March 11, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Freshman UCF jumper Lizzie Harris (Miami, Fla.) became the first athlete in UCF school history to qualify for the NCAA Indoor National Championships, when she earned an at-large bid in the high jump to this week's meet in Fayetteville, Ark., the NCAA announced late Monday evening.
Harris became UCF's first-ever Conference USA Individual Champion two weeks ago when she claimed the high jump at the conference meet in Houston, Texas. She won the title with a leap of 5-10, which is just shy of her school-record jump of 5-10.75, set at the Frank Sevigne Invitational in early February. Harris scored 10 points in the high jump and added three points with a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter dash to become the team's top points scorer at the conference meet.
"This is a great accomplishment for UCF track and field to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history," UCF head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said. "This is great experience for Lizzie and our entire program. Every year, we are going to have more and more athletes qualifying for the NCAA Championships until we reach our goal of a national championship."
Harris will compete at 3:30 p.m. EDT on Friday in the Randal Tyson Track Center. Live statistics will be available at www.ladybacks.com.
Harris became just the second athlete in school history to qualify for any national championship event, as LesSundra Ford advanced to the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas, in the high jump.
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--UCFAA--