CORAL GABLES – The UCF track and field team closed out the Hurricane Alumni Invitational strong, setting a pair of freshman records and winning three events in Cobb Stadium on Saturday.
"Today we had some breakthroughs," UCF head coach Dana Boone said. "This young team is starting to show what it is capable of doing. I was proud of the overall effort. There is still a lot of room for improvement. Some of the performances were really exciting to watch!"
For the third meet in a row, Rayniah Jones collected the 100-meter hurdles title while improving her freshman record mark to 13.11. She finished 0.5 seconds faster than second place and improved her personal best in the event by 0.24 seconds.
Competing in her first collegiate heptathlon, Holly Cassels put on a performance, setting the freshman record in the event. After the first four events on Friday, she was in seventh place. She climbed her way up the leaderboard on Saturday to finish fourth overall with 4,701 points.
The 4x1 relay team turned in its best performance of the season to open the track portion of the day with a victory. The squad of Beyonce Defreitas, Ciara Holback, Rayniah Jones and Danielle Bess collected the top honors in 45.40.
Kiara Lee picked up a pair of podium finishes in the jumps on Saturday. Lee won the triple jump with a mark of 41-7.25/12.68m and finished second in the long jump in 19-2.5/5.85m.
UCF had four Knights set personal bests to finish in the top 10 of the 800-meter run. Katie Pinnell finished second overall and dropped more than two seconds off her previous best. She moved up to fifth on UCF's top 10 outdoor performers list. Charlotte Crook came in just behind her teammate for third overall. Her personal best mark of 2:07.64 puts her in seventh on the outdoor performers list. Mariana Rodriguez finished in 2:14.22 for seventh place and Cydni Turner took eighth in 2:14.28.
Two Knights used personal bests to finish in the top five of the 400-meter dash. Latasha Smith finished second overall in 55.07 and Samieryah Bradwell finished in 55.89 for fifth place.
Alicia Coleman took second in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 1:01.72.
Beyonce Defreitas won her heat and finished third overall in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.69.
The Knights return to action next weekend, heading to the Tom Jones Invitational in Gainesville.
UCF Results
100H
1. Rayniah Jones 13.11
3. Alexis Woodley 13.77
Triple Jump
1. Kiara Lee 41-7.25/12.68m
3. Asherah Collins 41-3/12.57m
4x1
1. Beyonce Defreitas, Ciara Holback, Rayniah Jones, Danielle Bess 45.40
800m
2. Katie Pinnell 2:07.28
3. Charlotte Crook 2;07.64
7. Mariana Rodriguez 2:14.22
8. Cydni Turner 2:14.28
400m
2. Latasha Smith 55.07
5. Samieryah Bradwell 55.89
6. Kai'lyn Kirkland 56.26
Long Jump
2. Kiara Lee 19-2.5/5.85m
400H
2. Alicia Coleman 1:01.72
100m
3. Beyonce Defreitas 11.69
10. Ani Wells 12.03
11. Leiya Green 12.05
Heptathlon
4. Holly Cassels 4701 pts
10. Kennedie Reese 3964 pts
1500m
4. Victoria Jung 4:41.10
200m
5. Latasha Smith 24.06
11. Kai'lyn Kirkland 24.57
15. Samieryah Bradwell 24.91
19. Ani Wells 25.22
20. Alexis Woodley 25.25
22. Alicia Coleman 25.51
Discus
6. Adrienne Adams 145-8/44.40m
10. Nicole Whitaker 121-2/36.94m
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