Dana Boone was named head coach of the UCF cross country and track and field programs on June 8, 2018, and has guided the Knights through one of the most successful stretches in program history. Under Boone's leadership, UCF has captured conference championships, produced numerous NCAA qualifiers and All-America honorees, broken program records and established itself as a consistent contender on the conference and national stages.
Boone enters the 2026-27 season following another historic campaign in 2026, highlighted by unprecedented relay success at the NCAA Championships. Indoors, the 4x400-meter relay team of Janiah Pulliam, Genelle Stephens, Twaneise Johnson and Jazmen Newberry placed seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 14 to earn First Team All-America honors. The finish marked the first NCAA indoor relay medal in program history and UCF's first First Team All-America honor by an indoor relay.
The success continued during the outdoor season as Boone guided the Knights to their first Big 12-era championship in the 4x100-meter relay. Aaliyah Gipson, Janiah Pulliam, Datavia Hunter and Jazmen Newberry captured the conference title in 43.57 at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. The victory marked UCF's first conference championship in the event since 2023. The Knights also extended their streak of top-three finishes in the 100-meter hurdles at the outdoor conference championships to six consecutive seasons, highlighted by Toni Galloway's runner-up finish in 12.85.
UCF sent 11 athletes to the 2026 NCAA East Preliminary, with Toni Galloway, Jazmen Newberry and Janiah Pulliam advancing to the quarterfinals in their respective individual events. The Knights' 4x400-meter relay ultimately punched its ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, marking UCF's first appearance in the event at the outdoor national championships since 2014.
At Hayward Field, Jazmen Newberry, Twaneise Johnson, Deja Shaw-Huckaby and Janiah Pulliam placed 16th in the 4x400-meter relay to earn Second Team All-America honors. The performance made the group just the second outdoor 4x400-meter relay in program history to earn All-America status and the first under Boone.
The 2025 campaign represented another major step forward during UCF's transition to the Big 12. The Knights captured both the indoor and outdoor Big 12 4x400-meter relay championships, completing a conference-season sweep of the event. Indoors, UCF set four program records and scored 38 points at the Big 12 Championships, a 17-point improvement from the previous season. Five Knights combined for six Second Team All-America honors across three events at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the program's strongest showing at indoor nationals in more than a decade.
Outdoors, UCF recorded its first top-10 team finish at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, placing ninth with 41 points. Adaobi Tabugbo captured the 100-meter hurdles championship in 12.87, extending UCF's run of conference titles in the event to five consecutive seasons. Eight Knights qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary across seven events, with four advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene. Tabugbo earned Second Team All-America honors in the 100-meter hurdles, while the 4x100-meter relay added an All-America honorable mention.
Following the season, UCF announced a two-year contract extension for Boone on Aug. 13, 2025, securing her leadership of the Knights through the 2028-29 season.
Boone's first season competing in the Big 12 also produced several historic accomplishments in 2024. Rayniah Jones became UCF's first individual Big 12 champion with her victory in the 100-meter hurdles before finishing third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a program-record time of 12.59. Her performance earned her the 10th All-America honor of her career, tying her for second in program history at the time.
Kiah Williams and Asherah Collins also earned All-America honors at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Williams received honorable mention in the 400 meters, while Collins earned Second Team All-America recognition in both the long jump and triple jump. Jones, Williams and Collins each went on to compete at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
During the 2024 indoor campaign, Jones and Tabugbo placed second and third, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles at the Big 12 Championships, combining for 14 points. UCF's 4x400-meter relay added a seventh-place finish as the Knights completed their first Big 12 Indoor Championships. Jones later earned Second Team All-America honors in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
UCF closed its tenure in the American Athletic Conference with a dominant 2023 campaign, sweeping the indoor and outdoor conference championships for the second consecutive season. The Knights broke six program records and climbed to No. 3 in the national rankings in late March, the highest ranking in program history. Boone and her staff earned AAC Coaching Staff of the Year honors following both conference championships as UCF completed its time in The American with five league titles.
At the 2023 AAC Indoor Championships, UCF scored 132.25 points and swept the sprint events. Eleven Knights earned medals, while Jones was named the meet's Most Valuable Performer. Outdoors, the Knights matched their conference meet record with 163 points while again sweeping the sprint events and setting three meet or conference records. Latasha Smith earned the meet's Most Valuable Performance award following her school-record effort in the 200 meters, while Jones was named Most Valuable Performer after winning both the 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles and earning bronze in the 200 meters.
Jones represented UCF at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships and earned Second Team All-America honors in the 60-meter hurdles. During the outdoor season, Boone guided eight Knights to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second consecutive year. Jones and Collins earned Second Team All-America honors, with Jones finishing ninth in the 100-meter hurdles and Collins placing 10th in the triple jump. Six additional Knights earned honorable mention recognition.
The 2022 season marked one of the most successful campaigns in program history. UCF captured the AAC Indoor Championship with a meet-record 156.5 points as Boone and her staff earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors. Jones was named the meet's Most Valuable Performer after sweeping the 60-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles, while the Knights won seven events over the two-day meet.
UCF followed its indoor championship by winning its first AAC Outdoor Championship since joining the league. The Knights again set a meet record with 163 points and won six events, including the program's first conference heptathlon title. Boone and assistant coaches Bryan Jackson and Glenn Smith were named the conference's Coaching Staff of the Year.
The championship sweep marked just the third time UCF had won both its indoor and outdoor conference titles in the same season and its first since sweeping the 2013 Conference USA championships.
Boone also led eight athletes to the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, just the second time in program history that UCF had been represented by as many athletes at the national meet. The 4x100-meter relay team of Rayniah Jones, Ciara Holback, Beyonce Defreitas and I'Asia Wilson placed seventh to earn First Team All-America honors. Three additional Knights earned honorable mention recognition as UCF tied for 33rd nationally with eight points.
After the 2020 outdoor season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Boone's Knights returned with a record-setting 2021 campaign. Jones emerged as one of the nation's top hurdlers, breaking the UCF freshman record throughout the season before setting the school record in the 100-meter hurdles with a 12.73 at the Knights Invite.
Jones became the first Knight to earn AAC Freshman of the Year honors after setting the conference meet record en route to the 100-meter hurdles title. Asherah Collins added a conference championship in the triple jump while setting the UCF freshman record in the event.
Jones and Collins both advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, marking the first time UCF sent multiple individual competitors to the national meet since 2016. Jones finished second in the 100-meter hurdles to earn First Team All-America honors, while Collins earned honorable mention recognition in the triple jump.
Five Knights combined to tie or set seven freshman or school records during the 2021 outdoor season. Valerie Lastra added the school record in the 3,000 meters along with freshman records in the 3,000 and 1,500 meters, Holly Cassels broke the freshman heptathlon record and Charlotte Crook tied the school record in the 1,500 meters.
In Boone's first season at UCF in 2019, she guided the Knights' 4x100-meter relay back to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the first time since 2017. Shaniya Williams, Ciara Holback, Beyonce Defreitas and Loren Gallmon placed 14th to earn Second Team All-America honors.
UCF also captured two individual event titles and finished fifth at the 2019 AAC Outdoor Championships. The 4x100-meter relay team of Williams, Shian Hyde, Defreitas and Holback won UCF's first conference title in the event since 2016 with a stadium-record time of 44.17. Devin D'Oliveira added a championship in the 400-meter hurdles, winning in 58.80 while breaking her own UCF freshman record.
Boone joined UCF following three seasons as associate head women's coach at Texas Tech, where she coached the sprints and hurdles. She guided relay teams to the NCAA Championships in both 2017 and 2018 and qualified at least one relay, along with individual sprint competitors, for the NCAA West Preliminary in each of her three seasons in Lubbock.
Prior to Texas Tech, Boone spent four seasons as head coach at Texas State, leading the Bobcats to four conference championships and earning conference Coach of the Year honors following each title. Her teams qualified at least 20 athletes for the NCAA West Preliminary in each of her four seasons, including 29 athletes across 24 events in 2015. Boone also guided three student-athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships and six to the NCAA Outdoor Championships during her tenure.
A two-time USTFCCCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year, Boone previously spent six seasons coaching sprints, hurdles and relays at Oklahoma. During her tenure with the Sooners, she coached five NCAA First Team All-Americans and six NCAA Second Team All-Americans between the indoor and outdoor seasons, including NCAA 100-meter champion Candyce McGrone. Boone's sprint group accounted for 23 of Oklahoma's 41 points at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Boone also held assistant coaching positions at Tulane, Middle Tennessee and South Carolina, working primarily with sprints, hurdles and jumps.
A standout jumper at Virginia, Boone was a six-time All-American and six-time ACC champion. She won three ACC outdoor long jump championships, two outdoor triple jump titles and an indoor long jump championship during her collegiate career and established school records in the jumps.
Boone earned her bachelor's degree in communication studies from Virginia in 1991 and a master's degree in physical education from Middle Tennessee State in 1995. She is a Level 2 certified coach in sprints, hurdles and jumps.
*Updated September 2026