May 15, 2008
EL PASO, Texas (www.ucfathletics.com) - UCF junior Sheree Carter (Tallahassee, Fla.) is currently in first place after four events in the women's heptathlon Thursday at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships at Kidd Stadium. Carter claimed three of the four events on Thursday and will conclude the heptathlon with the long jump, javelin and 800-meter run beginning at 11:30 a.m. EDT Friday.
The three-day C-USA Outdoor Championships are being hosted by the University of Texas-El Paso.
Carter finished first in the 100-meter hurdles and qualified for the NCAA East Regional in that event with a time of 13.88 (+1.1). She also finished first in the high jump (5-3/1.60m) and 200-meter dash (25.04, +2.2), while placing sixth in the shot put (31-6.50/9.61m).
Carter holds the lead with 3,118 points and is 255 points ahead of her nearest competitor, Lauren Kuhner of SMU (2,863 points). Her NCAA regional-qualifying time in the 100-meter hurdles marked the 11th NCAA regional-qualifying mark/time by the Knights this season, which is a school record for most regional qualifiers in a single season in school history.
Senior Virginia Traynor (Miami, Fla.) recorded a personal-best toss of 161-9/49.31m to finish seventh in the hammer throw and earn two team points for the Knights. Traynor, whose personal-best mark in that event heading into the C-USA meet was 158-2/48.20m, recorded a throw of 156-0/47.54m in the preliminaries before shattering her personal best on the first throw of the finals.
Before entering the stadium, UCF got two pieces of good news on Thursday that jump-started a series of strong performances on the track. Senior Elizabeth Miller (Orlando, Fla.) was accepted to medical school at USUHS in Maryland, while senior Kristen Zieminski (Sarasota, Fla.) was named to the 2008 Conference USA Track and Field All-Academic Team.
"The first day of the Conference USA meet was very eventful," UCF head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said. "We started out the day on a high note when we heard that Elizabeth Miller was accepted to medical school and Kristen Zieminski was named Academic All-Conference.
"Sheree Carter is sitting in good position in the heptathlon," Smith Gilbert continued. "She had a PR in the 100-meter hurdles and got a regional-qualifying mark. It was something that I knew she was capable of doing, it was just nice to see her perform up to her level of ability in that event. Virginia Traynor turned in an exciting performance in the last Conference USA meet of her career. For her too PR in the finals really made me happy for her. She is moving on and really ending her career here at UCF in fine fashion."
Ocean Cohen (Sarasota, Fla.), Kelly McNeill (Coral Springs, Fla.) and Allison Palmer (Oviedo, Fla.) closed out the night by each running strong in the 10,000-meter run.
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UCF Results - Day One of Conference USA Championships (El Paso, Texas - Kidd Stadium)
Heptathlon (NCAA Auto: 5,500; NCAA Prov: 5,050)
1. Sheree Carter - 3,118 points
1. 100-Meter Hurdles - 13.88 (+1.1) a 995 points
1. High Jump - 5-3/1.60m 736 points
6. Shot Put - 31-6.50/9.61m 504 points
1. 200-Meter Dash - 25.04 (+2.2) a 883 points
Hammer Throw (RQS: 177-8/54.15m)
7. Virginia Traynor - 161-9/49.31m
10,000-Meter Run (NCAA Auto: 34:14.58; NCAA Prov: 35:43.58)
12. Ocean Cohen - 40:42.06
15. Kelly McNeill - 42:00.26
16. Allison Palmer - 42:31.59
Women's C-USA Outdoor Championship Standings (Through May 15)
1. Rice - 21
2. Tulane - 11
3. UTEP - 10
4. Memphis - 8
5. UAB - 7
6. Southern Miss - 6
7. SMU - 5
8. Tulsa - 4
9. Marshall - 3
10. UCF - 2
11. East Carolina - 1