May 16, 2015
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Dan Forcella
UCFKnights.com
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STORRS, Conn. (UCFKnights.com) -- Six more Knights advanced to finals at the American Athletic Conference Championships Saturday, highlighting the UCF track and field team's performance on day three of the competition in Storrs.
Three Knights qualified for finals in the 100 meter dash, two advanced in the 100 meter hurdles and one made it to the finals in the 400 meter dash, joining UCF's six qualifiers from Friday's competition to give the team 12 chances to score points in individual events Sunday.
The sprint trio of Peterson, Vaughn and Bellamy all advanced to Sunday's 100 final. #ChargeOn 💨💨💨 pic.twitter.com/17liM5l6Wo
-- UCF Track & Field/XC (@UCF_Track) May 16, 2015
The trio of J'Nea Bellamy, Briana Vaughn and Christal Peterson helped the UCF cause immensely with their performances in the 100 on Saturday. Bellamy, last year's runner-up in the event, won her heat and had the fastest time of the day, crossing the line in 11.72 (-1.2) seconds.
Vaughn, who also joins Bellamy in the 200 meter finals on Sunday, finished just behind her teammate in the third heat of the 100 trials, qualifying with a time of 11.91 (-1.2) seconds. Peterson was second in her heat as well, finishing in 11.85 (-1.9) seconds.
"We're all really excited that we made it to the finals," Vaughn said after competition on Saturday. "We're just glad that we could come through and do our part as sprinters and get the job done."
Freshman Johna' Whitaker and senior Devinn Cartwright both advanced to the final in the 100 meter hurdles. The former won her heat with ease, cruising to a time of 13.94 (-1.4) seconds and earning an automatic bid. The latter qualified by time, crossing the line 14.47 (-2.0) seconds.
Hear from hurdler Johna' Whitaker as she describes her performance this afternoon. Our analysis: 💨💨💨 pic.twitter.com/yrh5on4v8f
-- UCF Track & Field/XC (@UCF_Track) May 16, 2015
"I'm trying to learn how to run full speed," Whitaker said about her race. "Towards the end I started kicking it [in] and now I'm just looking forward to finals."
It was sophomore Ashley Jocelyn representing for the Knights in the 400 meter dash. She recorded a personal best time of 53.68 seconds in the event, placing second in her heat and holding the fifth fastest time of the day.
UCF added some points to its total early in the day as freshman Jenna Lucas placed fifth in the javelin. Her throw of 45.57m/149-06 was just .02 meters off her school record, and earned the Knights four points.
The squad will have plenty of opportunities to score points on Sunday with 12 individual performances advancing to finals already, as well as both the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay, the 5,000 meters, the high jump, the triple jump and the shot put.
UCF goes into the final day of competition needing to make up a lot of ground. The Knights have just 10 points and sit in ninth place. SMU currently leads the way with 71 points, while Memphis and Cincinnati are second and third with 46 and 41 points, respectively.
Fans can watch all of the action on the American Digital Network. Live Results, as well as the UCF Track and Field Twitter and Instagram accounts, are available for updates during competition.
Watch Sunday's action live below