June 23, 2016
CLOVIS, Calif. – Georgia Tech track & field athletes Avery Bartlett, Bria Matthews and Amy Ruiz will compete at the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships, which will take place Friday through Sunday.
Matthews set three school records and won three ACC gold medals combined during the indoor and outdoor seasons. She was also named ACC Freshman of the Year for the indoor season and earned first-team All-America honors in the long jump and triple jump at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. She ended her freshman year with cumulative GPA of 3.89 while majoring in computer engineering, and she earned All-ACC Academic honors for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. She will also compete in the triple jump next month at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Amy Ruiz, a freshman from Milton, Ga., will also compete this weekend. She’ll compete in the 1500m, an event in which she finished 13th with a time of 4:32.25 at the ACC Outdoor Championships.
“We’re excited for Bria and Amy to compete this weekend at the U.S. Junior Championships,” head women’s coach Alan Drosky said. “They’ve earned this opportunity and it should be a great experience. They also have an opportunity to qualify for the U.S. Junior National team, which will compete later this summer in Poland and the World Junior Championships. So we expect some great competition and some great efforts.”
Avery Bartlett, a freshman from Tallahassee, Fla., will compete in the 800m. He finished sixth at the ACC Indoor Championships in the event, earning second-team All-ACC honors.
“We are very proud of Avery for qualifying for the USATF Junior Championships,” head men’s coach Grover Hinsdale said. “It’s an outstanding accomplishment and I know he is looking forward to the challenge.”
