Brandon Lord
[break] [break] While there were a series of season and personal bests on Arkansas’ campus, the Bulldogs set their only school record of the day at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash. Senior Brandon Lord shaved 17 seconds off his personal best, which he clocked at last year’s meet, and ran a 13:43.92 to top Ian Burrell’s 2007 time of 13:46.97 set at that year’s Tyson Invitational.
[break] [break] “It was good to have (Chanice) Porter back and competing for us,” said Bulldog head coach Wayne Norton. “As she gets some training over the next two weeks, she will be ready to take her rightful place at the top of the national rankings. Drew (Branch) and the other 400-meter runners looked better this week than last week, which means we are making progress. Our middle distance group took advantage of the opportunity and put up some good marks in the 800, mile and 5000 on the men and women’s side.
[break] [break] “Kendell Williams and Quintunya Chapman continued their good season of hurdling with outstanding races. Overall, I liked what I saw tonight. I am also happy for Brandon (Lord) because he has worked extremely hard for five years without complaining. He deserves this success.”
[break] [break] In just her second meet this year, junior Chanice Porter posted five long jumps of more than 20 feet and finished second with a top effort of 20 feet, 9 ¼ inches to give the Georgia women a third jumper in the nation’s top 10 this season.
[break] [break] Junior Maicel Uibo tuned up as he prepares to defend his SEC heptathlon title by taking fourth in the open pole vault with the best mark for the Bulldog since 2006. Uibo cleared 17-2.75 on his third try to move into No. 4 in the school record books.
[break] [break] Senior Drew Branch ran his fourth 400 of the year and left with an improved No. 10 time in the Bulldog record books. Branch won after clocking a 46.90, which trimmed .07 seconds off his time at last year’s SEC Championships.
[break] [break] Williams and Chapman continued their training for postseason pentathlons and posted successful runs in the 60 hurdles. Williams advanced to the finals and took fifth with an 8.33 after clocking an 8.24 in the semifinal round.
[break] [break] Chapman took 16th in the hurdle semifinals and cut .01 off her career best in the event with an 8.42. This is the seventh-best time in UGA history.
[break] [break] For the second consecutive week, sophomore Alex Larsson completed the meet with a career-best mark, taking 12th place with a weight throw of 63-2.75 on his third and final toss.
[break] [break] A pair of Georgia milers also left the facility with personal-best times. Junior Brooke Koblitz was second overall in her group after running a 4:55.19 while freshman Bryan Kamau clocked a 4:11.00 to take also take second in just his second collegiate race at the distance.
[break] [break] In the 800, junior Christian Harrison came away with a personal record in the 800 (1:51.27) to take 10th.
[break] [break] Georgia swept Friday’s section in the 5000 on the men and women’s side. Junior Brendan Hoban finished first with a 14:44.42 while Addy Lippitt took first in her first 5000 with a time of 17:13.64. Erika Ramsey (17:21.29) and Marrion Kalafut (17:37.68) also finished fourth and seventh, respectively, for the Lady Bulldogs in the 5000.
[break] [break] The Tyson meet starts up again on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. The meet will be broadcast on the SECNetwork+ here: http://gado.gs/3uo.
[break] [break] Elsewhere in Seattle, Lord competed in the 5000 during the first day of the Husky Classic. Lord shot to the sixth spot on the national list and to the top of the SEC rankings with his second school record of the year. Lord also took over Burrell’s former No. 1 time in the 3000, which was also set at the 2007 Tyson meet, earlier this season.
[break] [break] Day two of the Husky Classic will begin at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday. Zack Sims (3000), Kisean Smith (800), Carly Hamilton (mile) and Charles Grethen (800) are on the schedule to compete for the Bulldogs.
[break] [break] Live and full results and a recap from this weekend’s meets will be located at georgiadogs.com. Updates from this meet and throughout the season will be posted on Twitter at @UGA_XCTF.