WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
*LaPorscha Wells set school records that were top 10 in the NCAA East this spring to lead GSU at the Auburn Tiger Classic.
* GSU had the Sun Belt season-best 4x100m relay time.
* The Panthers had seven other top 10 finishes at the 20-team Auburn Tiger Classic.
AUBURN, ALA. - Georgia State junior LaPorscha Wells set two school records with distances that ranked in the Top 10 in the NCAA East to lead the team at the 20-team Auburn Invitational.
Wells upped to school record in the hammer throw with a new heave of 61.02m to top the 200' mark at 200-2. Her 198' throw entering the meet was ninth best in the NCAA East this year as track and field has just two regionals (East and West). Two of the three ahead already were ahead of her in the challenging field at Auburn. Her hammer throw is 5m ahead of the second-closest in the Sun Belt Conference.
The junior from Augusta, Ga. followed that up a shot put of 16.19m (53-1.50) to also finish fourth. Entering at 15th in the NCAA East with a record 15.78 throw, this distance is the 10th longest in the NCAA East pending other weekend results. That distance is second in the Sun Belt at this point.
Georgia State's 4x100m relay team clocked the best time in the Sun Belt this spring in racing around the track in 45.65. That quartet is Jada Steward, Ravin Gilbert, Ashlan Rosier and Katherine Randolph. Gilbert, the Sun Belt's top sprinter, did not compete individually in the 100m and 200m this week. Steward did and clocked 11.99 to finish ninth of 44 in the 100m and 24.57 to finish 14th of 54 sprinters in the 200m.
GSU had seven (7) other top 10 finishes in the large meet, with Alysiah Whittaker picking up two of those. The junior from St. Louis was sixth in the shot put (15.53m, 50-11.50) and ninth in the discus (43.61m, 143-1). Kassandra Pierre was seventh in the 400m hurdles with a personal-best time of 1:02.00. That's the fifth-fastest time in the Sun Belt. Lindsay Shealy was seventh in the 3,000m steeplechase (11:55.20) and Sharonda Bryant was eighth in the discus in 43.72m (143-5). Stephanie Berger was ninth of 27 in the 3,000m run in 9:51.9. GSU's 4x400m relay team was ninth of 24 teams in 3:47.53, the third-fastest clocking in the Sun Belt this spring. That quartet was Ifeouluwa Afon, Sydney Davis, Tyler Watson and Ravin Gilbert.
Freshman Lauren Sims had a personal best in the javelin in finishing 13th of the 24 (35.06m, 115-0) that is fifth best in GSU's short history of javelin throwers.
In the 400m run, GSU had a trio all break 57 seconds, which hadn't been done yet this season. The trio finished 18th, 19th and 20th in the large field of 49 runners in 56.94, 56.99 and 56.99.
