Goggins Competes At USA Junior National Championships
6/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
June 22, 2008
Columbus, Ohio - USC Upstate standout track & field participant Perrish Goggins competed in the high jump at the 2008 USA Junior National Championships Sunday, failing to clear a height to finish in a tie for ninth in the event being held at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University.
Goggins, from Columbia, S.C., qualified for the USA Junior Nationals by clearing a height of 6 feet, 10 1/4 inches at the South Carolina USATF Junior Olympic meet last weekend. He won the meet in the high jump and, by finishing in the top three, also qualified for the USATF Junior Olympic Regional Championships.
In Columbus Sunday, Goggins and two other participants in the 11-man high jump competition, failed to clear the initial height at 6 feet, 6 inches. The three individuals tied for ninth in the event. Ryan Fleck won the event by clearing 7 feet, 1 1/2 inches. Erik Kynard was second after clearing 7 feet, 1/2 inch. Goggins' height of 6 feet, 10 1/4 inches cleared last week would have been good enough for a seventh-place showing Sunday.
Goggins will now turn his attention to the USATF Junior Olympic Regional Championships being held in Rock Hill, S.C., on July 10-13. Goggins will participate in the high jump and decathlon in the meet. He must finish in the top three to advance to the USATF Junior Olympic National Championships July 22-27 at Burke Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
Goggins was the catalyst for the men's track & field team in 2008, the program's first season in existence. Goggins was named the Freshman of the Year after leading Upstate while competing in the heptathlon at the A-Sun Indoor Championships in March and finished strong in several events during the outdoor season.
