Oct. 29, 2012
="" alt="Twitter Logo" border="0" class="imported"> ="" alt="Facebook Logo" border="0" class="imported"> UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Jenna Marina
UCFAthletics.com
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (UCFAthletics.com) - Freshman Anne-Marie Blaney's first collegiate post-season run was a memorable one as she clocked UCF's fastest time at the Conference USA Championships in program history on Monday. Blaney emerged as UCF's top finisher with a time of 17:57.2 for 25th place while the Knights finished 11th overall at the meet.
"It was a very challenging course, but we don't shoot to be 11th in anything, so we can use this as a learning tool because we have a lot of youth on our team, and we were able to compete in a good race with good competition on a tough course," UCF cross country coach Paul Brown said. "Conference USA is a very formidable distance conference. We are still moving in the right direction with talent. As a team, we just have to learn how to compete a little differently."
Three members of the team contributed by producing personal-best times. Freshman Caroline Pauls scored points as UCF's second finisher with a personal-record time of 18:54.7 for 47th overall. Sophomore Shelby Blaes hit a personal record 19:05.5 in her first appearance at the championships while senior Jessica Pachay closed out her career with a personal-best time of 19:37.7.
"I am proud of Shelby Blaes, she hit a personal record on a tough course in her first conference championship. Caroline Pauls had a major PR and stepped up for us in a big way and it was good to see Jessica Pachay finish with a personal record, so I am proud of those runners," Brown said.
Freshman Heather Classe scored points in 49th place with a time of 18:54.7, and sophomore Amelia Williams rounded out the Knights' top-five finishers with a time of 19:26.6.
The NCAA South Region Championships will be held Nov. 9 in Tallahassee at 8:30 a.m.
"The next meet will be very similar and we're expecting to run a little bit better there knowing that we are more prepared after competing here in Hattiesburg," Brown said.