Men’s golf earns NCAA Championship berth

The No. 22 UCF Knights men’s golf team is on its way to the NCAA Championship for the fifth time in program history.

UCF finished fifth at the Stanford Regional of the NCAA Tournament, allowing the Knights to advance to the championship, which begins play on May 29 and runs through June 3 and will be held in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

“We are ecstatic,” head coach Bryce Wallor said in a release. “Going into the last round, we knew we were ready to play. Our guys flat out got it done.”

UCF finished the regional at 5-under 835, two shot ahead of Tennessee, which finished in sixth place. The Knights had entered the final round in eighth place, needing to ascend to qualify to move on. The team responded, with four of UCF’s five golfers making par or better on the final 18, with Ricardo Gouveia and Jose Joia leading the way with 1-under 69 rounds.

Joia finished tied for eighth, and Gouveia finished tied for 18th.

Brad Schneider and Greg Eason both finished at 70 (E) on Saturday, with both tying for 27th place at 211 (+1).

“I am so proud of [my team] for putting their nose down and doing what they needed to do,” Wallor said.

When the Knights begin play at the NCAA Championship, it will mark the program’s first appearance at the event since 2009.

Track & field to send school-record 14 competitors to NCAA East Preliminary Round

With its third consecutive Conference USA championship already to its name, the No. 14 UCF Knights women’s track & field team is prepared to send a school-record 14 athletes, covering 11 events, to the 2012 NCAA East Preliminary Round. A year ago, the Knights sent 12 competitors to the preliminary round of the national championships

The three-day event will run from Friday, May 24, through Sunday, May 26, and will be held in Jacksonville on the campus of the University of North Florida at Hodges Stadium.

Headlining the Knights’ athletes heading to Jacksonville will be freshman Octavious Freeman, sophomore Aurieyall Scott and senior Jackie Coward. 

The success hasn’t been limited to sprinters and hurdlers for head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert’s program, though. 

Freshman Precious Ogunleye will represent the program in the shot put and discus, and four Knights will represent the program in the long jump, headlined by junior Sonnisha Williams.