ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia track and field senior Keturah Orji has been named the Southeastern Conference Indoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second time in her career.
Orji was the last Lady Bulldog to garner a similar honor during the 2016 outdoor season and is the first Georgia woman to win this award indoors, which the league initiated in 2015. Natalie Picchetti won the 2007 outdoor accolade and Maicel Uibo was the 2015 recipient indoors and Brandon Lord was the 2014 recipient outdoors for the men.
Orji, a native of Mount Olive, N.J., is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and was the 2015 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Women’s Outdoor Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She sports a 3.96 cumulative GPA in Financial Planning.
Fourth in the triple jump at the 2016 Olympics with the best finish for an American female in history, Orji has been just as exceptional in her events. She is a five-time NCAA champion and six-time SEC champion in the triple and has earned 11 First Team All-America certificates in the triple and long jumps. Orji owns the collegiate and American triple jump records and has recorded 11 of the combined top-10 indoor and outdoor triple jump marks in collegiate track and field history.
Orji and her teammates will start the SEC Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas, on Saturday. She is scheduled to compete in the long jump at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday and then in the triple jump on Sunday at 6 p.m. Orji and the other qualified Bulldogs will return to Texas A&M’s campus on March 9-10 for the NCAA Indoor Championships.