Eight Knights Set Personal Bests at Arturo Barrios InvitationalEight Knights Set Personal Bests at Arturo Barrios Invitational

Eight Knights Set Personal Bests at Arturo Barrios Invitational

by Sam Weisberg

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Eight Knights set career bests for the 6K during the Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station, Texas, this morning. For the second consecutive race, Isabella Richardson (20:57.2) and Mariana Rodriguez (21:00.9) led the way for the Knights, with a 75th and 85th place finish, respectively. In the squad’s first 6k race of the season, there was continued improvement following a strong performance in Louisville two weeks ago, as the 22nd place finish bested fellow Big 12 competitors Oklahoma, Houston, and Baylor.

It was great seeing the squad compete in such a competitive field, especially with such a massive PR [personal record] rate. The team is coming together well and we're going to continue to raise our fitness ahead of the Big 12 Championships later this month.

Bryan Harmon

Richardson’s performance was the eighth best in UCF history and topped her previous career-best time by almost a minute (21:56.6). Rodriguez’s performance was the tenth best in program history as she too lowered her previous time by over a minute (22:26).

The six other Knights who had a career-best performance in the 6k were Lillian Holtery (21:21.3), Charlotte Crook (21:38.3), Ali Del Re (21:39.7), Riley Jaszczak (21:53.0), Brenna Mullaney (22:08.1), and Camryn Williams (24:11.3). Of these Knights, Del Re improved on her time the most, with her previous career high coming in at 23:17.7.

Three freshmen featured for the Knights as Abby Clements (22:07.2), Karin Dobiasch (22:20.6), and Hannah Taylor (24:02.7), each put in strong performances in their first collegiate 6k.

The Knights placed 22nd in the race with 548 points, behind Arkansas State (519) and in front of Rice (613). Utah Valley led the way in first place with a score of 97.

UP NEXT

The Knights move their sights to both their first conference championships under coach Harmon and as a member of the Big 12. Race day is just over two weeks away as Iowa State are set to play hosts for what’s shaping up to be an exciting field. The 6k race is set to begin at Noon ET from Ames, Iowa.