March 22, 2011
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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Junior Jackie Coward of the UCF track & field team has been named the 2011 Conference USA Indoor Female Track Athlete of the Year. Coward becomes the first Knight in program history to be honored with the award, which is voted on by the league's head coaches.
Coward was a USTFCCA All-American in the 60-meter hurdles for the second time in her career after finishing third at the NCAA Championship Meet at Texas A&M in mid-March. She tied her own school record in the event with an 8.06 in the finals to earn the third-place finish. Qualifying in the preliminaries with an 8.06, she tied her own mark initially set at the Tyson Invitational in February.
Coward was also an All-American in the indoor 60-meter hurdles in 2009 and in the outdoor season last year in the 100-meter hurdles with a fifth-place finish.
Helping UCF to its first-ever C-USA Indoor Championship, Coward won the 60-meter hurdles and set a meet record with an 8.15 in the preliminaries before running an 8.16 in the finals. She was also part of Knights' 4x400 relay team that captured first at the conference championship meet in Houston in 3:43.19.
Currently in the outdoor season, the Knights will return to the track this weekend as they host the UCF Invitational. The meet will be held at the UCF Track and Field Complex and will begin on Friday, March 25 and run through Saturday, March 26. Events are scheduled to begin on Friday at 2 p.m.