May 12, 2007
HOUSTON, Texas (www.UCFAthletics.com) - All-conference performances from junior hurdler Victoria Chin (Orlando, Fla./Oak Ridge HS) and senior pole vaulter Katie Fowke (Tampa, Fla./Riverview HS) helped UCF finish fifth overall at the 2007 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Rice's Wendel D. Ley Track on Saturday.
Championship host Rice won the women's overall trophy with 146.50 points followed by UTEP (122 pts.) and Houston (105). Tulsa was fourth with 88.83 points and UCF earned 66.33 points for fifth place, bettering its ninth place finish during the 2006 conference championship.
Individually, the Knights posted personal bests in the finals of both hurdle events. In the 400-meter hurdles, Chin took second place and earned all-conference honors with a time of 59.60. The effort improved upon her previous NCAA Regional qualifying mark of 60.38 and also ranked second all-time at UCF. Earlier in the evening, Chin finished fourth in the 100m hurdles at 14.17.
Also in the 400m hurdles, sophomore Natalie Braddock (Callahan, Fla./West Nassau HS) went 62.16 to claim fifth place.
After garnering all-conference honors in the 10,000m on Friday, freshman Jenny Clausen (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial HS) settled for fifth in the 5,000m run at 17:39.55.
In the field events, Fowke earned all-conference honors in the pole vault after tying for second place with a mark of 11-feet, 11.75 inches.
Freshman LaKendra Thames (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange HS) recorded a throw of 149-1 to finish fourth in the discus, while classmate Jessica Francis (Orlando, Fla./Boone HS) was seventh at 145-11.
Sophomore Dione Thomas (Jacksonville, Fla./Raines HS) contributed points with her eighth place finish in the triple jump as she leaped 39-10.75.
Capping off the night, the 4x400m relay team of senior Jenny Rogan, Chin, sophomore Olinka Crusoe and freshman Stephanie Knapp took seventh.
Both Chin and Thames will continue to represent the Knights in the postseason when they compete at the NCAA East Regional from May 25-26 in Gainesville, Fla. For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports.