2018 Women’s Track & Field National Champions Interviews

Home >

2018 Women’s Track & Field National Champions Interviews

Petros Kyprianou – head coach UGA Track & Field – March 12, 2018

 

The Georgia women’s track and field team won the program’s first national team title at the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas, on Sunday.  Third-year head coach Petros Kyprianou led the Lady Bulldogs to a program record 61 points as two Georgia women earned NCAA individual crowns and six scored in at least one event.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Track-Field/2018-Track-Field/2018-Womens-Track-and-Field-National-Champions/i-kjTcGHS/0/edb48388/1280/Petros%20Kyprianou%20interview-1280.mp4
Coach Petros Kyprianou: A Limassol, Cyprus, native is in his third year as head coach and 10th year with the program; Georgia has combined for five top-four men/women’s team finishes at the 2016-18 NCAA Indoor Championships, including the 2018 women’s title and a runner-up finish for the Lady Bulldogs in 2017; men set program record with a third-place finish at the 2018 meet; women’s team also named the 2017 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I Indoor & Outdoor Scholar Team of the Year

 

 

Senior Keturah Orji (Mount Olive, N.J.): Won the 2018 NCAA triple jump title and was second in the long jump to be the meet’s No. 2 scorer overall; took fifth at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, U.K., the weekend before this year’s NCAAs; six-time NCAA champion, seven-time SEC champion; American/collegiate record holder; fourth at 2016 Olympics in triple jump (top American finish in history)

Senior Mady Fagan (Los Gatos, Calif.): Battled a knee injury during the 2018 SEC and NCAA Indoor Championships; two-time NCAA high jump champion in her career and national runner-up at another NCAA Championships; foundation for Georgia’s jumps program developing into the nation’s top group; started her career in 2015 jumping 5 feet, 5 inches and has now cleared 6-4 in her career

Sophomore Louisa Grauvogel (Saarland, Germany): Scored a personal-best total of 4,318 points to finish fifth in the pentathlon at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships; was 14th at last year’s NCAA Championships as a training partner with Bulldog great Kendell Williams

Sophomore Jessica Drop (Durham, Conn.): Seeded eighth coming into the meet, sped to a fourth-place finish in the 5000m at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships; set school records in both the 3000m and 5000m this season; was a 2017 cross country All-American during Georgia’s run to a 17th-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships; has a twin sister, Samantha Drop, who also runs for the Lady Bulldogs, was a 2017 cross country All-American and was redshirting the 2018 indoor season

Freshman Lynna Irby (Indianapolis, Ind.): Finished third in both the 200m and 400m (events where collegiate records were broken to win) at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships; set school records in both the 200m and 400m during her first year; clocked one of the top-10 fastest 300m times in collegiate history earlier this year

 

share content

Author /

Greg is closing in on 15 years writing about and photographing UGA sports. While often wrong and/or out of focus, it has been a long, strange trip full of fun and new friends.