{"id":21648,"date":"2021-06-09T16:38:29","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T16:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=21648&post_type=story"},"modified":"2021-07-08T14:58:02","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T14:58:02","slug":"good-sports","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/good-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer 2021 |\u00a0By Jenna Marina Lee\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Knights are accustomed to busy spring competitions, but this year\u2019s spring semester was UCF\u2019s greatest undertaking in school history. That\u2019s because all 16 varsity sports were in action after COVID-19 prompted the NCAA, and then the American Athletic Conference, to push its traditional fall sports \u2014 with the exception of football \u2014 into the spring. The Knights rose to the challenge and delivered outstanding performances across the board in the classroom and on the field, court and track.<\/p>\n

[callout background=”#0f0f0f” content_align=”left” affix=”false” css_class=””]<\/p>\n

\n
\n

29.25<\/span>
\nPoints to win the the War on I-4 rivalry series for the fifth straight year<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

27<\/span>
\nConsecutive semesters with a department GPA of 3.0 or better<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

12.64<\/span>
\nSeconds it took Rayniah Jones to run the 100-meter hurdles<\/a><\/span> in the first round at the USA Track & Field Olympic Team Trials, resetting her school record<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

9<\/span>
\nTeams represented in NCAA postseason<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

5<\/span>
\nKnights drafted to the NFL<\/a><\/span>, a program record<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

5<\/span>
\nAmerican Athletic Conference Championship titles in a 23-day span<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

2nd<\/span>
\nPlace at the UCA National Championship<\/a><\/span>, marking the 26th time over the last 28 years the cheerleading team has finished among the top 10<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[\/callout]
\n[photo id=”21912″ title=”Pegasus-InFocusAthletics-Cheer-byChrisSchubert” alt=”Cheerleading team during a performance, three flyers in the air as their spotters prepare to catch them” position=”center” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

The UCF cheerleading team proved once again to be among the elite programs in the country with their runner-up performance at the UCA National Championship in April. (Photo by Chris Schubert) <\/em>

<\/p><\/div>\n

[divider][\/divider]
\n[photo id=”21913″ title=”Pegasus-InFocusAthletics-MensSoccer” alt=”Four members of the men’s soccer team clasp hands and raise arms above their heads in celebration” position=”center” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

After making their second consecutive run to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16, the UCF men’s soccer team finished the season ranked No. 13 nationally.

<\/p><\/div>\n

[divider][\/divider]
\n[photo id=”21914″ title=”Pegasus-InFocusAthletics-MensTennis” alt=”UCF men’s tennis head coach John Roddick gets water dumped on him by three athletes in celebration of a championship” position=”center” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

Under the guidance of Director of Tennis John Roddick, the UCF men\u2019s tennis team earned its first title as part of the American Athletic Conference and its fourth in program history.

<\/p><\/div>\n

[divider][\/divider]
\n[photo id=”21915″ title=”Pegasus-InFocusAthletics-Volleyball” alt=”Volleyball team gathers for a photo in front of the net on the court while holding American Athletic Conference champions signs” position=”center” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

As the winners of the American Athletic Conference, the volleyball team secured an automatic bid to their 11th NCAA Tournament in school history.

<\/p><\/div>\n

[divider][\/divider]
\n[photo id=”21916″ title=”Pegasus-InFocusAthletics-WomensTennis” alt=”Women’s tennis player clinches fist in celebration on the court” position=”center” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

The women’s tennis team repeated as conference champions, marking the first time in over 20 years that the Knights won back-to-back titles.

<\/p><\/div>\n

[divider][\/divider]
\n[photo id=”21919″ title=”Pegasus-InFocusAthletics-RayniahJones1″ alt=”Portrait of Rayniah Jones in the starting blocks, framed by a tunnel of hurdles lined up in front of her” position=”center” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

For every hurdle lined up in front of Rayniah Jones, she only sees an opportunity to excel. The criminal justice major had a breakout season as the American Athletic Conference\u2019s 100-meter hurdles champion, AAC Freshman of the Year, NCAA All-American and USA Track and Field Olympic Team Trials competitor.

<\/p><\/div>\n

[divider][\/divider]
\n[blockquote source=”Terry Mohajir, vice president and director of athletics” cite=”” color=”#000000″ css_class=””]\u201cI am extremely proud of our student-athletes and coaches for their incredible achievement this year considering the immense challenges and uncertainty that the pandemic presented week to week. They certainly made my first months on the job memorable.\u201d[\/blockquote]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21809,"template":"","categories":[979],"tags":[388],"class_list":["post-21648","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-focus","tag-ucf-athletics","issues-1541","issues-summer-2021"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Athletics Delivers Strong Performances in Spring 2021<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This year\u2019s spring semester was UCF\u2019s greatest undertaking in school history as all 16 varsity sports were in action after COVID-19 modified schedules.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/good-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Good Sports\" 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