ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF track and field team is set for its first and only dual-meet weekend as the squad will split up, with distance making the trip north to Atlanta for the Georgia Tech Invitational, while the sprints and field squad travel to Louisiana for the LSU Alumni Gold Invitational. As the two penultimate competitions before the squad wrap up the regular season at North Florida, the Knights, who had three dual-meet weekends during the indoor season, will look to continue their dominant outdoor campaign and maintain their position in the national top-25.
Slotting in at 16th in the latest USTFCCCA Poll, the Black and Gold are entering a marquee point in their season, with eyes set on next month's AAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Tampa, Florida. The distance squad, led by assistant coach Bryan Jackson, will compete alongside 43 other programs, including Clemson and Georgia. Mariana Rodriguez had a season-best weekend at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, setting personal bests and advancing up the program's top 10 lists in both the 800 and 1500-meter run. Katie Pinnell will compete in the 800-meter run on Saturday at 2:50 pm, following a season-best performance with her time of 2:08.96. 10 of the 12 Knights competing will run in the 5k at 9:15/9:55 pm on Friday.
Latasha Smith, fresh off her program record fourth AAC Track Athlete of the Week honor, will lead the squad at LSU as they compete in the one-day competition that gets underway with the hammer throw on Saturday at 11:30 am ET. Running events begin with the 4x100 relay at 3:30 pm ET, as the squad of Ani Wells, I'Asia Wilson, Beyonce Defreitas, and Janyah Jasper remain among the best in the nation with their season-best time of 43.77. 15 other schools will be competing alongside the Knights, including the hosts LSU, conference opponent Houston and the nation's seventh-ranked team, Texas A&M.
Neither meet will have live streams.