Three student-athletes are poised to compete at the outdoor track and field championships this week… A former men’s soccer goalkeeper made his pro debut last month for Chicago… The baseball squad had five selected to C-USA postseason teams while the softball team landed a program-best six league honors…

– NCAA Track and Field Championships –

UCF sent a school-record 11 student-athletes to the NCAA East Championships and came away with three who qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, beginning Wednesday in Eugene, Ore.

Sophomores Jackie Coward and Sheila Paul, and freshman Sonnisha Williams will be competing at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon from June 9-12.

Jackie Coward

Paul is scheduled to run in one of three semifinal heats of the 100-meter dash on Wednesday at 6 p.m., with the finals scheduled for Friday at 5:32 p.m. Coward competes in one of three semifinal heats of the 100-meter hurdles on Thursday night at 5:55 p.m., with the finals scheduled for Saturday at 11:09 a.m. Williams competes in the trials and finals of the long jump on Saturday starting at 9:30 a.m.

At stake are All-American accolades (finishing among the top-eight in each respective event), which would be the first for UCF in outdoor competition. The Knights have previously had four NCAA Indoor All-Americans, including Coward in 2009.

Coward is ranked seventh nationally in the 100mH with a season-best time of 12.99. She is seeded No. 11 after clocking in at 13.11 at the east championships. Paul recently ran a personal-best 11.36 and is ranked No. 16 overall entering the 100m. She is seeded No. 22 based on her time of 11.54 in the east championship finals. Williams is ranked No. 20 nationally in the long jump, No. 2 among freshman, after measuring in at a school-record jump of 20-6.25/6.25m at the east championships. She is seeded No. 18 at the event.

– Former Goalkeeper Makes Pro Soccer Debut –

Last month former UCF men’s soccer goalkeeper Sean Johnson made his professional debut for Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire, playing all 90 minutes in a 1-0 exhibition loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the opener of the Chicago Sister Cities International Cup at Toyota Park in Chicago.

Johnson, the 51st pick of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft, made three saves in the game as Clement Chantome got a shot by him in the 14th minute. A two-year starter for UCF in 2007 and 2008, Johnson became the first UCF player to be drafted by an MLS team.

“I take full responsibility,” said Johnson of the goal against. “I was in good position, the ball hit a little divot and I should’ve gotten a little bit of a better push forward and parried it away to be safe. At the end of the day, my defense knows I’ll take the goal on me.”

In 2009, Johnson passed on playing for UCF after he was selected to play with the United States U-20 National Team. He participated in the U-20 World Cup this past fall.

Aside from the outcome of his professional debut, he was just happy to get some playing time.

“It was a good opportunity,” Johnson said. “I think you learn from playing and this being my first game I think I did alright.”

– Baseball Team Nabs Five C-USA Honors –

Among the five Conference USA award winners on UCF’s baseball team, Olympia alum Chris Taladay came away with perhaps the top honor.

The third baseman was recently voted as the 2010 C-USA Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Knight to claim a C-USA individual postseason award since the Knights joined the league in 2006.

Other award winners included senior outfielders Chris Duffy and Shane Brown, who were both first team selections. Taladay joined shortstop Darnell Sweeney and relief pitcher Joe Rogers on the All-Freshman Team. All three were also named Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball.

Taladay is UCF’s first conference freshman of the year since Dee Brown was tabbed the top frosh in 2002, when the Knights competed in the Atlantic Sun.

In 2010, he ranked in the top-five of all C-USA freshmen in batting average (.352), at-bats (210), runs (49), hits (74), doubles (19), homers (eight), RBI (47), total bases (117), slugging (.557), OPS (.960) and HBP (10) while leading all freshmen in doubles, total bases, slugging and OPS.

Duffy finished with a .447 batting average, the highest in both UCF and C-USA history. He also led the league with an .850 slugging percentage, 81 RBI and 175 total bases. His 21 home runs set a UCF single-season record and his 43 all-time homers, the last of which came on a grand slam in his last at-bat, ties Bobby Kiser for the school’s career mark.

Brown ranked third in the league with a .428 batting average, which also was the fourth highest in C-USA history. His .541 on-base percentage and 22 HBP topped the conference. He sits in the top-10 in slugging (.692), runs (58), hits (89), doubles (25), total bases (144) and walks (34). In four seasons, Brown hit .363 in his career, which stands as the sixth-best batting average in UCF history.

Duffy and Brown were also named Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball All-Americans as Duffy was awarded a spot on the second team and Brown got a spot on the third team.

The last time a Knight was selected as an All-American was in 2004 when pitchers Matt Fox and Kyle Bono received the accolade. UCF has now had nine All-Americans since it turned Division I in 1985. That list includes Tim Barker in 1985, Chad Mottola in 1992 and Justin Pope, Jason Arnold and Jeremy Kurella in 2001.

Sweeney was the only Knight to start all 55 games this season, finishing 2010 with a .358 batting average, the highest of all freshmen in the league. The shortstop also collected 51 runs, 38 RBI, 14 doubles, a triple, two triples and a UCF-high 17 stolen bases.

Rogers posted a 4-2 record with a 4.50 ERA, appearing in 23 games with three starts. He converted eight save opportunities, which are tied for the third-most saves ever by a Knight. His 43 strikeouts ranked third on the UCF pitching staff.

UCF closed out its season with a 33-22 overall record and a 10-14 mark in Conference USA, which goes down as the most C-USA victories by a UCF squad since joining the league in 2006.

– Softball Team Comes Away With Six C-USA Picks –

A program-record six student-athletes earned All-Conference USA softball honors, including three selections to the league’s first team.

Tiffany Lane, Natalie Land and Ashleigh Cole were the first team picks while Hillary Barrow and Abby McClain made the second team. Marissa Menendez was named to the all-freshman team.

Lane earned a spot on the first team for the second-consecutive year after setting the C-USA record with 21 career triples. She ranked sixth nationally in 2010 with six triples and led the Knights during the regular season in triples, total bases (68) and slugging percentage (.479), while ranking second in batting average (.310), runs scored (25), hits (44), doubles (9), RBI (18) and stolen bases (12).

Land, who was named to the all-freshman team in 2009, put together an impressive sophomore season. The second baseman paced the Knights in batting average (.317), runs scored (29), hits (46), sacrifice hits (15) and stolen bases (17), and sits among the top-10 in C-USA in five different categories.

Cole put together the best season of her career in the circle in 2010. She ended the regular season with a 21-12 record, making her only the fourth pitcher in program history to tally 20 or more wins in a season. She also had a 1.53 ERA, five shutouts and 149 strikeouts in 224.2 innings pitched. Cole ranks in the league’s top-10 in eight different pitching categories.

Cole also earned a spot on the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Mideast Region Second Team, becoming the seventh player in program history to be named to an all-region squad.

McClain repeated as a second team selection after being voted to the squad last season. The junior started all 53 games behind the plate for UCF, catching 14 runners stealing and picking off one on the base paths. Offensively, she led UCF in on-base percentage (.399), walks (22) and times hit by pitch (6), while ranking third in batting average (.291), runs (25), hits (43), doubles (7) and home runs (2).

Barrow, one of the Knights’ five seniors, averaged a team-best 0.69 RBI per game as UCF’s No. 3 batter. The third baseman posted a team-high 36 RBI while also leading the squad in runs scored (29), doubles (10), home runs (5) and assists (122). Barrow hit her first career grand slam against Cornell at the UCF Softball Complex, while pacing UCF with eight multiple-RBI games.

Menendez batted .252 on the season with 38 hits, four doubles, three triples and one home run. She was the only freshman on the Knights’ roster to start all 53 regular-season contests, including 24 at first base, 15 as the designated player and 14 at second base. The rookie posted three-game winning RBI, including game-winners against both No. 16 Tennessee and No. 9 Alabama.

The Knights finished the regular season with a 33-20 overall record and a 16-7 league mark.

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –