Hustle Points: 6/21

Knights to compete for coveted Olympic roster spots 

The Olympic Track & Field Trials are set to begin June 22 in Eugene, Ore., and the UCF track & field team will be represented, set to face some tough veteran opposition. Here’s a bit more about the three UCF Knights who will make their case sto become Olympians over the weekend.

Octavious Freeman

A freshman sprinter from Lake Wales, Freeman has been selected to represent the United States at the NACAC U-23 Championships in Mexico next month. In April, she clocked the fastest speed for the Florida Relays, UCF school and UCF freshman record in the 100-meter dash. She has been racking up the accolades and has a potential career in professional track & field competition ahead of her.

Freeman, who qualified for the trials with the sixth-fastest time, will be participating in the 100- and 200-meter dash. For most of the women declaring for the race, Carmelita Jeter stands out as the athlete to beat. She is heralded as the “world’s fastest woman,” qualifying for the race with a 10.70 mark. That’s .31 faster than the next competitor. Jeter also has some experience on Freeman, who is 13 years her junior.

Aurieyall Scott

Originally from Maryland, Scott is a sophomore sprinter who is UCF’s first two-time outdoor All-American in program history. Scott added her eighth career award to her résumé after receiving All-America First Team honors by advancing to the finals of the NCAA Championship earlier this month.

Scott will participate with Freeman in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. You may have heard the name Sanya Richards-Ross before. In the 2008 Olympic Games 400-meter final, Richards earned Team USA’s fourth Olympic medal ever in the 400-meter dash. She’ll be on the track with Scott and Freeman.

Both Richards-Ross and Jeter are Nike-sponsored professional athletes.

Jackie Coward

In her last year at UCF, senior Jackie Coward bested her own school record by .06 in the 100 hurdles at the NCAA Championship. The sprinter and hurdler was named the Conference USA Female Outdoor and Indoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2011.

Coward qualified in the top-15 of the 100-meter hurdles for this year’s Olympic Trials. She will be sharing the field with 2008 Olympic gold-medalist Dawn Harper, who qualified in first place for the event.

Qualifying for the 100-meter dash and hurdles will begin June 22 with the semi-finals and final taking place on June 23. Qualifying for the 200-meter dash will begin on June 28, finals held on June 30.

You can keep up with the UCF team by tuning into NBC Sports Network and NBC during primetime from June 22-July 1.

For online viewers, there will be live streams of each track & field event on NBCOlympics.com.

—compiled by Miranda Burgan