May 24, 2011
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By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFathletics.com) - As UCF has accumulated some of the finest track & field athletes in the country and built something of an emerging dynasty, head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert's bold recruiting pitch has stayed the same and to the point.
Don't come to UCF just because the school is the second-largest in the nation in enrollment or because Orlando's weather is nice and conducive to running. Instead, Smith Gilbert tells recruits to come to UCF so they can make history and blaze trails no one before them ever has.
That's how Smith Gilbert was able to woo Jackie Coward, the first Outdoor All-American in UCF history, out of Knoxville, Tenn., and away from track powerhouses Tennessee and Texas A&M who were also recruiting her. It was how she lured Aurieyall Scott, the top overall performer in the Conference USA two weeks ago, out of Maryland and to UCF. And it's how she convinced Octavius Freeman, the nation's most decorated high school runner, to attend UCF next fall instead of turning pro and focusing on the Olympics.
Smith Gilbert's ability to acquire those athletes has helped UCF do something no other team in school history has pulled off: Winning three straight C-USA titles. The Knights have won the last two C-USA Outdoor Championships and they captured the Indoor title this past February. Basically, they are doing what Smith Gilbert predicted - making school history every time UCF competes in a meet.
``It's been a really exciting climb that we've had here. We've worked really hard on recruiting and I've gotten the athletes to buy into building history here,'' Smith Gilbert said. ``Once you get them believing that we can make history here and they can see that progress, it's been easy to build what we have now. With the facilities that we have, the weather in Orlando and UCF being the second largest university in the country we've been able to attract some really good athletes. We've had a lot of fun and we're working to build something special here.''
Smith Gilbert said earlier in the season that she thought her program was ``still a year away,'' but that proved inaccurate as the Knights dominated the field and handily won the C-USA title in Houston. UCF will send a school-record 12 student-athletes to the 2011 NCAA East Preliminary Round this weekend in Bloomington, Ind. The Knights will be represented in eight different events in the preliminary round, hosted by Indiana beginning this Thursday.
Turning UCF into a track and field powerhouse is something that Smith Gilbert predicted upon taking the job with the Knights four years ago. After running collegiately at UCLA and later coaching at Penn State, Alabama and Tennessee, Smith Gilbert knew that UCF had everything in place to establish a successful program. The fact that it had never been done before here certainly didn't bother her, and UCF Athletics Director Keith Tribble said he isn't one bit surprised by the success the Knights have had.
``When we hired Caryl four years ago the first thing she said was, `I know I can win championships here at UCF,' and I never doubted her,'' Tribble said. ``She knew if we had a nice facility here that she could recruit some elite student-athletes because of Orlando and the university. She's done everything she promised as far as winning championships and there's no reason for me to believe that it won't continue well into the future.''
Tribble worked hard to make sure that future is a bright one, pushing for and ultimately landing a $1.2 million upgrade to the track and soccer facility, which was debuted earlier this month during the UCF Twilight meet. The upgraded facility now has 1,475 more seats and takes the capacity of the entire complex to more than 2,000. There is also a new press box, sound system and permanent restroom facilities. The main entrance of the facility was upgraded as well as additions made to the track to give UCF's highly successful squads an even better place to compete.
``When I first came here it was a little tough getting people here because we were an unknown and we had nowhere to sit fans and teams. Now, we've had Florida, Texas, Miami and Tennessee here and they're all more willing to come,'' Smith Gilbert said. ``This stadium is a big step in the right direction. I can invite more teams and more people will come to our meets now. In the past I couldn't invite as many teams because we didn't have anywhere for people to sit. Now, this is an open environment where we can host a lot of people.''
Coward, a two-time high school All-American prior to attending UCF, likes the fact that there is little track history at the school and she and her teammates can lay the foundation for the program. The ability to build something from the ground up appealed to her much more than going to a traditional powerhouse out of high school.
Coward has won the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles titles at the C-USA championships this season, her second time for each event in her career. She'll be competing in the NCAA East Preliminary Round next weekend.
``You look at all of the other schools and they are already established and we're doing new stuff all the time here at UCF. They're running fast and have big names, but we feel like we're building a program here,'' Coward said. ``We were out here when there was little recognition and just coming out by faith and God has made us stronger. It's just so good to see all of the sports at UCF - football, basketball, baseball, soccer and track - doing well and we're all making history.''
And if Smith Gilbert has her way, the best is yet to come for UCF's track & field team. She thinks it's just a matter of time before UCF's success at the conference level translates to the national level and NCAA titles could follow.
``We have some positive momentum and I'm a big believer in momentum. And now we have to capitalize on this momentum,'' Smith Gilbert said recently. ``You win conference and then you get recruits; you get recruits and then you win conference. You win conference and then you can win nationals. Recruits start believing they are great and other recruits want to come and be a part of that, so momentum is a big part of what we're trying to build here.''
==== John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFathletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.