Andrews, Gilbreath Headed to NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Bridgewater State University seniors Kira Gilbreath (West Haven, Utah) and Jayci Andrews (Plymouth, Mass.) will be competing at the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships next week in Ohio.

The national championship meet will be held from Thursday, May 23rd through Saturday, May 25th at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. The University of Mount Union and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission are co-hosting the three-day event.

Gilbreath, who is making her second straight appearance at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, is seeded 18th in the shot put. She recorded her qualifying mark of 44 feet, 6.25 inches (13.57m) at the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Championships on April 27th.

Last year, Gilbreath finished 22nd in the shot put at the 2018 outdoor championships. She holds the Bears' outdoor record in the shot put (44'10.25"/13.67m) which she set a year ago at the MASCAC Championships.

Andrews is seeded first in the 100-meter hurdles and seventh in the 400-meter hurdles. She recorded her qualifying and BSU school-record time of 13.86 seconds in the 100 hurdles at the NEICAAA Championships on May 11th. Andrews also posted her qualifying time of 1:01.58 in the 400 hurdles at the Division III New England Championships on May 4th.

Andrews is making her sixth appearance at an NCAA Division III Track & Field Championship meet and third at the outdoor championships. This past March, Andrews captured the national title and earned All-American honors in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2019 indoor championships. She also garnered All-American accolades last May with a second place finish in the 100 hurdles and finished 13th in the 400 hurdles at the 2018 outdoor championships.

As a freshman in 2016, Andrews placed 11th in the 400-meter dash at the indoor championships and tenth in the 400 at the outdoor championships. An injury kept her out of both NCAA championship meets during her sophomore year, but Andrews returned to compete at the 2018 indoor championships and finished 17th in the 60 hurdles.

Andrews presently holds nine individual school records at Bridgewater State (along with three relay marks). She is the Bears indoor record holder in the 55-meter hurdles (8.50), 60-meter hurdles (8.68), long jump (17'6.75"), 200-meter dash (26.37) and 400-meter dash (57.14), as well as the outdoor record holder in the 100-meter hurdles (13.86), 400-meter hurdles (1:01.37), 400-meter dash (55.76) and long jump (17'8.75").

For each women's individual event contested, including the heptathlon, the top 22 declared student-athletes were accepted into the competition. For each relay event contested, the top 16 declared relay teams, one per institution, were accepted into the competition.

The preliminary race of the 400-meter hurdles is slated to take place on Thursday afternoon at 4:25 PM, with the finals scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 2:15 PM. The shot put will get underway on Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM. The preliminary race of the 100-meter hurdles is slated for Friday afternoon at 2:30, with the finals scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM.

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