Doubt hovered above Eugene after English Gardner’s disappointing finish in the Women’s 200-meter dash Thursday, but after an astonishing finish in the 100-meters, all skepticism disappeared.

After putting up a legal 10.96 run, Gardner pumped her fist into the air taking in her second consecutive national title in the race. Finding her teammate Jenna Prandini, who finished seventh overall as a freshman, the two embraced at the finish line celebrating Gardner’s success.

“I didn’t just do it just for my team, or just for me, I did it for every single one of those seats in Hayward Field,” Gardner said on the podium, which was met with applause.

Finishing in first was almost as much of a surprise to Gardner as it was to the crowd.

“Usually I always get tied up in (30-meters), but for some reason I was all by myself, and inside I started to panic, like, ‘Oh my god, yes,’ and then I thought to keep composure and stand tall, keep driving all the way through the line,” Gardner said.

It seems that the only one who wasn’t surprised by the finish was fellow teammate Prandini.

“I’m so happy for English right now,” Prandini said. “I knew she could do it the whole time, I didn’t have a worry in my mind. She’s a gamer and I knew she was going to pull through.”

Octavious Freeman from UCF, who ran the fastest preliminary time (10.99), came up short, finishing just behind Gardner.

“I had a real good start, but then I kinda fell asleep and then came back in at the end. I slipped up, and that one mistake can mess up the whole race,” Freeman said.

The Florida native still has a chance to redeem herself Saturday in the Women’s 200-meter dash. Earlier this year, Freeman defeated Olympian and three-time world champion Lauryn Williams and added the then-world’s fastest 200-meter time (22.57) to her list of accomplishments.

“Tomorrow we’ve got the 200-meter so we’re gonna come out and give it our all,” Freeman said in preparation of the event.