CARLOS GIBBS

Athlete, Cross Country, Track and Field

Waynesburg Central High School, Brevard Jr College and Auburn University

Gibbs won five PIAA track and field and cross country championships, including three consecutive 3,200-meter championships—the first two in Class AA and the third at the Class AAA level. He is the lone athlete to win the 3,200 event three times. Months after graduating high school, at just his fourth time competing at the Junior national Championships in Fresno, Calif, Gibbs broke the record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The previous week, he captured the Keeble International Prep Meet in Elmhurst, IL, with a time of 9:14. He helped Brevard (NC) Junior College win a national championship and then earned a scholarship to Auburn University, where he was a 1994 NCAA Qualifier in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Gibbs qualified for the NCAA Nationals after winning the 3,000 steeplechase at the prestigious Penn Relays with a career-best time of 8:42.77. At a world class relay. Gibbs ran a second-leg 3:42.4 split which helped Auburn’s 6,000-meter relay team move from ninth-place to second-place before finishing in third. The steeplechase is a long-distance, obstacle race that includes four intermediate hurdles, the water jump, which includes a barrier followed by a pit of water with a landing area.