March 1, 2008
Final C-USA Meet Resultsin PDF Format
HOUSTON (www.ucfathletics.com) - UCF freshman Lizzie Harris (Miami, Fla.) won the high jump and junior Dione Thomas (Jacksonville, Fla.) set the school record in the triple jump Saturday as the Knights concluded the Conference USA Indoor Championships in eighth place at Yeoman Field House. The two-day event was hosted by the University of Houston.
UCF scored 46 points over the two-day event to finish eighth overall, besting last season's ninth-place finish at the indoor championships. Rice captured its second consecutive C-USA title with 133.5 total points, while UTEP was second with 114.5 points. Just nine points separated fourth place from eighth place at the meet.
Harris finished first in the high jump 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. Thomas broke her own school record in the triple jump with a leap of 42-2, besting her previous record-setting mark of 41-4.50.
"Overall, we had a good showing at the conference meet this weekend," UCF head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said. "We were a competitive eighth-place team and only nine points separated eighth and fourth place. Lizzie Harris won the conference high jump as the freshman and that is a great accomplishment for her. Our hurdlers came through for us today, finishing in third and fourth place. Dione Thomas had a great meet and her performance today will move her up on the national lists. We are going to take these great accomplishments from the conference meet and build on them to have a strong outdoor season."
In the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, freshman Micaela Wimberly (Miami, Fla.) finished third and set the freshman school record, finishing in a time of 8.73 [8.723] to best teammate Victoria Chin's (Orlando Fla.) previous freshman record. Chin, now a senior, finished fourth in 8.73 [8.727].
A pair of UCF runners set personal-best times in the 3,000-meter run as Elizabeth Miller (Orlando, Fla.) finished in 10:27.91 and Kelly McNeill (Coral Springs, Fla.) followed in 10:30.43.
In addition to her win in the high jump, Harris finished sixth in the 400-meter dash in a time of 56.68.
From the start of indoor season through the Conference USA Championships, UCF athletes have set 12 indoor school records, including setting several school records multiple times over. The Knights also broke five freshman school records during the course of the season.
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2008 Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championships - Team Standings
1. Rice - 133.5
2. UTEP - 114.5
3. Memphis - 74.5
4. UAB - 55
5. Houston - 52
6. Tulane - 51
7. Tulsa - 48
8. UCF - 46
9. Southern Miss - 34
10. East Carolina - 25.5