Current sophomores Daisy Ross and Masha Dorofeev made their collegiate debuts at the meet and quickly made an impact. Ross finished 23rd in 18:39.2, while Dorofeev followed with a 19:01.8 performance to place 32nd. Raquel Edwards also competed for the Knights in Jacksonville.
That performance set the tone for a 2025 season highlighted by progress throughout the UCF lineup. The Knights recorded three consecutive top-10 team finishes to begin the year and returned to the USTFCCCA South Region rankings for the first time since 2022, climbing to No. 13 following the Southern Showcase.
Two of the catalysts behind that success return in 2026 in Yvone Sandui and Alexandra Raquet.
Sandui delivered one of the top performances in program history at the Southern Showcase, racing to a personal-best 17:11.90. The mark stands second on UCF’s all-time 5K list and earned Sandui Big 12 Runner of the Week, making her the first Knight to receive the conference honor since UCF joined the Big 12.
Raquet emerged as another consistent presence for the Black and Gold in her first season at UCF. She posted a 17:19.00 personal best at the Southern Showcase, which currently ranks fifth in program history, before turning in her best performance of the season at the NCAA South Regional. Raquet led the Knights with a personal-best 20:29.29 in the 6K and a 42nd-place finish.
Quattrocchi and Patchan also capped breakout 2025 campaigns with personal bests at the regional meet, running 21:16.6 and 21:16.7, respectively. Their performances helped UCF finish 13th as a team, the best NCAA South Regional finish in program history.
The Knights enter 2026 with nine returners and five newcomers. Four transfers join the Black and Gold in Bella Brick from Georgia, Caroline Moon from Utah State, Dunja Sikima from Arizona and Emily Wheldon from Georgia Southern. Freshman Sarah Rose, a St. Johns, Florida, native from Creekside High School, rounds out the newcomer group.
