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T/F: UGA will compete in the NCAA Outdoor Championships today through Saturday

The 17^th-ranked Georgia men begin the meet on Wednesday after winning the team national championship at the same facility in 2018.  The seventh-ranked Lady Bulldogs come to the University of Oregon campus after having earned national runner-up honors at that same meet in 2018.  As usual, the Southeastern Conference has the most combined entries by 77 over the nearest conference.

Following the 2023 NCAA Championships that were held in Austin, the 2024-27 NCAA Outdoor Championships will be in Oregon’s facility, which recently underwent a $270 million renovation.

Georgia qualified 19 individuals in a combined 18 events from the NCAA East Prelims in Lexington, Ky., on May 22-25.  Sophomore heptathlete Ella Rush (NCAA No. 21) had already qualified automatically for the final round because of her score in the heptathlon during her bronze medal run at SEC Championships.

When Do The Bulldogs Start? Junior Nikolai van Huyssteen will start the action for Georgia in the men’s pole vault on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, marking his first competition at the NCAA Championships. Freshman Jehlani Gordon will also be making his debut at Nationals in the 100-meter dash semifinal at 8:46 p.m. to start the action on the track.

On the women’s side, defending NCAA champion and Lady Bulldog graduate transfer Stephanie Ratcliffe will line up in the women’s hammer throw at 6 p.m. on Thursday.  Georgia’s quartet in the 4x100m relay will open the track events at 8:32 p.m. on day two. 

Rush will start on Friday in the heptathlon at 4 p.m.  She is slated to complete the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m on the meet’s third day before tackling the hep’s final three events on Saturday.

Other than the decathlon running Wednesday-Thursday and the heptathlon going Friday-Saturday, the meet is set up to be a men’s competition on Wednesday and Friday and a women’s competition on Thursday and Saturday.

Where To Catch The NCAAs:

ESPN has exclusive rights to broadcast the meet and will feature the Nationals on ESPN2 this week:

Wednesday: 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

Thursday: 8:30 p.m., ESPN2

Friday: 9 p.m., ESPN2

Saturday: 5:30 p.m., ESPN2

Live Results: To check out live results throughout the four-day season finale, please check: http://gado.gs/byb

Coach Caryl’s Comments: “These five months of the indoor and outdoor season always pass more quickly than you think they will, and here we are again at the pivotal part of our year,” said head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert.  “We have seen it at this year’s SEC meets and at the NCAA Indoor Championships: some of the best competitors in the world reside in collegiate track and field.  I can’t wait to see all of our hard work and determination pay off as we get to what will be an awesome four days for our sport.  With this being an Olympic year, the anticipation is even greater for the NCAA Outdoor Championships to start and I look forward to see how our teams represent the ‘G’.  GO DAWGS!”

What Bulldogs Are Competing: In addition to Rush for the women, sophomore Aaliyah Butler (400m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay), junior Kelsie Murrell Ross (shot put), graduate transfer Stephanie Ratcliffe (hammer throw), junior Elena Kulichenko (high jump), sophomore Kaila Jackson (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay), graduate transfer Erin McMeniman (javelin), senior Dominique Mustin (400m hurdles), graduate transfer Zoe Pollock (400m hurdles), sophomore Haley Tate (4x400m relay), senior Mikeisha Welcome (triple jump), graduate transfer Kimberly Harris (400m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay), freshman Sydney Harris (4x400m relay) and freshman Karsen Phillips (4x100m relay) will line up for the Lady Bulldogs. 

On the men’s side, sophomore Christopher Morales Williams (400m), graduate transfer Marc Minichello (javelin), freshman Jehlani Gordon (100m), graduate transfer Alex Kolesnikoff (shot put), freshman Riyon Rankin (high jump) and junior Nikola van Huyssteen (pole vault) are slated to compete.

MBB: UGA will face St. John’s at The Atlantis Paradise Island on Sunday, November 24.

The Georgia Bulldogs will face St. John’s at The Atlantis Paradise Island on Sunday, November 24. The contest will be the Bulldogs’ second outing in the Bahamas next season as Georgia will play Marquette on Saturday, November 23, also at Atlantis. The matchups were announced by Complete Sports Management (CSM), which also manages the Battle 4 Atlantis Basketball Tournament.

Both games will be played in the Imperial Arena at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort. Information on game times, tickets and travel packages will be released at a later date.

“CSM is proud to host two powerhouse programs down in paradise,” said Lea Miller, CSM’s President. “We look forward to this compelling matchup early in the season.” 

The contest will be the fourth all time between the Bulldogs and St. John’s, with the Red Storm owning a 2-1 lead in the series. 

Georgia won the most significant matchup in the “Sweet 16” round of the East Regional in the 1983 NCAA Tournament. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs upset top-seeded St. John’s, 70-67, at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse behind a 27-point outburst from Terry Fair. Georgia went on to top second-seeded North Carolina, 82-77, before falling to eventual national champion N.C. State, 67-60, at the Final Four in Albuquerque. 

In addition, the Red Storm defeated Georgia, 66-43, in the initial outing of the 1946-47 season and 66-56 in the SEC/Big East Invitational during the 2009-10 campaign.

Georgia returns three starters – Blue Cain, Silas Demary Jr. and Dylan James – from last year’s team which earned the Bulldogs’ first postseason bid since 2017. Georgia advanced to the semifinals of the NIT and finished 20-17, UGA’s first 20-win campaign since 2016.

The Bulldogs have signed eight newcomers to join the 2024-25 roster – freshmen Somto Cyril, Jordyn Kee and Asa Newell and transfers Justin Abson, RJ Godfrey, Tyrin Lawrence, Dakota Leffew and De’Shayne Montgomery. Georgia is the only program in the nation with both its high school and transfer recruiting classes ranked among the nation’s top 10 by On3.com. Currently, the freshmen are listed No. 9, and the transfers are ranked No. 7.

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