ORLANDO – The penultimate indoor weekend for the UCF track and field team will see the squad travel to Boston, for two meets at Harvard and Boston University. Friday, the sprints and field groups will compete at the Crimson Elite in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before making the short trip across the Charles River for the Scarlet and White Invitational on Saturday.
CRIMSON ELITE | CAMBRIDGE, MASS. | HOSTS: HARVARD | FEB. 2
Friday’s action will mark the second consecutive season the Knights have traveled to Harvard’s Gordon Indoor Track, though in 2024 the multis squad will be joined by a majority of the squad for one of the nation’s premier meets during indoor season.
The aforementioned multis group, consisting of Natalia Madison and Holly Cassels, will embark on their second pentathlon of the season. At the Vanderbilt Invitational in Nashville, Tennessee, last month, Madison inched closer to Brittany Floyd’s program record in the event, securing a personal best 3,794 points to pad her position in second place. The Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, native currently sits seventh in the Big 12 and will look to continue dropping her times and raising her points. Madison is now just 72 points away from Floyd’s 3,865 points.
The 60m hurdles will commence the pentathlon at 10:30 a.m. before concluding with the 800m run at 4:15 p.m.
Asherah Collins, who also has sights on claiming another program record, will compete in the triple jump alongside freshman Alexis Waller at 1:30 p.m. Track events begin with 11 Knights competing in the 60m qualifying round at 3:40 p.m. In both the dash and hurdles, there will be a preliminary round of action leading up to the finals in the respective events at 6 and 6:10 p.m.
Rayniah Jones will return to the hurdles with the Big 12’s leading time in the event of 8.01. The All-American is currently fifth in the nation and continues to drop her times toward the sub-eight-second range. Jones is also fourth in the conference in the 60m with her season-best 7.27 at the Corky Classic in January.