JACKSONVILLE, Fl. – Georgia Tech women’s jumper Bria Matthews punched her ticket to the 2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in the long jump event after qualifying at the NCAA East Regional Preliminary Round at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville on Thursday.
Matthews leapt for a mark of 6.37m/20′ 10.75″ to secure a top-12 finish at Regionals to seal her spot in Eugene in June. This is the fifth time Matthews has reached finals for NCAA Championships, as well as the second time she has qualified during the outdoor season. This year also marks the second time she has qualified in the long jump event. Outdoor National Championships will be conducted in Eugene, Ore. at Hayward field on June 9-12.
Teammate Taylor Grimes joined Matthews in the long jump, taking 43rd-place with a mark of 5.53m/18′ 1.75″. Grimes followed that up with a 13.56 effort in the women’s 100m hurdles finishing in 34th-place.
Three Yellow Jacket women swarmed the 10K race on Thursday evening, with Nicole Fegans leading the squad with a 34:47.87 performance, good for a 21st-place spot on the individual leaderboard. Liz Galarza (35:07.86) and Mary Claire Solomon (35:26.56) finished the event in 30th- and 34th-place, respectively. Fegans and Galarza will lace it up again on Saturday as the pair looks to compete in the women’s 5K race.
The women’s pole vault competition saw Olivia Moore earn a 32nd-place finish after clearing a height of 4.07m/13′ 4.25″.
Earlier in the week on Wednesday distance runner Alex Thomas and pole vaulter Brian Hauch kicked off East Regional Preliminaries for the Tech men. Thomas clocked in at 1:52.11 in the men’s 800m ending in 38th-place, while Hauch reached a height of 4.85m/15′ 11″ in the men’s pole vault resulting in a 35th-place finish.
True freshman men’s jumper John Watkins will represent the White & Gold tomorrow at day three of the 2021 NCAA East Regional Preliminaries. Watkins will line up for the men’s triple jump beginning at 3:15 p.m. (EST). Saturday will see Matthews return to the field for the women’s end of the triple jump competition at 3:15 p.m. (EST) before Fegans & Galarza close out Regionals in the 5K at 8:30 p.m. (EST).
Live streaming for the entirety of the 2021 NCAA East Regional Preliminaries can be found here. Live results are provided here.
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