January 16, 2016 – UAB Vulcan Invite – Indoor Track and Field Meet at the Birmingham Crossplex – Georgia Stefanidi
Georgia track and field had a pair of jumpers win their events with two of the top marks in the nation to highlight the third day of the Virginia Tech Doc Hale Elite Meet in Blacksburg, Va., on Saturday.
“I thought we got some good training out of this meet and to have the performance from Chanice (Porter) was a big bonus,” said Bulldog head coach Petros Kyprianou, adding that Porter’s performance was the “highlight” for the Bulldogs. “A lot of the highly-ranked teams decided to rest this weekend. We decided to compete some people and it worked out well for us. I am looking forward to see where these teams can go. I think we will be shooting to give the best we can give when Nationals arrive.”
The Georgia women entered the weekend ranked second in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll while the Bulldog men were 10th.
Competing for the second year in the high jump at Georgia, senior Chanice Porter tied Georgia’s fifth-best mark of all-time with a 6 foot, 1 ½ inch clearance to win. Porter, a four-time First Team All-American in the long jump, cleared her personal-best height on her second attempt and shot into a tie for second on the NCAA list. This gives the Lady Bulldogs four competitors at 6 feet or over this season who are ranked in the country’s top 10.
Also in the high jump, freshman Mary Terry tied for fifth after going over the bar at 5-6 on her third and final try.
Sophomore Keturah Orji, who leads the country in the triple jump, soared longer than 44 feet twice in her series and won with a top effort of 44-2.50. Orji, who was the indoor runner-up at Nationals last year and won the 2015 NCAA outdoor title, is the only competitor in the NCAA this year to reach 44 feet.
Fellow sophomore Aliyah Johnson managed a third-place finish (40-10.25) in the triple jump as well.
Junior Georgia Stefanidi continued her development and posted a season-best mark of 13-5.25 to finish third in the pole vault. In the Elite pole vault, Georgia’s older sister, Katerina, won with the world’s second-best effort this year at 15-5.75 as she competed for Nike.
The Bulldogs split up and go three different directions next weekend. Georgia makes the trip to the Husky Classic (Seattle, Wash.), Samford Open/Invitational (Birmingham, Ala.) and Music City Challenge (Nashville, Tenn.) for their next set of meets.
Full stats and full results from the meet will be posted at georgiadogs.com.
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