GSU's talented track and field trio left Atlanta Tuesday for the NCAA East Regional on Thursday-Saturday, May 26-28 in Jacksonville, Fla.
The three-day competition for senior Ravin Gilbert, junior LaPorscha Wells and junior Alysiah Whittaker starts Thursday, May 26 at North Florida's campus facility in Jacksonville. For Gilbert, it marks a third-straight berth in the NCAA East, while the pair of throwers are returning for a second year in the NCAA East.
Check their interviews and attitudes in the video.
Wells, GSU's school record holder, starts in the hammer at 4 p.m. and Gilbert in the 100m at 6:30 p.m. On Friday, school-record holder Whittaker starts the discus at noon, with Gilbert possibly running the 100m semis at 6:30 and the opening 200m run at 8 p.m. Saturday starts for GSU with the shot put for both throwers at 3:30 p.m. and the sprint finals on Saturday night.
The NCAA invites 48 participants to the regional for all schools east of the Mississippi River. The top 24 sprinters advance to the semifinals, then the final 12 from those races qualify for the NCAA Championship Meet against the NCAA West top 12 qualifiers.
Gilbert has the 23rd fastest qualifying time in the 100m dash (11.461) and the 33rd fastest time in the 200m dash (23.63. For Gilbert, this will be a third year of qualifying for the NCAA East. Last year, the senior from Wesley Chapel, Fla. made the top 24 in the races and finished 21st.
Junior thrower LaPorscha Wells repeated as the Sun Belt Conference champion in the hammer throw. She has the 14th longest hammer throw in NCAA East regular season competition. Wells will need just a smidge better to make the top 12 to advance to the National Championship. Wells also qualified in the shot put with a distance that was 15th in the East. The Augusta, Ga. native earned her first invite last year as a sophomore and finished 31st in the shot put and 32nd in the hammer throw of the 48 invitees.
Junior throw Alysiah Whittaker had a strong season in two events: the discus and the shot put. Whittaker is on the cusp of the national qualifying level with the 12th longest shot put in the NCAA East coming last week in the Sun Belt Championships. Whittaker also has the 22nd best discus throw in the NCAA East. The St. Louis, Mo. native now holds the school records in both the discus and shot put after finishing 22nd in the NCAA East meet last year as a sophomore shot putter.
The NCAA West is in Lawrence, Kansas, with the NCAA Championships again being held June 8-11 in Eugene, Ore.
