{"id":120698,"date":"2021-06-21T09:55:40","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T13:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698//?p=120698"},"modified":"2022-03-09T17:03:52","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T22:03:52","slug":"a-ucf-knights-journey-to-usa-track-field-olympic-team-trials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698//a-ucf-knights-journey-to-usa-track-field-olympic-team-trials/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698//","title":{"rendered":"A UCF Knight/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019s Journey to USA Track & Field Olympic Team Trials"},"content":{"rendered":"

It/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019s easy to like Rayniah Jones. Her bubbly personality charms a stranger almost instantly. Her teammates adore her /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2014 so much so that even though their season on the track had ended, several were willing to endure the unrelenting summer heat every day just so Jones didn/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019t have to train by herself as she prepared for the USA Track & Field Olympic Team Trials./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cI think that speaks a lot to who she is,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d UCF track and field head coach Dana Boone says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cEvery once in a while, you come across someone who is really special, and she/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019s one of those people./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

Below the surface, though, lies Jones/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019 drive to break out and break away /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2014 to keep running and never look back at her past./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

Jones was a two-time state champion at Miami Southridge Senior High School and graduated with the highest academic honors. While her public life was shiny and bright, her home life told a different story./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

She says her mental health took a dive while living with her mother, who was dealing with her own personal struggles after serving in the military and living with PTSD./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cIt just took a lot for me emotionally and mentally, and I/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019m very proud of myself for even coming to this point,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d Jones says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cMy mom has taught me how to carry myself. She has taught me a lot of patience. I would go to practice just to not think about everything. When my coaches told me you can go college for free, I said, /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2018OK, I/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019m just going to run./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

Boone thinks the adversity Jones faced has helped shape her into who she is today./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cI always tell kids, everything is a choice,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d Boone says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cNow I understand certain things happen to certain people, but how you respond to it is still a choice. She chose the positive side of life instead of the negative side./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

Pushing the Limits/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

Three treasured items in Jones/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019 dorm room at UCF help keep her focused on the positive./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

Her Build-a-Bear, Lola. Perched right next to Lola is her 2021 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year trophy. And /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2014 the most important of all /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2014 a sticky note reminding her of all she has accomplished, and all she has planned to come./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

The note lists her goals for the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and her signature event, the 100-meter hurdles. Personal best times for all three events have been scratched out throughout this season and redefined./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cWe are getting to the end of the sticky note, so I might have to put a new one next to it, but it/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019s really fun crossing it out and seeing the progress,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d says Jones, who has a 3.8 grade-point average as a criminal justice major. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cI love the lessons that the sport teaches me. It teaches you a lot of patience, and I feel like it translates over to real life. You don/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019t know when your time is coming but when it does, always be grateful for it./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cYou don/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019t know when your time is coming but when it does, always be grateful for it./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

Jones/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019 performance on the track this year has been outstanding./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

Well before arriving at UCF in the fall of 2019, she picked up track in the sixth grade. She mostly focused on sprints until her high school coaches told her as a sophomore that she had hurdler feet./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cI said what does that even mean?/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d she recalls. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cThey set up a hurdle in front of me and said, /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2018Run and see what/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019s comfortable./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019 That/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019s literally where it started./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

Collegiate track and field technically has two seasons: indoor (January/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u00ad/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2013March) and outdoor (March/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u00ad/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2013June). In her first year, Jones says juggling her new responsibilities as a student-athlete with coursework, study hall hours, weight training, practice schedules and competing in a new event (the 60-meter hurdles) was a huge adjustment./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

Outdoor season was set to begin when the pandemic canceled all spring sports for the 2020 season./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cIn a way I was kind of glad it fell apart because I didn/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019t think I was ready,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d Jones says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201cBut this year, I knew what to expect./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

This outdoor season, she set her sights on breaking 13 seconds in the 100 hurdles. In her debut race March 20, she hit a hurdle and still finished in 13.36. She improved her performances in each of the first four meets of this year/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/u2019s outdoor season but was still striving for that sub-13 mark./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n

And then April 24 happened./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/120698/n