A UCF Knight is one race away from her ticket to the London Games.
Sophomore Aurieyall Scott advanced to the 200-meter finals with her all-conditions best time of 22.56 (+3.4) in the semifinals Friday evening. The speedster jetted to the fourth-fastest time in the first heat and the seventh-fastest time overall for her shot at becoming UCF’s first track Olympian.
Scott measured up against Jeneba Tarmoh, who finished in a dead heat with Allyson Felix in the 100 meters earlier this week, and Bianca Knight, 2011 World Championships gold medalist. Her time was good enough to advance to the eight-competitor final, which will take place Saturday at 9:50 p.m. on NBC.
Scott is one of two collegiate athletes to advance to the finals, joining NCAA champion Kimberlyn Duncan in the field of eight.
Freshman Octavious Freeman also competed in the 200-meter semis, lining up against Duncan; two-time Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross, who holds the world’s fastest time this year; and World Championships gold medalist Shalonda Soloman. Although she ran a school-record time of 22.71 (+0.6), she was disqualified for running out of her lane.
Freeman wraps up her stellar freshman season as a four-time NCAA All-American, the Conference USA Track Athlete of the Year and the first true freshman ever named to the Bowerman Watch List.
Junior Sonnisha Williams also finished her season at the Trials on Friday in the long jump, finishing 17th in the semifinals with a leap of 6.15m/20-2.25 (-0.2).