March 10, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - After two school-record setting performance at the Virginia Tech Last Chance meet on Saturday, the UCF track and field team will have three student-athletes competing in the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 13-14 in College Station, Texas.
With three participants on the women's side, UCF will be better represented than any other Conference USA school. The three athletes also mark the first time the program has sent multiple athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships. Current sophomore Lizzie Harris (Miami, Fla.) was the first Knight to earn a place in the meet a season ago when she qualified in the high jump.
After shattering her own school record in the triple jump at the Virginia Tech Last Chance Meet, senior Dione Thomas (Jacksonville, Fla.) will enter the NCAA Championships with the seventh-highest mark in the country this season. Thomas jumped 43-7.0/13.28m, well over a foot more than the previous school record she set in 2008. Thomas won the C-USA Indoor Event Championship in the triple jump on Feb. 28 with a mark of 41-7.0/12.67m.
Junior Tiki James (Miami, Fla.) also used a strong showing at Virginia Tech to post one of the nation's top-10 times of 2009. James, who lost her school record in the 60-meter hurdles to freshman Jackie Coward (Knoxville, Tenn.) at the C-USA Indoor Championships despite finishing second, reclaimed it Saturday with a time of 8.17. The time bested Coward's previous best by just two-hundredths of a second and is good for the ninth-best nationally this season.
Coward will also make the trip to the NCAA Championships and compete in the 60-meter hurdles. On the strength of the 8.19 she ran at the C-USA Indoor Championships on Feb. 27, Coward will enter with the 11th-best time in the country. The time broke the meet record for the league's indoor meet.
Continue to log on to UCFAthletics.com for updated heat and flight information for all three athletes as the trio prepares for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.