UCLA
NCAA Championships
Wilson Stands Out in NCAA Championships Debut
June 07, 2018 | Track & Field
EUGENE, Ore. – Alyssa Wilson made her debut performance in the NCAA Championships one to remember on Thursday, as the freshman phenom set new collegiate bests in both the women's hammer and shot put while scoring in both events to deliver crucial points to the UCLA women's track & field team.
Wilson opened her day with her signature event, the hammer throw. Coming in as the No. 7 seed, her highest-ranked event, she exceeded her previous PR (66.53m, 218-3) with a 66.99m (219-9) throw on her second attempt to record the fourth-best mark at the Championships.
That result was the best by a Bruin in the women's hammer since Jessica Cosby finished third at nationals in 2005.
The Jackson, N.J. native followed up her hammer performance with an eye-grabbing outing in the shot put, an event in which she entered as the No. 20 seed.
Wilson secured an advancing top-nine spot – and earned another three throws – with a solid 16.94m top mark among her first three attempts. That effort – just three centimeters off her previous UCLA-best – would have landed her an eighth-place finish and another point for the Bruins, but she instead kicked it up another gear in the final flight, logging a 17.21m (56-5.75) throw to jump up to sixth place overall and first among second-flight-competitors.
"I felt pretty good going into today because I have been trusting Coach [John] Frazier and my training the last two weeks has been pretty good coming off Regionals so I knew I was well-prepared and ready to hit a big throw at any moment," said Wilson. "I feel extremely blessed to have scored in my first two events at the NCAA Championships. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of Coach Frazier and the support of my teammates."
The lone athlete to qualify in three individual athletes at this year's NCAA Championships, Wilson finishes up her events in Eugene with the women's discus on Saturday at 3:05 p.m.
Senior Kendall Gustafson takes the spotlight for UCLA on Friday, as she competes in the first four events of the women's heptathlon – 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 200m – starting at 12:30 p.m. Gustafon's last heptathlon, at the Pac-12 Combined Events Championships, produced the No. 2 score (5,886) in UCLA history and the No. 7 score in the NCAA this season.
Players Mentioned
