Oct. 14, 2010
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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - With just under three weeks remaining until the Conference USA Championships, the UCF cross country team will continue its preparation with Friday's Hatter Invitational hosted by Stetson in DeLand, Fla. The Knights last ran in the Disney Cross Country Classic on Saturday morning, placing 10th.
"This week and next week are going to be used as final tune-ups for us," cross country coach Paul Brown said. "Some of the team will be running in their final race this week, so I really want to push them and make sure that they are pushing themselves."
In all five races for the Knights this season, senior Ocean Cohen has finished as the team's top runner. At Disney, Cohen crossed the line in 39th-place, posting a time of 19:04.4.
UCF posted its fastest average time of finish on Saturday with its top five runners combining to average 19:29.52. Sophomore Alyssa Franks helped that time with a 48th-place finish in 19:16.00. Senior Carley Dart followed with a time of 19:18.90, good for 49th overall.
Freshman Sierra Solaun crossed the line in 66th at 19:48.60 as the fourth Knight to finish. Fellow freshman Danielle Scaffidi was the final UCF runner to earn points as she posted a time of 20:01.70 to finish 80th. "Our top five runners are continuing to work on the strategic running that we are trying to implement," Brown added. "Meets like the one Friday are final tune-ups for these runners. They want to go out and compete so they can be ready when the conference meet comes up in a few weeks."
The Knights also saw finishing times from Ne'Ausha Logan (81st, 20:03.40), Mason Gardberg (106th, 20:34.30), Erica Winston (116th, 20:49.50), Dan'elle Ballamy (151st, 22:00.00), Eva Pierce (180th, 23:29.50) and Aisha-Maree Frazier (202nd, 25:29.50).
UCF will run the 5K course, with race time set to begin at 5 p.m.