ORLANDO – A pair of Knights have qualified to represent UCF in three events at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Rayniah Jones qualified in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles and Latasha Smith qualified in the 400-meter dash.
The indoor championships will be held March 11-12 in Birmingham, Alabama. ESPN3 will stream the championships live starting at 11 a.m. Eastern time Friday, March 11 and starting at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time Saturday, March 12. A re-air of the championship will take place starting at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, March 13 on ESPNU.
Jones is fourth on the 60-meter hurdles performance list and 13th in the 60-meter dash. Smith is 14th in the 400-meter dash.
A personal-best 7.23 at the Charlie Thomas Invitation on Feb. 4 put Jones on the qualifying list in the 60-meter dash. Her school-record 8.01 performance in the 60-meter hurdles at the Tiger Paw Invitational put her eighth on the performance list, but Jones improved both her hurdles time and her spot on the performance list at the American Athletic Conference Championship.
After posting the top 60H time in trials, Jones shattered not only her own UCF record, but also The American meet record, taking the gold medal in 7.90. She moved into fourth on the qualifying list and is one of 10 Division I athletes to run a sub-8 second 60H this season. Named the Most Outstanding Track Performer, Jones completed the sweep, winning the 60-meter, 200-meter and 60-hurdles to collect 30 points and help the Knights earn The American team title.
Smith set the UCF indoor 400-meter record three times this season. She opened the indoor season with a record-setting 53.16 at the Clemson Invitational. She broke her own record in the event at the Tiger Paw Invite with a win in 52.88, which put her 23rd on the NCAA Indoor performance list.
After posting the top 400m time in the trials at The American Championship, she cruised to a gold medal with another UCF record – and The American meet record. Her winning time of 52.32 put her 14th on the NCAA list to qualify for the indoor championship.
Both Jones and Smith advance to the indoor championships for the first time in their collegiate careers. They are the first Knights to qualify for the indoor meet since Anne-Marie Blaney earned First Team All-America honors in 2017 and Tuesday marks the first time since the 2013 indoor championships that multiple Knights have qualified. Jones became a First Team All-American with a runner-up finish in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championship last season.
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