Jan. 26, 2013
Hokie Invite Final Meet Results
="" alt="Twitter Logo" border="0" class="imported"> ="" alt="Facebook Logo" border="0" class="imported"> UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Jenna Marina
UCFAthletics.com
BLACKSBURG, Va. (UCFAthletics.com) - A freshman record rewritten. Four marks that rank among the nation's top-15 this season. Six personal records. Saturday was just another day on the job for the No. 10 UCF track and field team at the Hokie Invitational.
"Our team is shaping up at this point," UCF head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said. "We are beginning to focus on event execution rather than outcome in order to achieve the times and marks we are capable of. We will continue to prepare over the next month for conference and the NCAA Championships."
Freshman Anne-Marie Blaney, who has already claimed the school and freshman 3,000-meter records this year, erased the program's 5,000-meter freshman record in her first race of the season. Blaney shaved 22 seconds off the previous record set in 2007 to clock a first-place time of 17:07.74 for the 12th-best time in the country.
"Anne-Marie continues to be a bright spot for our program and I am looking forward to her next few competitions," Smith Gilbert said.
UCF swept the top-three finishes of the long jump. Senior Sonnisha Williams clinched first with a season-best 6.18m/20-03.50, which ranks sixth in the NCAA. A week after matching her best leap as a Knight, junior Jen Clayton climbed into the NCAA's top 10 with a second-place mark of 6.12m/20-01.00. Freshman Alexis Faulknor finished third at 5.99m/19-08.00 after posting two jumps that topped her personal best in the event.
Junior Destinee Romain led the first flight of the shot put by shattering her personal record in five of her six attempts, tossing 13.72m/45-00.25 for fifth place overall. Finishing behind her teammate in sixth place, freshman Megan Patterson improved her personal best with a throw of 13.37m/43-10.50.
"I was excited for coach (Jeff Chakouian) and the throws group and coach (Paul) Brown and the long jumpers this week because they have been working very diligently on small, yet very important technical aspects in their events and I saw some major improvements," Smith Gilbert said.
Sophomore Christal Peterson matched her personal best in the 200 meters (24.24) for the first win of her career in the event. Senior Amanda Leland topped her season best at 25.09 for eighth place.
Junior Afia Charles sped to the second-best time of her indoor career in the 400 meters to narrowly miss first place by eight-hundredths of a second. Charles clocked a season-best 54.60 to rank 12th in the nation.
Junior Ne'Ausha Logan posted the second-best performance of her indoor career in the 800 meters for a third-place showing of 2:12.07.
The 4x400 relay wrapped up the day's events with a second-place finish thanks to the combined efforts of Charles, Jean, Logan and Erica Winston for a time of 3:45.51.
UCF concludes the weekend at Sunday's Jimmy Carnes Invitational in Gainesville. Results are available via halfmiletiming.com.
Stay up-to-date on all the latest track and field news by visiting UCFAthletics.com and following the team on Twitter (@UCF_Track) and Facebook.