Knights sending 6 athletes to Iowa

When the No. 14 UCF track & field team placed eighth at the Indoor Championships earlier this spring, it was the program’s top placement in school history.

Following some notable performances at the NCAA East Preliminaries in Jacksonville, the Knights have set the stage to make a run at besting that mark at the NCAA Outdoor National Championships in June.

UCF will send six athletes to the Outdoor Championships. Des Moines, Iowa, will play host to the three-day meet, set to begin on June 6.

Senior hurdler Jackie Coward clinched her spot in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.96 on Sunday. The time meant Coward would be competing at the national championships for the third consecutive year.

Sprinters Aurieyall Scott, Octavious Freeman and Sheila Paul all qualified for both the 100-meter and the 200-meter. At Preliminaries, Scott posted a season-best 22.90 in the 200-meter, leaving her tops among her teammates in the event and with the fourth fastest time of the day. Freeman clocked a 23.08, and Paul ran a personal-best 23.25.

Jacquelyn Gilchrist and Sonnisha Williams qualified for the championships in the long jump. Gilchrist will be making her first appearance on the sport’s biggest stage, while Williams will return to the event for the first time since 2010.

Over the course of the Preliminary in Jacksonville, the Knights notched six marks that ranked either first or second overall in each round of its respective events.