May 30, 2009
GREENSBORO, N.C. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF track and field team is competing in the NCAA East Regionals Friday and Saturday in Greensboro, N.C., on the campus of North Carolina A&T. Head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert's team sent a school-record nine athletes to the regionals being held at Irwin Belk Track.
Saturday's action will include UCF athletes competing in the triple jump, shot put, high jump and 100-meter hurdles.
Check UCFAthletics.com throughout the day for live updates from Greensboro.
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.
3:50 p.m. - Senior Dione Thomas (Jacksonville, Fla.) advances to the NCAA Championships with strong effort in the triple jump. Thomas was down to her final of three jumps, and the senior came through with a personal-best 43-5.75/13.25m. With that as her top mark, Thomas finished fourth and punched her ticket to nationals in Fayetteville, Ark. Still awaiting word on the wind reading on Thomas' mark, but if the wind was less than 2.0 meters per second she will have set a new school record.
5:10 p.m. - Junior Kesley Poljansek (Milton, Kan.) advanced past the first stage of the finals in the shot put with a top throw of 48-9.0/14.86m. Poljansek finished the event in ninth place.
5:31 p.m. - With Thomas advancing to nationals in the triple jump, the Knights currently have two athletes on their way to the NCAAs in Fayetteville. Thomas joins LaKendra Thames (Winter Garden, Fla.), who finished fourth Friday in the discus. Junior Tiki James (Miami, Fla.) and sophomore Lizzie Harris (Miami, Fla.) will both look to join them with strong performances in the 100-meter hurdles and high jump respectively.
5:49 p.m. - James shatters her own previous school record in the 100-meter hurdles and finishes second to automatically qualify for NCAA nationals. The junior from Miami crossed the finish line in 13.03 seconds.
6:58 p.m. - The last UCF competitor of the day, sophomore Lizzie Harris (Miami, Fla.) finished sixth in the high jump with a top mark of 5-10/1.78m. Despite just missing the top five and an automatic spot in the NCAA Championships, Harris is in a strong position to qualify as part of the national descending order list.
7:05 p.m. - With the NCAA East Regionals in the books for UCF, the Knights will send three automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Championships - James, Thomas and Thames. With Poljansek and Harris in prime position to also qualify, UCF could have five athletes in Fayetteville from June 10-13.