With the unseasonably cool temperatures in Western Pennsylvania the past couple of weeks, it's understandable why Ashley Turici is looking forward to a trip to Florida.

Turici isn't headed south to bask in the sun, however. It will be a "business trip" for the Seneca Valley High School graduate. And the job at hand will be trying to qualify for the NCAA Division I track championships.

A sophomore at Robert Moris University, Turici will compete in the javelin at the NCAA East Regional Friday and Saturday at Florida State University. She qualified for the regional with a throw of 143 feet, 3 inches at the Bennie Benson Invitational April 12. She finished second in the meet.

"I'm looking forward to going [to regionals]. It's one of the goals I set for myself this season," she said. "I don't know how many they take from there for the [NCAA] championships, but I know there will be some there who have thrown farther than I have."

She can qualify for the NCAA championships by placing in the top five at the East Regional or by coming up with an outstanding throw and being selected for an at large berth. Turici is seeded 27th out of 34 in the East Regional.

Which means that Turici, who was the WPIAL Class AAA champion and the PIAA runner-up in the javelin her senior year at Seneca Valley, doesn't hold out much hope of advancing to the NCAA championships.

That's OK because Turici has two more years to accomplish that feat.

"It's something I want to do before I graduate," she said.

Coming out of high school, Turici wasn't sure about a college. She decided on Robert Morris for a couple of reasons. The Colonials offered her an opportunity to continue with the javelin at a Division I program, and it was close to home.

The close part has worked out well this week. She is still living on campus so she can train for the regional, but classes have been over for a few weeks. So, she goes home a couple of times a week for some home cooking and she has been babysitting to earn gas money.

"They moved us into one dorm," she said. "There's just myself and one other thrower working out for the regional."

Turici has been throwing the javelin since ninth grade. When she went out for the track team at Seneca Valley as a freshman, she had no idea what event she wanted to do.

"I just tried the javelin and had some success in it that first year," she said. "I just kept with it."

In high school, she also threw the shot put and discus in smaller meets to earn points for the Raiders. She is still doing that, only her secondary event has become the hammer.

"I do it for us in the smaller meets. The coaches want you to compete in two events, so I've been doing that. I'm OK at it, I guess," she said.

Turici has continued to work on her strength this season. She said Robert Morris coaches have tried to speed up her approach in the javelin.

"I've worked a lot on that and I think it has helped," she said. "My throws have gotten better."