Goggins Set For USATF Junior Olympic Regional
7/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
July 9, 2008
Spartanburg, S.C. - USC Upstate standout track & field participant Perrish Goggins will begin his quest to qualify for the USATF Junior Olympic National Championships Thursday when he takes to the track in the USATF Junior Olympic Regional meet at South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, S.C.
Goggins qualified for the regional meet in the high jump after clearing a height of 6 feet, 10 and one-quarter inches to win the South Carolina USATF Junior Olympic meet on June 15. The Columbia, S.C., native also qualified for the USA Junior Nationals in the high jump and finished tied for ninth in the event held at the Jesse Owens memorial Stadium at Ohio State University on June 22.
Goggins will not only participate in the high jump in the regional, but will also take his spot in the field for the decathlon. He has experience in the decathlon, taking the lead into the second day of competition at the A-Sun Outdoor Championships in May. He also competed in the heptathlon at the A-Sun Indoor Championships in March. Goggins will need to finish in the top three in either event to advance to the USATF Junior Olympic National Championships held July 22-27 at Burke Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
"We're always looking for ways to make our athletes better and competition is the best teacher," said Upstate head coach Jimmy Stephens. "The regional meet is pretty good competition. What we are looking for his progress in the decathlon. The high jump is a bonus. His decathlon experience is going to be good. Being 18 and in the Junior Olympic program, he will compete with high school elements at the meet. I think this will be a better indicator of where he is in his development and will be a good learning experience for the long haul."
The decathlon will be conducted over the first two days of the meet on Thursday and Friday. He will participate in the 100 meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meter dash beginning at noon on Thursday. He will finish the decathlon Friday starting at 9:00 a.m. competing in the 110 meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500 meter run. He will compete in the individual high jump starting at 10:00 a.m. Saturday.
"I haven't trained as hard on some of the events like I would have liked, like the high jump," said Goggins. "I have had a good bit of training in the pole vault. Pole vault is very important in the decathlon and heptathlon (indoor), especially with the amount of points you can accumulate. It is one of the events I needed to work on to get that boost in points. I feel good about my chances of qualifying for Nationals in the high jump, even though I haven't practiced as much as I would have liked. I'm going to do my best and, hopefully, I can pull something out."
Goggins was a catalyst as the track & field program turned in solid marks in its first ever season at Upstate. The men's and women's track & field programs were established upon the University moving its athletics program to NCAA Division I status starting in 2007-08. Goggins was clearly the top male performer throughout the season. He was named the Outstanding Freshman Performer at the 2008 A-Sun Indoor Track & Field Championships after finishing second in the men's heptathlon, third in the high jump and fifth in the triple jump. He continued to turn in strong results in the outdoor season. He cleared a height of 6'6" on three different occasions (Furman Invitational, Western Carolina Invitational and A-Sun Championships) and was named the A-Sun Track Athlete of the Week during the season. He held the lead in the decathlon after the first day at the A-Sun Outdoor Championships before settling for a seventh-place finish overall.
