Knights Take Sixth at Southern Showcase Behind Four Personal BestsKnights Take Sixth at Southern Showcase Behind Four Personal Bests

Knights Take Sixth at Southern Showcase Behind Four Personal Bests

by Pedro Lagoeiro

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The UCF women’s cross country team continued its strong start to the 2026 season Friday morning, placing sixth among 31 teams at the Southern Showcase with 199 points and four Knights recording personal-best performances.

Competing in a field that featured Alabama, Clemson, Auburn and several other programs from across the region, UCF posted an average time of 17:38, improving by 13 seconds from its 17:51 average at the season-opening Florida Intercollegiate.

Another really good day in the progression of the season that we are looking for. Our depth really showed up today as our 3-7 positions were all different from 2 weeks ago in Jacksonville. In addition our 1-5 spread today was about 18 seconds faster than it was 2 weeks ago and our 1-7 was about 8 seconds faster. So that shows me that we are getting more comfortable trusting our training and fitness and really getting confident running together and for each other out on the race course.

Distance Coach Bryan Harmon

Junior Alexandra Raquet once again led the Knights, crossing the finish line 12th overall in 16:54.2. After clocking a 16:52.88 two weeks earlier in Jacksonville, Raquet has now recorded two sub-17-minute performances to open the season.

Caroline Moon continued an impressive start to her UCF career, finishing 30th with a personal-best 17:32.8. The mark lowered her previous best of 17:58.09 by more than 25 seconds and moved her into sixth place on UCF’s all-time 5K performance list.

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The Knights followed with a tight pack of three personal-best performances. Emily Wheldon crossed 51st in 17:52.0, Madison Patchan followed in 53rd with a 17:54.3 and Bailey McLain completed UCF’s scoring five in 56th at 17:56.6.

Wheldon lowered her previous personal best of 18:21.70 by nearly 30 seconds, while Patchan improved on her 17:59.24 season-opening mark. McLain also made a significant jump, cutting more than 25 seconds from the 18:22.46 she recorded at the Florida Intercollegiate.

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Daisy Ross was the Knights’ sixth finisher, placing 79th in 18:13.5, while Bella Brick followed in 81st with an 18:14.4. Freshman Sarah Rose crossed in 18:30.0 to finish 104th, improving on her collegiate debut time of 18:36.02. Yvone Sandui rounded out UCF’s lineup with a time of 19:36.8.

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Alabama won the team competition with 28 points, followed by Clemson with 69 and Auburn with 99. Mercer and Mississippi State rounded out the top five before the Knights claimed sixth, finishing ahead of Jacksonville State, Georgia Tech, Lee and Delaware to complete the top 10.

After opening the season with a team victory in Jacksonville and following it with a sixth-place showing against a deeper field in Huntsville, the Knights leave their second meet with continued progress across the lineup and four new personal bests.

UP NEXT
The Knights will return to action at the Arturo Barrios Invite in College Station, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M at the Watts Cross Country Course. The 6K race is set for 10:15 a.m. EDT.

ABOUT UCF ATHLETICS
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida's preeminent athletic program, representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as "Orlando's Hometown Team". To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.