The No. 6 UCF track and field team produced six medalists on Saturday at the Virginia Tech Invitational.
UCF swept the podium in the 200 meters with sophomore Aurieyall Scott leading the way in first place with a time of 23.56 – the nation’s fastest performance at the time of publication. Sheila Paul clocked in at 23.95, which ranks seventh in the nation, for second place.
Freshman Octavious Freeman ran the eighth fastest time in the country at 24.01 for third place and a personal record. Freshman Christal Peterson clocked a personal record 24.49 in the event, which ranks among the top 25 performances in the country, and Amanda Leland set a personal best as well with a time of 25.22.
Freshman Precious Ogunleye broke her second school freshman record in as many days, surpassing the five-year-old shot put mark with a fourth place showing of 13.88m (45-06.50).
Two Knights also medaled in the 800 meters as Erica Winston claimed first place with a time of 2:15.80 while Ne’Ausha Logan followed at third place with a time of 2:18.46.
“The 200 runners did a great job of running their race patterns for their first race of the year,” UCF head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said. “Precious again broke a freshman school record, so that was very, very exciting. The 800 runners are running close to as fast as they ran all of indoor last season, so I can’t complain about the weekend overall but we still have quite a bit of work to do, and we have to eliminate the mental barriers we face before we get to Birmingham next weekend.”
Sophomore Jen Clayton clinched second place in the long jump with a leap of 6.05m (19-10.25), which currently ranks 15th in the nation.
Junior Sonnisha Williams recorded 6.01m (19-08.75) with a fourth place finish and also medaled in the high jump, clearing 1.65m (5-05) to tie third place.
“Coach (Paul) Brown has the long jumpers looking quite solid,” Smith Gilbert said. “They have to get more consistent on the runway.”
UCF’s 4×400 relay team got off to a good start but were unable to finish after second leg Scott was tripped up in the first 50 meters.
Meanwhile at the University of Florida in Gainesville, eight student-athletes represented the Knights at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational. Freshman Teresa Huff earned the Knights’ best finish at the meet by clocking 18:44.76 in the 5,000 meters for fifth place.
Junior Eva Pierce was UCF’s sole runner in the 400 Meters and finished with a time of 1:01.32. Freshman Ali Brandehoff recorded UCF’s top finish in the 800 meters with a time of 2:23.48 for seventh place, and freshman Cody Castillo paced the Knights in the mile with a time of 5:27.26.
Up next, UCF will travel to the Auburn Invitational in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday and will also split time at the Gator Invite in Gainesville on Sunday.