March 2, 2013
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Jenna Marina
UCFAthletics.com
BLACKSBURG, Va. (UCFAthletics.com) - A trio of long jumpers fell short in their final attempt to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships on Saturday afternoon at Virginia Tech's Last Chance Meet.
The Knights hoped to breach the top-16 marks in the NCAA in order to qualify for next weekend's national championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
Conference USA Indoor champion Jen Clayton posted the best performance by a Knight all season with her runner-up finish of 6.20/20-04.25. She narrowly missed her personal best by .25 of an inch and now owns the highest national ranking of a Knight this season (No. 23).
Sonnisha Williams registered her second-best jump of the season, but it wasn't enough to earn her third-straight berth to the championships. She hit 6.00m/19-08.25 to place ninth.
Freshman Alexis Faulknor, who was looking to become UCF's first rookie jumper to advance to the indoor championships in five years, improved in each of her three jumps, but at 5.79m/19-00.00, she did not qualify for the finals and finished 12th.
UCF will be represented by All-American sprinters Aurieyall Scott and Octavious Freeman along with hurdler Lutisha Bowen at the championships. Scott and Freeman both medaled at last year's meet while Bowen will be making her first appearance.