USF Athletics

Freshman Kirby Earns All-Conference Honors on Day Two in Cincinnati

May 12, 2018

Day 2 Results
 
CINCINNATI, Ohio, MAY 12, 2018 – The USF track and field team continued action in Cincinnati at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships on Saturday. Day two of the three-day championships saw freshman Kaitlyn Kirby earn all-conference honors and a pair of Bulls sprinters advancing to the 100-meter dash finals on Sunday.

Kirby (Tarpon Springs) built on her strong day one performance in the final three events women's heptathlon, closing out the multi-event with a third place finish. She is the second Bull to earn all-conference honors at the meet after Zach Diaczynsky's third place finish in the men's hammer throw on day one. Kirby finished with 4,953 points, only 65 points behind the winner. Her best event on Saturday was the long jump, where she finished fourth with a distance of 17-9.75.

On the track, sophomore Curtis Thomas qualified for the 100-meter dash finals with a personal best time of 10.42 seconds. Thomas finished sixth overall in the preliminaries and he was one of seven runners to break the previous Gettler Stadium record of 10.46 seconds Saturday evening. The time improves Thomas' hold on fifth place all-time on the USF outdoor charts.

On the women's side in the 100 meters, junior Chelsea Francis (Jacksonville) successfully qualified for her second final of the weekend. She finished seventh overall in the preliminaries with a time of 11.69 seconds. Francis also qualified for the 200-meter dash finals on Friday night, posting a career-best time of 23.42 seconds. Both the 100-meter and 200-meter finals will take place Sunday evening.

Other Notable Performances

• POLE VAULT: Junior Nicole Carroll (Land O'Lakes, Fla.) finished fourth in the women's pole vault, clearing a height of 12-6.00.
• LONG JUMP: Junior Kaytlyn Gill (Charlotte, N.C.) placed fifth in the women's long jump with a mark of 19-1.50.
• 100 METER HURDLES: Senior Rachael O'Neill (Seattle, Wash.) ran a time of 13.93 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, 0.01 seconds behind her personal best. She finished ninth overall in the preliminaries.
• TEAM STANDINGS: The Bulls women have earned 15 points so far in the team standings through six events, putting them in eighth place out of 12 teams. Kaitlyn Kirby's heptathlon finish earned the Bulls six points, while Nicole Carroll got five points in the pole vault and Kaytlyn Gill earned four points in the long jump. USF's best women's team finish ever is seventh, which came in the inaugural American Athletic Conference outdoor meet in 2014.

Up Next
The three-day American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships finishes on Sunday at Gettler Stadium on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Day three competition begins for the Bulls on the field with the women's javelin throw at noon. Action on the track begins at 4:30 p.m. with finals in the women's 4x100 meter relay.

Visit the championship central page to view the event schedule, live results, photos and video of each day of competition. The conference will also broadcast the event live on their Facebook page.

About USF Track and Field
Led by 13th-year head coach Warren Bye, the USF track and field team has produced 22 All-America selections since 2008 and at least one All-American in nine of the last 10 years. 2016 graduate Matthew O'Neal is USF's first six-time NCAA All-American. USF has posted two NCAA runner-up finishes since 2013 - O'Neal (triple jump, 2016) and Courtney Anderson (high jump, 2013).
The Bulls are home to the 2018 NCAA Track and Field East Preliminary.