June 11, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - UCF's Tiki James (Miami, Fla.) placed second in her heat of the 100 meter hurdle preliminaries to advance to the semifinals and highlight UCF's participation on Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the University of Arkansas' McDonnell Field.
James' time of 13.31 seconds was second in her heat, earning her a trip to Friday's semifinals which will be run at 7:55 p.m. ET. The top four finishers in each of the two semifinals, plus the best fifth-place finisher, will advance to Saturday's final. James was seeded sixth overall heading into the NCAAs.
Earlier on Thursday, two Knights competed in the preliminaries of the discus but did not finish in the top 12 to advance to the final. Junior Kelsey Poljansek (Milton, Kan.) placed 19th with a 156-6/47.70m throw while fellow junior LaKendra Thames (Winter Garden, Fla.) placed 27th with a 144-9/44.11m throw.
James will be one of three Knights in action on Friday in Fayetteville. Sophomore Lizzie Harris (Miami, Fla.) will compete in the finals of the high jump, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday. Harris qualified for the final on Wednesday when she was one of 15 student-athletes to clear 5-9.75/1.77m in the preliminary round, doing so dramatically on her final attempt. Also on Friday, senior Dione Thomas (Jacksonville, Fla.) will compete in triple jump preliminaries, starting at 4 p.m. ET.
CBS College Sports network will have live coverage of Friday's competition from 6-9 p.m.
After Friday, all five of the UCF qualifiers will have competed at the 2009 national showcase. Prior to this year, UCF had only previously seen one entrant in the NCAA Championships, LesSundra Ford (high jump) in 2004.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to 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 UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.