[su_spacer size=”40″] Kyprianou, a Cyprus native who was named the South Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year prior to NCAAs, guided his jumpers and multi-event athletes to two NCAA individual titles and another four First Team All-America certificates, including a national runner-up finish in the triple jump, at last weekend’s NCAA Championships. The Lady Bulldogs finished third at Nationals for the second year in a row as his crew scored 35 of the team’s 37 points.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Williams, a native of Marietta, Ga., who garnered South Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year honors before Nationals, won one of the NCAA titles after capturing her second straight pentathlon crown. She set a collegiate record of 8.10 in the 60-meter hurdles (former record: 8.15, former Lady Bulldog Hyleas Fountain, 2004 NCAA Championships) in her first event of the competition.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Williams, who has won the last three NCAA multi-event championships including the 2014 heptathlon title, finished the pentathlon with four personal bests, including another collegiate and NCAA Championships record score of 4,678 for first-place honors (former record: 4,635, Williams, 2014 NCAA Championships).
[su_spacer size=”40″] “It is a great honor to be recognized by my peers and the USTFCCCA for the second year in a row,” Kyprianou said. “I am very proud of our tradition in the multis and jumps and this award will only help us keep this tradition going. Kendell and the rest of the crew that scored all these points at NCAAs worked extremely hard. At the end of the day, I promised them hard work always pays off and it did! My personal award comes only from the athletes’ talent, hard work and determination. We’re products of the people we are fortunate and blessed to coach. I just happened to be coaching some great talent and I am extremely thankful for their trust and commitment to my plan!”
[su_spacer size=”40″] “This is a reflection of the emergence of the total program over the last few years,” said Bulldog head coach Wayne Norton. “With our women being in the top 10 three years in a row and our men experiencing success, exposure is occurring. And that has resulted in people in the media and in the track world taking notice. What those people are noticing is that our athletes and coaches are doing some great things. Coach of the Year and Athlete of the Year honors mean your program has some good people. Thank God for good people.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] Kyprianou’s other 2015 NCAA champion was another repeat as sophomore Leontia Kallenou set a Cyprus and school record with a mark of 6 feet, 4 inches in the high jump. This marks Kallenou’s third consecutive national championship in the high jump counting her 2014 indoor and outdoor sweep and her 2015 title.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Also at the NCAA Championships, true freshman Keturah Orji traveled 45-2.25 for a second-place finish in the triple jump to add eight points to Georgia’s total. Senior Quintunya Chapman scored a personal-best total of 4,259 to take sixth in the pentathlon while senior Morgann Leleux scored for the third time in her NCAA Indoors career with a seventh-place finish in the pole vault. In addition, sophomore Tatiana Gusin cleared 6-0.50 to take seventh in the high jump.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Kyprianou’s women’s group also had immense success at the SEC Championships on February 27-28. Kallenou tied her own meet record with a 6-2.75 mark in the high jump to win and Williams and Orji also won conference titles. Orji was named the SEC Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year for her accomplishments at the meet, her American Junior and school triple jump record of 45-10.50 to win the McCravy competition and her pair of 21-foot long jump meets, which included her third-place finish at SECs.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Prior to the NCAA Championships, Williams was named the USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year after she scored what was the No. 2 collegiate all-time score and No. 1 non-altitude score in the pentathlon of 4,609 (currently No. 3 overall behind her two top career scores) to win the McCravy Memorial to start the indoor season.