BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF track and field team posted a strong start on the opening day of the 2020 American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
"Wow! What a great start to the conference championship," UCF head coach Dana Boone said. "We had some great efforts put forth by the Knights today. There were a lot of personal bests, but more importantly, we advanced people to the finals. I was very pleased with the effort today and look forward to tomorrow."
With competitors in six preliminary events, UCF will be well-represented in the next round as 11 Knights qualified for Saturday's finals.
Victoria Jung opened the day with a personal-best performance in the mile. Crossing the line in 4:58.43, she posted the seventh-fastest preliminary time to advance to the finals.
Samieryah Bradwell kept the Knights rolling as she dropped more than a second from her personal best mark, qualifying for the finals in 55.33.
A dominant rookie season continues for Rayniah Jones as she improved her personal best mark in the 60-meter hurdles. She posted the fourth-fastest mark of the day, 8.42, and was the only freshman to advance to Saturday's finals.
The sprint trio of Imani Clark, Ciara Holback and Shian Hyde advanced to Saturday's finals in both the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash. Entering the meet, both Holback and Hyde had scoring marks on The American's performance list. For the second straight year, both advanced to the finals in both events as Holback went 7.38 in the 60m and 23.85 in the 200m mark. Hyde's 7.46 in the 60m and 23.77 in the 200m tput her among the qualifiers for Saturday.
Clark sat just outside the top eight on The American's performance list entering the weekend. She used a personal best 23.70 in the 200m - the fifth-best time of the prelims - and a season-best 7.47 in the 60m to join Holback and Hyde in Saturday's finals.
A pair of Knights advanced to the finals in the 800-meter run. Katie Pinnell's season-best 2:12.47 was the fourth-fastest time in the preliminaries, while Charlotte Crook's 2:13.28 was the fifth-fastest.
The Black and Gold closed out the day by picking up the first points of the weekend. UCF's distance medley relay squad of Victoria Jung, Loren Gallmon, Charlotte Crook and Kaitlyn Solits turned in a season-best 11:51.98 for sixth place, giving UCF three points for its team score.
In addition, UCF saw personal best performances in the field events. On her first jump of the day, Kiara Lee landed at 17-5.5/5.32m, setting a new personal best in the long jump. Both Knights in the weight throw set new personal bests as Adrienne Adams' 57-11.75/17.67m put her in the top 15 at her first American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship. Chloe Hill was not far behind as her personal best 54-0/16.46m put her 16th overall.
UCF continues action on Saturday, beginning with the high jump at 10:45 a.m. ET.
UCF Results
Mile Prelims
7. Victoria Jung 4:58.43q
400m Prelims
3. Samieryah Bradwell 55.33q
10. Loren Gallmon 55.97
16. Latasha Smith 56.34
60m Hurdles Prelims
4. Rayniah Jones 8.42q
60m Prelims
5. Ciara Holback 7.38q
7. Shian Hyde 7.46q
8. Imani Clark 7.47q
12. Beyonce Defreitas 7.57
15. Ani Wells 7.69
800m Prelims
4. Katie Pinnell 2:12.47Q
5. Charlotte Crook 2:13.28Q
11. Cydni Turner 2:16.84
15. Kaitlyn Soltis 2:18.77
200m Prelims
4. Imani Clark 23.70q
5. Shian Hyde 23.77q
6. Ciara Holback 23.85q
10. Beyonce Defreitas 24.07
Scored Events
Distance Medley Relay
6. Victoria Jung, Loren Gallmon, Charlotte Crook, Kaitlyn Soltis 11:51.98
Long Jump
17. Kiara Lee 17-5.5/5.32m
Weight Throw
13. Adrienne Adams 57-11.75/17.67m
16. Chloe Hill 54-0/16.46m
