March 12, 2010
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF's Jackie Coward (Knoxville, Tenn.) got off to a good start Saturday evening in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., but unfortunately the sophomore was unable to advance to Saturday's final against an elite field.
Coward, an All-American in 2009, went off in the second heat and started well, but finished with a time of 8.29 seconds to finish seven-hundredths of a second shy of advancing to the final. Teammate Tiki James (Miami, Fla.), who claimed fifth place and All-American honors, was injured during warm-ups and unable to start the third heat.
"Tiki rolled her ankle in the warmups and unfortunately did not get to run," said head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert. "Jackie got off to a good start but hit the second hurdle and could not recover. Short hurdles is a volatile race and those things happen. We will not have any All-Americans in the indoor season but will get back to work on Monday and look forward to the outdoor season."
James is the UCF school record holder in the 60-meter hurdles and had run a season-best time of 8.19 earlier this season. Coward holds the freshman school record and won the 2010 Conference USA individual event championship two weeks ago.
With the indoor season in the books, UCF will turn its attention to the outdoor campaign, which begins on Saturday, March 20 when the Knights host the Black & Gold Challenge.
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