It all started less than 24 hours before her high school graduation.

While the rest of her classmates prepared to receive their diplomas, Kahuku’s Joshlyn Noga was wrestling with a difficult choice.

The niece of University of Hawaii football greats Al, Pete and Niko Noga, Joshlyn was ready to establish her own legacy at UH, where she was all set to walk on to the Rainbow Wahine basketball team.

She was a Noga, and UH was where she was supposed to go — right?

"(Charleston Southern) offered me a scholarship (in track), a free education but yeah, I wanted to go to UH from when I was younger because you know how it is being from Hawaii. My uncles all played football there," Joshlyn said. "It took like a week and a half (to decide). It was the night before graduation. It all came down to getting my degree, because that’s the most important thing, so I took it."

She took it without knowing much about Charleston Southern. She had never been to the East Coast until her first visit to the campus, exactly four days before her first class.

She was in an entirely new world, but never once did she want to turn back. Noga understood the opportunity a track and field scholarship gave her and she was set to make the most of it.

"My parents told me I was here for a reason and no matter how hard it gets, I’ve just got to finish what I started because it’s a blessing," Noga said. "There was no point in asking if this is what I really wanted. Not many people get this opportunity so who am I to complain about it?"

Whatever obstacles came her way, Noga found solace inside the track circle, where she has established herself as the top thrower in the Big South Conference this indoor season.

Ranked No. 1 in the discus in the Big South, the junior finished second at last Saturday’s Tar Heel Open in Chapel Hill, N.C., with a put of 13.76 meters.

It’s a decent throw by most standards, but was short of her personal record of 14.34 meters, which translates to roughly 48 feet.

The only girl on the Buccaneers’ squad from the 50th state is looking to hit that "5-0" mark in feet this year.

"I know it’s a big jump, but I feel like I can do it," Noga said. "I’m out here trying to blow away the competition."

To do that, she’ll need to break a string of consecutive third-place finishes at the Big South Conference championships last year in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

She’s more comfortable competing in outdoor events, but is still the top threat to take home the conference title in the shot at next month’s championships.

"It might be because I like being outdoors that I do better during the outdoor season, but really the atmosphere is different," Noga said. "When it’s indoor season you’re in this arena and the throwing circles are in the middle of the track so you’ve got all of these different events squished together.

"But really, at the end of the day, the way I look at it is it’s just me and the circle, and nothing else matters."

Noga’s willingness to persevere has allowed her a chance to compete all over the East Coast.

She has gone to North Carolina twice in the past three weeks and she will compete this weekend at Clemson and the following week in New York City. Virginia Tech, Florida, Georgia Tech and Indiana University, where she competed in Junior Nationals after her freshman season, are some of the other famed schools where she’s competed.

"Never did I think a sport could take me to a place like New York City or Florida," Noga said.

Depending on how her next two years go, college might not be the end of the road for Noga’s track and field career.

Her distances have been big enough to allow her to start thinking about competing professionally, or maybe even making a run at an Olympic team.

"You know, the thought has crossed my mind many times and if it takes me there and if it’s in God’s plan for me, I’ll be so blessed," she said. "But really I’m just along for the ride. Just seeing how far this would take me."