Young Finishes 17th Thursday At NCAA Division I Championships
June 11, 2014 | Track & Field
EUGENE, Oregon – Gardner-Webb sophomore Alex Young placed 17th Thursday in the hammer throw at the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships at historic Hayward Field.
Young (LaVergne, Tenn. / LaVergne HS) finished only one meter behind LSU junior Jeremy Tuttle and just in front of Nebraska sophomore Will Lohman with his best throw of the afternoon – a 61.90 meter effort (203'1").
Kent State junior Matthias Tayala had the top throw in Thursday's flights, taking top honors with a 73.57 meter effort. The top nine competitors from Thursday advanced to the finals.
Young's throw was sixth-best among sophomores from both flights.
The top-20 finish capped a fabulous second season for Young at Gardner-Webb. He became the first student-athlete in program history to qualify for both indoor and outdoor nationals at the Division I level.
Only pole vault standout Elliott Haynie (2008) had qualified for Division I nationals before, doing so indoors as a sophomore with the Runnin' Bulldogs.
In just two seasons, Young has won four Big South Conference titles and participated in the 2013 Junior Pan-Am Games last summer in Medellin, Columbia.
He was the 2012-2013 Big South Freshman of the Year indoors and outdoors – and was the league's Most Outstanding Field Performer during the indoor season as a freshman.
