Oct. 8, 2010
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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Through the first four weeks of the season, the UCF cross country team has posted some impressive team finishes. Twice the Knights have finished first, while running to a second-place team finish last weekend at the FLRunners.com Invitational in Titusville. The team will look to continue this success when it runs in the Disney Cross Country Classic at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista Saturday morning.
The Knights will run in the second meet of the day when the women's college 5K race begins at 8:30 a.m. The field will feature nearly 40 teams on the men's and women's side.
"I am eager to see how the team will compete at Disney," cross country Paul Brown said. "Conditions should be good, and the weather will actually be similar to our conference meet in Tulsa. Since we have only three weeks remaining until the Conference USA championships, I am really looking progression in certain athletes. We need to begin performing better overall to reach or even supersede our conference goals."
Last week, the Knights had three runners in the top 10 with senior Ocean Cohen as the top UCF finisher, placing sixth in 18:55.94. Cohen has been the top UCF runner in all four races this season. Alyssa Franks finished ninth in 19:17.54, while Carley Dart was right behind in 10th in 19:19.93.
The Houston Cougars will field a team on Saturday at Disney, marking the first time this season that the Knights will see C-USA competition this season.
With just three meets remaining before the Knights travel to run in Tulsa at the conference championships, this weekend will be a good test for UCF's top runners.
"I am especially watching our top seven runners this meet. It is important for them to have a great effort. There will be enough competition at this meet to push us to faster performances," Brown said.