ORLANDO – For the first time this season and the second time in her career, Rayniah Jones has been named the American Athletic Conference Track Athlete of the Week, announced the league office Monday. Last season, Jones took home the award in early May before her eventual conference title and All-American honor. Including indoor, Jones now has seven Track Athlete of the Week nods, an incredible feat for the Miami native.
At the Florida Relays this Weekend, Jones showed everyone why she's one of the nation's best, winning the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.75, the third-best in the nation and fourth in the world. It was her fastest collegiate performance in almost two seasons, dating back to the 2021 UCF Knights Invite where she ran a 12.73. Her personal best remains the 12.64 performance at the U.S. Olympic Trials the same year.
The 100-meter hurdles was just one portion of an incredible meet for Jones as she was also the last leg on the new program record-holding shuttle hurdle relay squad that set the seventh-best time in collegiate history with their 53.45 performance. That time is also the best in the nation.
The Knights have now won five of the six Weekly awards this season and three consecutive Track Athlete of the Week honors. Beyonce Defreitas and Latasha Smith both took home the honor in the first two weeks of the season.
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