“This is the best finish ever by UCF. This is the best they’ve ever done and we’ve very happy. We just go out and do our best, and that’s all I can ask for as a coach. Just give me your best and we’re happy and they’ve all done that,” said Knights’ head coach Johnny Gray.

Five Knights contributed points in UCF’s top-five finish as they set new personal records. Sophomore Heather Classe was the Knight’s second top finisher with her time of 21:42.45 for 21st place.

Amelia Williams (37th) and Senior Erica Winston (38th) emerged as UCF’s third and fourth finishers with times of 22:41.51 and 22:46.86, respectively, while sophomore Jocelyn Adona rounded out the Knights’ top-five with a time of 23:11.59 to place 45th overall.

“Everyone set personal records from our fifth place finisher on up,” said Gray. “All of our top runners set personal records by huge margins. Anne-Marie finished 24th last year in the (C-USA) championship, and placed first this year. Heather (Classe) took 21st, which is a huge improvement, too. I would have love to have Amy, but she is injured. If we had her we probably would have finished in the top three.”

Next up, the Knights will prepare for the NCAA South Region Championships, which will take place on Nov. 15 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Freeman proved unstoppable once again by topping the 200-meter school record with the world’s top wind-legal time this year, 22.57 (+0.1). The world’s current 100-meter leader edged three-time World Champion and two-time Olympic medalist Lauryn Williams in a photo finish to claim first place.

Logan catapulted herself into the NCAA’s top 25 this year with the best performance by a Knight in the 800M since 2009, finishing third in 2:06.37. She shaved nearly three seconds off her previous season best and continues to reign as Conference USA’s top 800M runner in 2013.

After a lengthy weather delay that sidelined the field athletes for more than four hours and pushed back the race schedule by 30 minutes, the 4×100 relay opened the meet with a performance that was worth the wait. Afia Charles, Aurieyall Scott, Alexis Faulknor and Freeman combined to cross the finish line in 43.58 for the third-best time in the NCAA this season. UCF and Texas A&M are currently the only two programs in the country to boast multiple times in the event that rank among the nation’s top 10.

Charles had a breakthrough in the 400 meters with her fastest race in more than a year, clinching first place with a time of 53.77. Charles moved up on the NCAA East Region leaderboard to No. 15.

Scott etched her name on the NCAA’s top-10 leaderboard this season in her first 100-meter race since her gold-medal finish at the NACAC U-23 Championships last July. She won the second heat in 11.30 and finished second overall only to Lauryn Williams. Senior Amanda Leland produced the second-best wind-legal time of her career (11.85) in the race before topping her personal best in the 200M soon after with a time of 24.64 (+0.0).

Junior Erica Winston clocked a new personal-record 2:10.55 in her best 800M race in two years to finish seventh. Freshman Caroline Pauls won the second heat of the event in 2:13.24, which was good enough for ninth place.

Sandy Jean emerged as the top collegiate finisher in the 400 hurdles with her time of 59.20, marking her second time of 2013 that ranks among the East Region’s top 15. Freshman Rayeisha Lowe-Chin recorded the best time of her career at 1:03.60.

Three Knights finished among the top five in the 1500 meters. Sophomore Amelia Williams led the way in third place by improving her personal best for the second time this season (4:45.07). Sophomore Cody Castillo finished fourth in 4:51.58 and freshman Rachel Petrik was close behind in fifth with a time of 4:55.17.

Freshman Jocelin Adona capped the races as the Knights’ lone representative in the 3,000- meter finals and cruised to third place with a personal-record time of 11:00.56.

Freshman Megan Patterson boasted the best finish by a field athlete of the day with a second-place toss of 14.21m/46-07.25 in the shot put. The Knights also earned two top-three finishes from Erica Weiss in the pole vault after clearing 3.60m/11-09.75, and Precious Ogunleye in the discus with a mark of 45.75m/150-01.

Ogunleye led three Knights in the hammer throw with a fourth-place showing of 53.43m/175-03 for another mark that ranks among Conference USA’s top five this season.

Up next, the Knights will visit Gainesville for the second time in three weeks when they compete at the Tom Jones Invitational on April 20.

The Knights claimed the title with 160 team points, besting C-USA Indoor Champion East Carolina by nearly 28 points.

Octavious Freeman was named the Freshman of the Meet, Aurieyall Scott won the High Point Scorer of the Meet for the second year in a row and head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert was awarded her third-consecutive Coach of the Year accolade.

Freeman set a meet record, school record, freshman record and personal best in the 100 meters with a blistering performance of 11.09 (+1.5) for first place. The time ranks second in the NCAA and 11th in the world this year. Scott finished in step behind her and also tied the previous meet record of 11.21 (+1.5), which ranks among the top 10 in the NCAA.

Senior Sheila Paul and sophomore Dominique Booker scored points in the 100 meters as well with fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively. Paul registered a season-best time of 11.40, which ranks among the NCAA’s top 25, and Booker clocked 11.59.

As a unit in the 4×100 relay, the group clinched UCF’s first gold medal of the day by churning out a time of 43.47, which fell just .05 shy of the squad’s Conference USA Championship meet record in 2011. The performance ranks among the top 15 in the NCAA this year.

The quartet also shined in the 200 meters as the Knights swept the podium. Scott reclaimed her gold medal in the event with a time of 23.13 (+0.8), which ranks among the top 15 in the NCAA. Paul and Freeman went neck and neck for silver and bronze as both clocked a time of 23.53. Rounding out the bunch, Booker scored points in seventh place with a time of 23.98.

Senior Tomika Story earned all-conference third team honors in the triple jump with a personal-best leap in all conditions of 12.74m/41-09.75 (+2.6). Competing in the event for the first time of her collegiate career, Scott also scored points in eighth place with a mark of 12.25m/40-02.25 (+2.0), which topped her heat.

Junior Sonnisha Williams recorded a personal-best 11.92m/39-01.25 (+1.7) to finish second in her heat behind Scott and 12th overall. Williams also hit a personal-record 1.73m/5-08 in the high jump to match her best showing in the event at the Outdoor Championships in fifth place.

A day removed from setting a personal best in the 800 meters, Ne’Ausha Logan led the finals from start to finish and again shaved nearly two seconds off her PR for the first gold medal of her career with a time of 2:07.25.

Two seniors medaled and recorded times among the NCAA’s top 25 in the 100 hurdles. Jackie Coward retained her title as the 100 hurdles champion by picking up her third gold medal of her career in the event with a time of 13.10 (+1.1), and Karessa Farley posted a season-best time of 13.34 (+1.1) for third place.

Coward also defended her gold medal in the 400 hurdles with a season-best time of 58.35, and fellow senior Aisha-Maree Frazier joined her on the podium with a third-place, season-best time of 59.46.

Satrina Oliveira set a personal best en route to winning her heat and finishing fourth in the discus with a mark of 46.80m/153-06. A day after earning all-conference honors in the shot put, Precious Ogunleye also scored points in the discus with a sixth-place finish of 45.10m/147-11.

Junior Erica Weiss tallied a point in the pole vault with a mark of 3.60m/11-09.75 for eighth place.

The 4×400 relay of Afia Charles, Christal Peterson, Erica Winston and Williams closed out the evening with a season-best time of 3:38.69 for fourth place. Earlier in the day, Charles scored points in the 400 meters with a fifth-place time of 54.03.

Complete coverage of the final day of competition will air on tape delay on Fox Sports Florida on Friday at 2 p.m. and on SportSouth on Sunday at 8 p.m. Up next, the Knights will travel to Jacksonville for the NCAA East Preliminary Round of the Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 24-26.

Champion Event(s)

Team Points

1. UCF 160
2. East Carolina 132.16
3. Southern Miss 81
4. Houston 74
5. Rice 60.50
6. SMU 60
7. UAB 58
8. Memphis 55
9. UTEP 54
10. Tulane 33.33
11. Marshall 28
12. Tulsa 23

Freshman earned herself a spot at the U.S. Olympic Trials in both the 100 and 200 Meters thanks to her buzzworthy performances at the Pepsi Florida Relays in Gainesville on Friday.

In her first 100M race as a Knight, Freeman was not daunted as the only collegian in her heat, blowing by her professional competitors with a new world-leading time of 11.10 (+1.2). Her personal-best performance shattered the Florida Relays, UCF and freshman records and automatically qualifies her for a spot to compete alongside teammate in the event at the Trials this summer.

She struck again in the 200 Meters, this time clocking a personal-best 22.80 (+0.5) for the world’s second-fastest time and the top time in the U.S. Her first-place finish is a new school and freshman record.

Freshman dashed to a season-best time of 11.70 (+0.2) for 16th place overall in the 100 Meters, and junior fell in step behind her in 17th place with the second-fastest time in her heat of 11.72 (+3.4).

Senior finished fourth with a time of 13.37 (-0.5) in the 100 Hurdles, narrowly missing the podium by .01 behind third-place finisher Nike’s Loreal Smith. Coward’s performance ranks among the top 20 in the nation at time of publication. Senior made her return to the track for her first race of 2012 and finished 16th with a time of 13.91 (-1.0).

In her first 400 Hurdles appearance of 2012, Coward led her heat and finished 12th overall with a time of 59.01.

UCF’s jumps crew witnessed the return of two of their top performers in the long jump, and the duo did not disappoint. In her first appearance in the event since claiming All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships, junior earned a silver-medal finish in the invite section of the Long Jump with a respectable first attempt of 6.34m/20-9.50. The mark ranks among the nation’s top 10 in the NCAA.

Sophomore also announced her long-awaited return to the long jump with authority, busting out of the gate with a mark of 6.14m/20-01.75. She took bronze in the university section of the event, followed closely by senior fourth-place showing of 6.07m/19-11.00.

Freshman bettered her personal record by more than a foot in the discus with a toss of 43.82m/143-09 for ninth place. Sophomore paced the Knights in the event with a mark of 44.75m/146-10 for fifth place.

Freshman topped her personal record by more almost a minute in the 5000 Meters with a time of 18:15.10. Meanwhile, ran a season-best 2:13.00 in the 800 Meters for the third-fastest time in her heat and 22nd place overall.

The No. 13 UCF track and field team will resume action at the Relays on Saturday with the hammer throw starting things off at 11:30 a.m.

“Today was a good starting point for the season and we’re going to build off of this meet,” UCF head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said.

UCF shined in the 100 Meters by recording the top-three finishes with times that all rank among the top 10 in the nation at time of publication. Sophomore Dominique Booker led the way with a time of 11.74 (0.9), followed by Amanda Leland’s personal-best 11.76 (1.8) and Sheila Paul rounded out the trio with a time of 11.81 (0.9).

The Knights also clinched three of the top five spots in the 200 Meters with marks that rank among the nation’s top 10. Sheila Paul emerged as UCF’s best finisher of eight competitors with a second-place time of 23.75 (-0.3). Junior Sonnisha Williams fell in step behind her at 23.89 (-0.3) while Booker also finished among the top five with a time of 24.12 (-0.3).

Leland recorded a personal best 24.74 (-0.1) in the race for 10th place and Jen Clayton won her heat with a time of 24.76 for 11th place.

Sophomore Afia Charles came up with a first-place time of 53.73 which currently leads the country in the 400 Meters.

UCF’s jumps crew represented the Knights well by taking gold in both the triple jump and long jump. Jacquelyn Gilchrist bested her personal record in the long jump with a leap of 6.17m/20-03 (0.8), which ranks second in the country, to defend her first-place finish from last year’s meet.

Tomika Story took first place in the triple jump with a wind-aided mark of 12.40m/40-08.25 (2.5). Gilchrist claimed second place in the event with a jump of 12.27m/40-03.25 (+0.0) to rank second in the country.

After clearing the bar and hitting the cushion on landing, Erica Weiss sprang up with a smile on her face and clapped her hands to celebrate her new personal best in the pole vault with a mark of 3.77m/12-04.50. The junior bested her competitor by more than two feet to rank among the top 15 in the country.

Sophomore Destinee Romain earned two third-place finishes on the day in the hammer and the shot put. She topped her personal best in the hammer by nearly 40 feet, recording 48.74/159-11 before posting 12.85m/42-02 in the shot.

In her first collegiate hammer throw appearance, Precious Ogunleye posted a mark of 45.47m/149-02 to fall less than a foot shy of the UCF freshman record. Ogunleye also finished third in the discus with a toss of 42.40m/139-1.

UCF’s distance crew saw a number of personal-best performances. Freshman Cody Castillo had a memorable debut in her first collegiate outdoor meet with two personal-best outings. Castillo earned fourth place to pace five Knights in the 1500 Meters with a time of 4:44.60. She followed that up with a personal record 2:20.28 in the 800 Meters for 10th place.

Jessica Pachay ran a personal best 19:27.08 for fourth place in the 5000 Meters. Erica Winston took fourth place in the 800 Meters with a time of 2:13.84 to qualify as UCF’s best finisher in the race.

UCF’s 4×100 Relay team of Christal Peterson, Tyler Smith, Clayton and Leland combined to run a fourth-place time of 44.84, which at the time of publication ranked sixth in the nation.

UCF closed out the day with the top 4×400 Relay performance as Charles, sophomore Aurieyall Scott, freshman Christal Peterson and sophomore Erica Winston combined to clock 3:42.78, which ranks third in the nation.

Up next, the Knights will host the UCF Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Saturday will also serve as Senior Day to recognize the Knights’ outstanding Class of 2012.

The Knights now hold both the C-USA indoor and outdoor titles after having won indoors in February. For the second straight outdoor season and the third time in the last 12 months, Caryl Smith Gilbert was named the C-USA Coach of the Year for leading her team to a third league crown.

Jackie Coward was named the Performer of the Meet with two individual titles in the 100-and 400-meter hurdles. Freshman Aurieyall Scott was also honored with two individual awards as she was named the High Point Scorer and Freshman of the Meet. Scott was also the 2011 C-USA Indoor Track & Field Championship Freshman of the Meet in Houston earlier this year.

“This is the best championship we have won because we came together as a team and we fought for it,” Smith Gilbert said. “This is the first time that truly did that to win. Everybody was able to contribute. “I am very proud of the whole team, because we earned points in places that we didn’t expect. That is a testament to how these young women performed this weekend. Coach Chakouian and coach Brown did phenomenal jobs in preparing their athletes for this meet.”

Entering the day, the Knights sat 10th in the standings with just 14 points. SMU, which had 60 points entering Sunday, built their lead to an even greater figure, scoring in events in which there were no UCF athletes participating. That quickly changed once the Knights began to take to the track in the early evening.

The Knights’ 4×100-meter relay team earned 10 important points with an exciting first-place finish in the day’s first race. UCF’s Dominique Booker, Scott, Lynne Layne and Sheila Paul set a new C-USA Championship record as well as a new program mark to edge out Houston for the title in 43.42. The Cougars and Knights were neck-and-neck through the first two legs before Layne and Paul put some distance between the Black and Gold and second-place Houston to set the new record.

UCF solidified its championship with another first-place finish in the final event of the day: the 4×400-meter relay. Champelle Brown, Afia Charles, Sandy Jean and Erica Winston claimed the top spot in what was the most exciting race of the day. With the crowd on its feet as the teams came around the final turn and down the backstretch, Winston held off a late surge by the competition with a strong push to cross the line in 3:37.83.

For the second year in a row, Coward claimed the top spot in the 100-meter hurdles, posting a new meet record in the process of 12.97. That time was a thousandth of a second off her own school record set earlier this season.

But UCF did not get points from just Coward in the event, as the Knights owned all three spots on the podium with Mica Wimberly claiming the second spot and Karessa Farley taking third, both earning All-C-USA honors. Wimberly, who matched her personal best in the race, just edged Farley as both posted times of 13.41 to earn eight and six points, respectively. Ashley Bolling also scored for the Knights in the event, finishing fifth in 13.82 for the four points.

Coward became a two-time 400-meter hurdles C-USA champion with a meet record 57.59 in the finals. Her time also broke a UCF record she had set in mid-April of 57.78. Jean earned six points as she finished strong down the stretch to place third and earn all-conference honors in a personal-best and UCF freshmen record 58.84. Last year’s champion in the event, Aisha-Maree Frazier placed fifth in a season-best time of 1:00.31 to earn four points for her team.

Coward had previously won the title in the event as a freshman in 2009 as UCF has now won this event three straight seasons.

The Knights continued to own the sprints as Scott broke her one-day old school record in the 100 meters to take the league crown in 11.25. Scott qualified first on Saturday with a then-record time of 11.29, only to best that mark by four-thousandths of a second in the finals to take the top spot on the podium and 10 points for her team. Paul was second with a new personal best of 11.35 to pick up eight points. Booker just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in a personal-best 11.45, while Layne picked up two points in seventh, running a 11.54 in the finals.

Scott would go on to claim the top spot in the 200 meters as well, making her a two-time C-USA Champion in her first season with the Knights. After winning the 100 meters, Scott moved on to take the top spot in the 200 with a 23.06. Paul earned six points as she finished third in a new personal-best mark of 23.53. Booker (4th, 23.63) and Layne (6th, 23.96) rounded out the event, earning five and three points, respectively.

UCF earned seven more points in the 400 meters as Charles ran the second-fastest time in the event ever by a Knight, crossing fourth in 53.73. Charles set the record of 53.60 on Saturday to qualify for Sunday’s final where she earned five points. Brown was seventh in 54.73 to claim two points.

Freshman thrower Satrina Oliveira opened her competition’s eyes as she moved from sixth on the pre-championship performance list to take third place and earn six points in the discus. Her personal-best throw of 148-08/45.32m in the final flight shot her up the list to earn all-conference honors. Fellow freshman thrower Destinee Romain finished second in the first flight with a distance of 135-03/41.22m, barely missing qualifying for the finals.

Pole vaulter Erica Weiss also stepped up her performance on the final day of competition, setting a new personal record to finish fourth. After cheering on her teammates and watching other events take place for three days, Weiss cleared a height of 12-3.50/3.75m on Sunday afternoon to earn the five points. Just last week at the UCF Twilight, Weiss had set her previous personal-best height of 12-1.25/3.70m, only to break that on the final day of the conference championship meet.

The triple jump saw the Knights add seven more points to their total late in the day as Jacquelyn Gilchrist set a personal record with a jump of 40-6.25/12.35m in Sunday’s final flight. Gilchrist placed fifth to earn four points, while Mica Wimberly was sixth overall in 39-8.50/12.10m to earn three points. Tomika Story was 10th in 38-4.25/11.69m.

Freshman Ne’Ausha Logan also earned a point as she finished eighth in the 800 meters in 2:11.79.

Sunday’s championship marks the first time that a UCF coach has guided a team three straight championship titles.

After jumping out to a strong first day, SMU was not able to sustain the same level of scoring on Sunday, finishing second with 119 points. Houston (87 points), UTEP (74 points) and ECU (71.5 points) rounded out the top five. Houston’s men’s team took the league crown with 175 points in a field of just eight teams.

The Knights will now have an extended break before several members of the team will move on to the NCAA Regionals in Bloomington, Ind., in little over a week.

“This was a good start to the outdoor season,” UCF head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said afterwards. “We had a lot of personal bests today and a lot of personal bests for openers which is a good sign for the season. We had some good competition in great weather. It was just the right level of competition and this will help us train for the next few week.

Sophomore Sonnisha Williams finished fourth in the 200 meters, setting a school record of 23.79 in the process. The previous record of 23.88 was set by Sheila Paul in last season’s Conference USA Championship meet.

Lynne Layne (5th, 23.88), Champelle Brown (6th, 23.91), Afia Charles (9th, 24.35) and Ashley Bolling (14th, 25.56) also ran in the 200 meters with Williams. Brown, Charles and Bolling all ran personal-best time.

The Knights grabbed the top two spots in the 100 meters as Dominique Booker and Paul crossed the finish line in 11.68 and 11.72 seconds, respectively. Booker’s time was a personal record to claim the first place. Williams (4th, 12.11) Karessa Farley (6th, 12.48), Tomika Story (8th, 12.65) and Jacquelyn Gilchrist (10th, 12.87) rounded out the Knights in the event; the largest contingent of the day in any event.

Charles was the top collegiate finisher in the 400 meters in a UCF freshman record and personal-best time 55.86 to place second overall. Dan’Elle Bellamy finished sixth in a personal-best mark of 57.88, while Eva Pierce was ninth in 59.6.

Gilchrist won the long jump by leaping 19-0.75/5.81m and Tomika Story won the triple jump with a mark of 39-5.75/12.03.

The combination of Booker, Bellamy, Carley Dart and Erica Winston also won the 4×400 meter relay for UCF in a time of 3:46.88. The Knights’ 4×100-meter relay teams placed second and third with marks of 45.42 and 45.79, respectively.

Winston was the top UCF runner in the 800 meters, finishing in a personal-best time of 2:15.13. Ne’Ausha Logan was fifth in the event in 2:17.33.

Sandy Jean led the Knights in the 400-meter hurdles in a personal-best time of 1:01.75, while Aisha-Maree Frazier was tenth in 1:05.3.

The 1500-meter race saw Danielle Scaffidi also set a new PR with a 4:48.63 to finish fifth. Carley Dart (7th, 5:07.14), Katya Groff (5:11.91) and Mason Gardberg (9th, 5:40.36) also ran in the event for the Knights. Groff and Gardberg’s times were personal record.

Pole vaulters London Enos and Erica Weiss tied for second with a shared height of 11-5.75/3.50m. That mark was a personal best for Enos.

UCF throwers Destinee Romain and Satrina Oliveira both made their collegiate outdoor debuts Saturday in Orlando. In the shot put, Romain placed eighth (41-4.25/12.60m), while Oliveira was ninth with a personal-best throw of 40-6.75/12.36m. Oliveira then placed 12th in the discus (125-5.00/38.22m) and eighth in the hammer throw (133-0.00/40.53m). Romain was 14th in the discus (119-0.00/36.27m) and 12th in the hammer (120-4.00/36.67m).

The Knights will return to action March 25-26 when they host the UCF Invitational.

UCF Black & Gold Challenge, March 19, 2011, Orlando Fla. – UCF Track & Field Complex

100m

200m

400m

800m

1500m

100m hurdles

400m hurdles

4x100m relay

4x400m relay

Pole vault

Long Jump

Triple Jump

Shot Put

Discus Throw

Hammer Throw

Legend: ! = Personal Record, ^ = School Record, # = Freshman Record