jenny Rogan, sophomore Olinka Crusoe, junior Victoria Chin and freshman Stephanie Knapp capped off the night with a season-best time of 3:48.79 as the Knights' finished 10th in the event.

Next up, the Knights split up the squad as they travel to the Seas Ray Relays from Friday, April 13 through Saturday, April 14 and to the Miami Elite Invitational on Saturday, April 14. For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF athletics.