Five Knights head to championships

Track and field
Five Knights took part in the NCAA Track and Field Championships, which started Wednesday at John McDonnell Field at the University of Arkansas.

Senior Dione Thomas (triple jump), juniors Kesley Poljansek (discus), LeKendra Thames (discus) and Tiki James (100-meter hurdles) and sophomore Lizzie Harris (high jump) will participate in the championships.

Harris was the lone Knight competing Wednesday, and Poljansek, Thames and James will compete Thursday and Thomas will take part in the last event of her college career on Friday.

As her Knights compete for national recognition, UCF head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert has grabbed her fair share recently.

On Monday, the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced that Smith Gilbert had been named the South Region Coach of the Year.

Smith Gilbert, in her second year with UCF, said working with her athletes is an honor.

"I am blessed to have the opportunity to coach such a driven, dedicated group of young women," Smith Gilbert said in a UCF release. "Our athletes have worked extremely hard this season, and I am proud of their accomplishments athletically as well as away from the track."

Athletics
UCF added to its athletics administration staff with the hiring of Jeff Ulmer, the school announced Monday.

According to a release, Ulmer will oversee "all areas of athletics development: major gifts, fundraising and the Golden Knights Club, plus UCF's athletics ticket sales operation."

Most recently, Ulmer worked at Ole Miss as the president of the UMAA Foundation and spearheaded the foundation's developmental team and its effort to reach out to the community and alumni to garner resources for capital projects and scholarship support.

Ulmer has also worked for Vanderbilt University's law school as assistant dean for development.

He has also worked for the University of Florida in a similar capacity, helping oversee development for four colleges at the university in his 15 years at the school.

Ulmer brings more than 20 years of experience with development to UCF.

"The investment in UCF's student-athletes is critical," Ulmer said in the release. "As I have seen from both sides, intercollegiate athletics can be as important to a University as a successful academics program.

"In athletics, you contribute to the academic landscape of your university in so many ways. It will be our mission to help enrich the lives for our students. Intercollegiate athletics will create tremendous visibility, which in turn will create key opportunities for the university."
Basketball

Wednesday marked the start of guard Isaac Sosa's international campaign, as he and his teammates on Puerto Rico's Under-19 National Team took on the U.S. in an international tournament in France.

The World Juniors Basketball Tournament, a four-day tournament, is a precursor to the FIBA World Championship, which takes place July 2-12 in Auckland, New Zealand.

According to a UCF release, Sosa helped the Puerto Rico team qualify for the world championship when he averaged 13.8 points per game at the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship in Argentina last summer.

Softball
Former Knight Breanne Javier earned a roster spot with the Pride of the National Pro Fastpitch league last Wednesday, according to a UCF release.

Former Knight Allison Kime signed a free agent deal in the league in 2008, and current assistant coach Stephanie Best was selected in the 2005 draft.

The Pride are based out of Kissimmee.

Javier led the Knights with 34 RBIs last season.

And as former players move on, UCF is adding to its player pool for next season.

UCF head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie announced Monday that Kazandra Holliday signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Knights.

Holliday, from Klahowya Secondary School in Silverdale, Wash., had 661 strikeouts in her high school career.