Knights in El Paso: Daily Track BlogKnights in El Paso: Daily Track Blog

Knights in El Paso: Daily Track Blog

May 16, 2008

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EL PASO, Texas - The UCF track and field team is in its second day of competition at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships hosted by UTEP.

10:15 a.m. EDT - Junior Sheree Carter is headed to the track to begin preparing for the final three events in the heptathlon. Today's events include the long jump, the javelin and the 800-meter run. She is currently in first place and looking to claim the C-USA title in the heptathlon.

10:27 a.m. EDT - There are dreary conditions in El Paso this morning for the Conference USA meet. The temperature at this time is 54 degrees with a 60-percent chance of rain. Winds are coming from the East at nearly 20 miles per hour. The Knights have really had to combat windy conditions throughout this meet that are unlike most locations. The good news is that UCF faced similar conditions in Nashville, Tenn., in mid-April when they traveled to the Vanderbilt Invitational.

12:05 p.m. EDT - Sheree Carter battled incredibly windy conditions in the long jump, including a wind reading of +4.7, to finish first in the event with a leap of 18-2.25/5.54m. The winning jump came on her second attempt. She holds a commanding lead in the heptathlon with the javelin and the 800-meter run still to come.

12:48 p.m. EDT - - Carter finished eighth in the javelin throw with a toss of 64-5/19.64m. She now holds a narrow lead over SMU's Lauren Kuhner, who won the javelin with a toss of 118-8/36.16m. The 800-meter run remains and it should be a close one with the conference heptathlon title on the line.

1:31 p.m. EDT - Carter started out a little on the fast side to begin the 800-meter run and then fell behind Tulsa's Brianna Steel. Carter gave Steel a run for her money on the final 100 meters of the race, finishing second in a time of 2:27.76. That was enough to give Carter the heptathlon win with 4,833 points. Carter's heptathlon win marks the first individual event outdoor C-USA title in school history. Lizzie Harris claimed the high jump championship at the Conference USA Indoor meet to give the Knights their first-ever league event title.

7:02 p.m. EDT - Sophomore LaKendra Thames threw a regional-qualifying mark of 47-8/14.53m in the shot put, just shy of her personal-best in that event. Senior Virginia Traynor concluded her collegiate career with a season-best throw of 43-10.75/13.38m. The running events are scheduled to commence soon with senior Karen Kozub running in the 1,500-meter.

7:37 p.m. EDT - Senior Karen Kozub finished fourth in her heat in the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:41.18. The top two times in each heat plus the next eight best times qualify for finals. Kozub made it through to finals with the seventh-best time in the event. She has to run again tonight, however, as she competes in the 800-meter run at 9:30 p.m. EDT.

8:09 p.m. EDT - What a 100-meter hurdle race for the Knights! Three UCF athletes qualified for finals in the event, freshman Lizzie Harris broke the school record with a time of 13.77 (+0.2), also a regional-qualifying mark. Victoria Chin and Sheree Carter also qualified for finals. Chin also recorded a regional-qualifying time of 13.84 (+0.5). It was a valiant effort for Carter, who won the heptathlon title earlier in the day.

8:19 p.m. EDT - Dione Thomas finished sixth in the long jump with a leap of 19-2.75/5.86m. She has already regionally-qualified in the long jump, as well as the triple jump this season. Thomas has to get ready to compete again quickly as she participates in the 100-meter dash at 9 p.m. EDT.

9:07 p.m. EDT - Thomas qualified for the finals in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.99. Earier this season she broke UCF's school record in that event with a time of 11.83.

9:17 p.m. EDT - Freshman Lizzie Harris finished tied for second in the high jump with a leap of 5-5/1.65m. She already qualified regionally in that event last weekend at the UCF Invitational.

9:49 p.m. EDT - Each of UCF's three athletes competing in the 800-meter run qualified for finals in that event. Shantile Blackburn, Kristen Zieminski and Karen Kozub all will compete in tomorrow's final. Coach Caryl Smith Gilbert was especially pleased with the gutsy running effort of senior Kristen Zieminksi in that race. It also was a feat for Kozub, who qualified in the 1,500-meter run earlier in the day.

10:12 p.m. EDT - Lizzie Harris (1:00.89) and Victoria Chin (1:02.03) each qualfied for the finals in the 400-meter hurdles to take place Saturday evening.

12:02 p.m. EDT - To conclude the day, the Knights had 10 qualifiers for finals, three regional-qualifying marks and a school record in the 100-meter hurdles.