Jim Fenton, Staff Writer

May 20, 2015

Worcester, MA --- She clearly remembers what it was like being honored as an All-America performer at the NCAA Division 3 Outdoor Track & Field Championships last year.

"The best feeling that you can have,'' said Alyssa Jasper of Rockland, who graduated from Worcester State University last weekend.

Jasper stood on a podium in Delaware, Ohio, after finishing eighth in the heptathlon with 4,714 points, and that All-America experience has left her wanting more as a brilliant career winds down.

The 2011 Rockland High School graduate has qualified for the NCAA outdoor meet again in the heptathlon and the javelin and will be competing Thursday through Saturday in Canton, N.Y.

"I hope to repeat it this year,'' said Jasper, who left for New York on Tuesday night. "That's my goal. My goal is to be better than I was last year and be higher on the podium.''

Jasper is making her fourth straight appearance in the NCAA outdoor meet and took part in the indoor nationals in March for the first time, qualifying in the pentathlon.

She arrives at the NCAAs seeded sixth in the country in the heptathlon with 4,811 points, compiled when Jasper won at the Division 3 New England Championship meet for a second straight year by breaking her own record by 70 points.

Now comes the grand finale in her athletic career for Jasper, who was the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference volleyball player of the year last fall and set program records in that sport for the Lancers.

"You realize you're not going to run competitively again ever after this,'' said Jasper, a nursing major. "It's starting to hit me, but I want to make sure I put those emotions aside until it's actually done.

"But it's definitely hitting me that I'm almost done. I don't know how I feel about it. It works both ways. You want to cry and say, 'I don't want to go (to the final meet) because it's my last one and I'd rather it not be my last one.'

"At the same time, this is the last one, the last chance you have to get first place, set a school record. Whatever you want to accomplish. This is your last opportunity, so it motivates you to give it everything you've got. There is no next year.''

Jasper, who is seeded 20th in the javelin, has had a busy four years at Worcester State, playing basketball one season in addition to being a standout volleyball player and an elite track and field performer.

"Sometimes I never thought I'd make it to the end, going through the nursing program, which added stress and limited time,'' said Jasper. "Even though it was hectic, this is what I chose to do. I would never quit something that brings me so much happiness.''

Jasper is now looking for a happy ending at the NCAAs, where she will take part in the javelin for the fourth straight year and the heptathlon for a second consecutive year.

The heptathlon starts Thursday at 1 p.m. with four events and three more opening at noon Friday. The javelin is Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Jasper figures the heptathlon is her best opportunity to earn All-America honors again after putting so much emphasis on the events.

"I've been training hard,'' she said. "My focus was always half on the javelin, half on the heptathlon. Now it's all on the heptathlon. We've been training strictly with the mindset of the heptathlon.

"My hep (score) coming out of high school was like 4,030 points or something and I thought that was good. Now I'm at 4,800, so that's 800 extra points. Who knows where they came from? It's way better and way more than I ever imagined I'd accomplish.''

Brockton Enterprise Article