Owls Finish Split Squad Weekend

Friday, March 18

Orlando, Fla.

All Day

Florida Atlantic

UCF Black & Gold Invitational

3/19/2022 8:29:00 PM | Women's XC/Track & Field

Friday Results Saturday Results

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University track & field team opened up their outdoor season with a split squad at the UCF Black & Gold Invitational and the Miami Hurricane Invitational. The Owls competed in a total of 10 events over two days and came away with 12 finishes in the top 10 including a new school record in the 2000m steeplechase.

The UCF meet, originally scheduled to take place only on Friday, was interrupted by a weather delay after FAU competed in their first event of the night, the 1500m run. The rest of the competition was resumed Saturday morning with the Owls competing in the 2000m steeplechase.

Coach Smolka's Take

"We had one of our best opening weekends to date, recording new all time program performances in distance, hurdles, jumps, sprint, and steeple events," said head coach Alex Smolka. "The balance we showed as a team Friday and Saturday is outstanding. Our team unity, chemistry, and culture is at an all time high. We have a group of young women on our squad who are hungry for success and are willing to work hard and smart to maximize their potential. We couldn't have asked for a better start to our outdoor season. We are excited to see what the future holds!"

Quick Hits

The 2000m steeplechase saw not only a new school record, but the second-best time in school history as well. Erin Shannon crushed the previous record by almost 30 seconds with a time of 7:32.82 while Alexis Hill finished with a time of 7:52.81
In her first ever event in a spring outdoor season, Casey O'Connor already added herself to the FAU record books, finishing in the 1500m run at UCF with a time of 4:39.85. This is good for eighth all time in school history
At the Miami meet, Jessica Lambert led the way in the 400m hurdles finishing in third place with a time of 1:03.70
Cara Simpson placed in sixth in the 400m run with a time of 56.94
In her first outdoor meet as an Owl, Kaitlyn Kirby performed well in two events. She finished eighth in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.42 (10th all time in school history) and tied for ninth in the long jump (5.67)
Breyanna Chambliss shared ninth place with Kirby in the long jump. Their mark of 5.67 places sixth all time in FAU history

Upcoming

The Owls will return to Miami next Saturday, this time with a full squad, to compete in the Miami Hurricane Collegiate Invitational.

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