Track & Field Bound for Big 12 Outdoor ChampionshipsTrack & Field Bound for Big 12 Outdoor Championships
Nicole Whitaker / UCF Athletics

Track & Field Bound for Big 12 Outdoor Championships

by Aiden Kocol
Live Results Watch on ESPN+

ORLANDO – The UCF track and field team will open postseason competition this weekend as it travels to Tucson, Arizona, for the Big 12 Outdoor Championships at Roy P. Drachman Stadium.

The three-day meet begins Thursday, May 14, and will feature field events, combined events, and preliminary running competitions. Action concludes Saturday evening with a full slate of championship finals.

BIG 12 SUCCESS
The Knights will travel to the Grand Canyon State to defend their outdoor 4x400m relay title after capturing gold last season with a time of 3:33.62. The championship quartet of Twaneise Johnson, Janiah Pulliam, Y’Vette Harris and Jazmen Newberry powered UCF to the top of the podium.

Johnson, Pulliam and Newberry return to anchor the Knights’ top relay unit this season, alongside freshman Datavia Hunter. The group has already rewritten the program record books this spring, clocking a school-record 3:30.33 earlier in the season.

Despite the departure of standout hurdler Adaobi Tabugbo, the reigning Big 12 champion in the 100m hurdles, the Knights aim to maintain their dominance in the sprints and hurdles under head coach Dana Boone. After Raniyah Jones helped lead the program to conference gold in the event the previous year, UCF will now pursue its third consecutive conference title.

STARTING BLOCKS

  • The sprint squad is peaking at the right time, with two athletes now breaking the 23-second barrier in the 200m. Jazmen Newberry leads the group with a 22.81 mark, while Janiah Pulliam follows closely at 22.96. 
  • The distance squad continues its breakout season, led by Alexandra Raquet, who now owns top-three program times in both the 1500m and 5000m. In the middle distances, Raquel Edwards has been a standout, consistently lowering her 800m time, including a personal best of 2:09.47. 
  • Toni Galloway is emerging as the Knights' top hurdles performer, turning in a 13.06 mark at the East Coast Relays this past weekend, just 0.01 second off her personal-best mark in the event (13.05s). 
  • Transfers Eva Bruce and Paige Laffoon have been cornerstones of the new field era ushered in this season, with both recently etching their names into the program record books after posting top-10 heptathlon performances at the Tom Jones Memorial. Bruce totaled 5,366 points to move into second place on the program’s all-time list, while Laffoon followed closely behind with 5,090 points, good for seventh all-time. 

EVENTS TO WATCH
Heptathlon (Thursday-Friday) - Eva Bruce will be one to watch throughout the weekend, holding the second-best heptathlon score in UCF history, she’s among the top competitors in the conference.
100mH (Friday, 5:50 PM) - The preliminary round for the event, Toni Galloway and Ese Awusa will take the track for the Black and Gold as UCF looks to bring home gold for the third straight season.
400m (Friday, 7:10 PM) - Another preliminary event, Jazmen Newberry, who currently holds the fastest 400m time in the Big 12, will compete for the Knights.
4x400m Relay (Saturday, 9:05 PM) - The premier event of the weekend, the 4x400m relay will be the final event during championship weekend as the Knights look to defend their title.