March 10, 2013
Rockland, MA --- When Worcester State sophomore Terrence Gibson of Rockland won the 60-meter hurdles national championship on Saturday at the NCAA Division 3 Indoor Track & Field Championships at North Central College in Naperville, IL, he still felt like he could have done better.
Gibson, who finished with a time of 8.04 seconds, blew away the field from the start of the race as he outdistanced junior Adam Scalesse of Coast Guard and senior Marcus Smith of Wisconsin Whitewater, who both crossed the finish line clocking a split 8.10. Gibson's time set a facility and school record.
"That surprised me," said Gibson of his record time. "The first two hurdles were pretty clean, the last three weren't as good. If the last three were clean, I could have finished in under eight (seconds)."
Gibson wrote his name into the history books as the school's first male student-athlete to win a national championship and he becomes the institution's second individual to earn a title. Lancer Hall-of-Famer Elke Aun was crowned the heptathlon national champion at the 1996 Women's NCAA Division 3 Outdoor Championships.
"Honestly, it hasn't hit me yet," said Gibson of joining elite company. "I feel like I'm dreaming."
Gibson knew he put up a strong performance, but the spectacular result was unexpected.
"When I crossed the finish line," said Gibson, "I knew it was good, but I didn't know it was that great. I was just just jumping around. I was so excited."
With Gibson only being a sophomore, he still has two years to better his mark, something he plans to do. "Next year, my goal is to beat the NCAA record of 7.93 (seconds)."
Gibson believes he can continue to improve on his routine because the hurdles can be perfected.
Gibson joins an elite list as Worcester State's fifth men's indoor track & field All-American. Stanley Egbor was honored twice in the 55-meters (fifth in 2000 and second place in 2001) and Paul Gaffney earned the distinction two times in the weight throw (second place in 1987 and seventh place in 1988).
It marks the 19th time that a Worcester State men's track & field student-athlete has been honored as an All-American overall as the list includes seven individuals.
Coming into the NCAA Division 3 Championships, Gibson put up the fifth-fastest time in the country in the trials of the Open New England Championships (8.13).
On Saturday, he qualified for the finals of the 60-meter hurdles with the second-fastest split with a then-program standard of 8.10, just 0.01 seconds behind the leader, junior TJ Valley of Wisconsin Platteville.
Gibson is the older brother of Rockland High senior basketball star Tyler Gibson, who will be playing basketball at UMass-Lowell next year.
The previous facility record at North Central College was 8.06.
With 10 team points, Worcester State tied for 14th for its highest finish since the 2000-01 season when the Lancers tied for 13th overall. The Blue and Gold also equaled Tufts for the second-highest score for a team from New England in a competitive field that included 63 teams from around the country.