JACKSONVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University women's track & field student-athletes Jessica Mattsson (Tierp, Sweden), Maddie Quinn (Bible Hill, Canada) and Adreanna Parlette (Nashville, Tenn.) competed in Day 2 of the 2021 NCAA East Regionals hosted by the University of North Florida.
Mattsson started things off in the hammer throw, outperforming 10 competitors from Power 5 conference schools en route to a 28th place finish with a mark of 58.81m.
"Jess had a positive first throw and wasn't far from finishing Top 20," said Belmont assistant coach Joe Frye. "For her to be a conference champion and regional qualifier this spring was extremely satisfying, and the beauty is Jess remains driven and committed for more."
Quinn, one of the young competitors in the field, placed 45th in the javelin with a mark of 41.06m on her second attempt. Frye said the result belied huge growth for Quinn, now and in the months to come.
"Maddie showed a lot of maturity today, competing against the nation's best," Frye said. "This was just a small taste of the level of competition she will be competing against moving forward. It is a big offseason for Maddie to build upon this spring season and take confidence from her accomplishments into next year."
Parlette, who ironically began her career in Jacksonville and sprung on the national scene last month with her jaw-dropping performance at the Joey Haines Invitational, finished better than 12 high major competitors, but her mark of 6.05m narrowly missed out on advancing.
"Adreanna raised the bar, literally, for what is possible for a Belmont track athlete," Frye said. "Any mild disappointment she may feel from today needs to be balanced with overwhelming pride for all she and her teammates achieved this spring. We are thrilled Adreanna continued her college career at Belmont and it has been a perfect match!"
