February 20, 2008

Track and Field Travels to Final Indoor Regular-Season Tune-Up

Feb. 21, 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF track and field travels to Chapel Hill, N.C., this weekend for its final indoor regular season tune-up before the Conference USA Championships at the end of the month. The Knights will be participating in the one-day Dick Taylor Relays that commence at 11 a.m. Saturday in Eddie Smith Field House on the University of North Carolina campus.

The Knights, who have shattered 11 school records already this season, will look to set numerous personal-best times and marks this weekend in an effort to show continued improvement as the indoor season winds down. The meet will consist of teams primarily from the state of North Carolina and will also feature several teams from Conference USA and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"This weekend we are sending a team to Chapel Hill to help get us ready for the Conference USA Championships next weekend," UCF head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said. "This will be a great tune-up and an opportunity for our athletes to do some fine tuning and work on their race plans. Coach [Mason] Cathey and Coach [John] Ridgway will be leading our team in North Carolina and we are looking for a few more PRs and, hopefully, some NCAA provisional marks. This meet should be a great confidence builder as we prepare for the Conference USA meet."

Last weekend, split squads competed at the prestigious Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Carolina Chick Fil-A Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Knights broke two school records as Dione Thomas (Jacksonville, Fla.) broke a seven-year-old school record in the triple jump, while Shantile Blackburn (Brooklyn, N.Y.) broke her own school record in the 800-meter run.

The Conference USA Championships take place Feb. 29-March 1 in Houston, Texas. The two-day event will be held at the Yeoman Field House, hosted by the University of Houston.

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. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.

60-Meter Dash Preliminaries (Auto: 7.26; Prov: 7.44) - 11:50 a.m.

60-Meter Hurdle Preliminaries (Auto: 8.14; Prov: 8.43) - 11:30 a.m.