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Track and Field places Seven on Podium to Conclude Inaugural Big 12 Indoor Championships

by Alex Clough

LUBBOCK, Texas – The program’s first Big 12 Indoor Championships is in the books as the UCF Track and Field team concluded action Saturday at the Sports Performance Center. Multiple Knights secured points and a spot on the podium, along with many firsts in one of the premier conferences in the nation.

 

This was a huge learning experience for this team. We had a few ladies step up and get the job done at this level, this conference is tough and we will have to adapt and grow as a program. We are looking forward to the challenge and now we will regroup and prepare for the outdoor season.

Head coach Dana Boone

In the first of six finals the Knights would compete in during day two of the conference championships, Rayniah Jones and Adaobi Tabugbo shined amongst a stacked field. The tandem went two to three to claim 14 points for UCF.

Jones went 8.05 to secure her third-consecutive season finishing top two in the event. Tabugbo would follow with an 8.22 to claim her first conference points as a Knight. UCF tallied the most points of any program in the hurdles as the squad will look to build upon their prowess during the outdoor season.

Her first stay on the podium wouldn’t be her last as for the third-straight indoor championships, Jones scored in two events following her eighth-place finish in the 60m with her time of 7.39. In total, the senior tallied nine points on the weekend, a remarkable start to her final collegiate campaign.

The points continued to roll in as Asherah Collins, for the second-consecutive day, put points on the board for the Knights. Collins placed sixth in the triple jump with her 13.11m mark, leading UCF in the competition as Natalia Madison finished in 15th (12.24m) and Alexis Waller rounded out the Knights’ trio in 23rd (11.82m).

Similar to Jones, Collins has collected points in two events at the conference championships for the second straight year.

Natalia Madison capped off her first Big 12 Championships with a 14th-place finish in the high jump, securing a 1.67m mark. In the final distance event of the weekend, Isabella Richardson ran a 10:11.43 in the 3000m finals to place 34th.

Saturday’s action concluded with the 4x400m relay as all 14 programs looked to cap off the weekend in style. The Knights’ squad, consisting of Hannah Taylor, Kiah Williams, Y’Vette Harris and Kai’lyn Kirkland, did just that. The quartet secured seventh place and the final two points of the weekend for UCF.

The group’s time of 3:39.63 ranks ninth in program history as each student-athlete stepped up to close the team’s first Big 12 Indoor Championships on a high.

UCF accumulated 21 points across five events: 4x400m relay(two), 60m dash(one), 60m hurdles (14), long jump (one) and triple jump (three).