It was a summer of firsts for the U. Central Florida women’s track team. From winning its first conference championship to fielding its first outdoor All-American, the team certainly enjoyed a historical summer.
The Knights kicked off the summer by hosting the Conference USA Track and Field Championships in May. It was their first time hosting the tournament since jumping to Conference USA.
A slow start on Thursday and Friday left the Knights in ninth place as Saturday’s competition began. They moved into sixth behind strong performances by LaKendra Thames, who broke the school record in the discus throw with a long throw of 53.14 meters, and Sonnisha Williams who nabbed second place in the long jump.
When Sunday began, the Knights were 30 points behind first-place UTEP, but by the end of the day, they were the conference champions.
Thames once again etched her name in the record books, with a school record 15.65-meter throw in the shot put. The throw put her in second place in the event and gave the Knights 8 points.
Champelle Brown, Jackie Coward, Carley Dart and Aisha-Maree Frazier finished fourth in the 4×400 relay. They crossed the line in 3:43.54 and added 5 points to UCF’s score.
Dart and Sheila Paul also also contributed to the comeback. Dart nabbed second in the 800-meter run and Paul finished fourth in the 100-meter. The two combined for 13 points in those events.
The team’s hurdlers accounted for 43 of UCF’s points during the final day of competition, in large part due to a 1-2-3 finish in the 100-meter hurdles. Coward snagged first, Tiki James grabbed second and Micaela Wimberly came in third to give the Knights 25 points in a matter of seconds.
Frazier upset Coward in the 400-meter hurdles. The 1-2 finish gave the Knights 18 points and left them in first place. They’d hold on to the lead and finish with 114 points, just 5 points ahead UTEP.
Two weeks after winning their first conference title, a school-record 11 athletes were heading to regional competition. The Knights were entered in 14 events in the NCAA East Regionals.
James barely missed a second consecutive trip to nationals. Her semifinal time in the 100 hurdles was 13.22, leaving her in fifth place and two hundredths of a second short of earning an at-large bid.
Her time ranked 15th in the East region, enough to keep her out of a nationals trip. In the West Regional, a time of 13.39 would have been enough to qualify.
Thames, just weeks removed from breaking school records, also missed qualifying for nationals. She was competing in the discus event that had seen her qualify for the national championship last year. The top 16 finishers would earn a bid, but Thames fell just outside of that and finished 17th. Her best throw was 47.93 meters.
Thames finished 37th in the shot put. In that event, her top throw was 14.19 meters.
Williams broke school and freshman records in the long jump. She posted a jump of 6.25 meters and earned one of 12 spots in the national championships.
Sophomore Sheila Paul finished third in her heat of the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.54.
Coward also qualified for nationals in the 100-meter hurdles with a ninth-place overall finish in the event.
In mid-June Williams, Coward and Paul competed in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Coward turned in a historic performance in her first trip to nationals. She finished second in her preliminary 100-meter hurdle heat. She crossed the finish line in 13.04 seconds and earned a spot in the finals. The finish also earned her outdoor All-American status. Although she was one of four Knights to earn indoor All-American status, she was the first outdoor All-American in program history.
In the finals, she turned in a career best time and finished fifth.
She put four points on the board and gave the Knights their first points in an outdoor championship.
Williams finished 21st in long jump competition. She was one of three freshman in the field and posted a top mark of 5.83 meters.
Paul competed in the 100-meter dash and finished in 11.64 seconds.
After nationals were completed, some athletes were still competing. James, who just completed her senior season, finished in sixth place in the 100-meter hurdles in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Senior and Junior National Championships.
Coward and Williams also competed in the event. Williams finished fifth in the long jump at junior nationals.