HAMPTON, Va. – Hampton University track & field senior J’Niyah Knox-Wilson has been named a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship.

Knox-Wilson has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her career at Hampton, in addition to being one of the veterans on the women’s track & field squad. During her time with the Lady Pirates, Knox-Wilson has been a part of three MEAC indoor championships (2014-16) and one outdoor title (2014).

Her interview was this past Friday. On top of talking about her success, Knox-Wilson discussed personal adversity and said, “I could just see where I could end up and I did not want to do that. I wanted to do something better for myself.

“It was time to end that cycle.”

A political science major, Knox-Wilson has learned to balance school, athletics, and work by planning out her week beforehand.

Knox-Wilson is the second Hampton student to be named a finalist this year, joining Alyssa Seunarine – who was on the women’s soccer team during its inaugural varsity season in 2015. This is the first time ever that an HBCU has had two finalists in the same academic year.

Hampton University student-athletes being named Rhodes Scholar finalists is nothing new; in 2014, Joshua Gopeesingh from the sailing team was named.