There are 48 competitors from the East Region in every individual event and 24 in the relays.  The NCAA West Prelims is running simultaneously in College Station, Texas, with the same format.  The top 12 in each event from both regions advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore, on June 9-12.

Pereira, a native of Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Brazil, sent his third and final attempt in the hammer throw a personal-best distance of 222 feet, 7 inches to take fourth and earn a trip to Eugene.  Pereira was ranked 13^th in the East coming into the meet and 24^th nationally.

Five other Bulldogs advanced from the first round and will be racing in the quarterfinals on Friday.  Sophomore Matthew Boling (100-meter dash, 200m), junior Elija Godwin (400m), sophomore Caleb Cavanaugh (400m hurdles) and freshman Arian Smith (100m) will all race again when day two for the men arrives.

Two Bulldogs ranked in the nation’s top five in the multi-events earned the right to skip the Prelims by automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships (Asya Reynolds – heptathlon; Karel Tilga – decathlon).  Anna Hall (high jump, long jump) and Kyle Garland (long jump, 110m hurdles) were also in that category, but chose to compete in open events and not compete in the heptathlon and decathlon, respectively, in Eugene.

Give the #Dawgs a pair of qualifiers to the next round in the #NCAATF East Prelims 100m after Arian Smith (10.14) & Matthew Boling (10.21) advance with wind-aided times.

Smith & Boling will try & earn a spot to Eugene on Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET.#GoDawgs

— Georgia Track&Field (@UGATrack) May 26, 2021

When Do The Bulldogs Start Competition? Similar to the NCAA Championships, this meet is set up where one gender competes one day and then the other gender competes the next, and that pattern is followed all four days.  The women’s first day will be on Thursday.  Freshman Charlotte Williams will be in the hammer field at 1:30 p.m. ET while junior Imani Carothers is slated to start in the 100m hurdles’ opening round at 6 p.m.

Temperatures are expected to be in the mid 90s with partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies for the meet.  The winds are predicted to hover around 10 miles an hour each competition day.

Live Results: For live results, please click on: http://gado.gs/72u

Live Stream:The NCAA East Prelims will be live streamed by ESPN all four days. 

Here are the links for the remaining days:

Day 2 (Thursday) – http://gado.gs/72y

Day 3 (Friday) – http://gado.gs/730

Day 4 (Saturday) – http://gado.gs/732

The Lowdown: Pereira started his series in the hammer with a mark of 208-9, which would have put him in 19^th at the competition’s end.  He then bettered that mark with a 212-6 in the second round and that would have earned him the last spot out in 13^th.  Finally on his third try, Pereira unleashed a mark of 222-7 to earn the 2019 NJCAA national champion his first trip to the NCAA Championships.

Georgia also had a quartet advance to the next round in four separate events.  Smith, who was only racing in his third collegiate individual race, ran the fastest time of his brief career of 10.14 in the 100m behind a 2.8 meters-per-second wind for fifth overall (second in his heat).  Boling followed two heats later with a 10.21 for 12^th overall (second in his heat) with a 2.7 m/s wind.

Smith and Boling will take the track in the 100m quarterfinals at 7:05 p.m. on Friday.

Godwin, a native of Covington, Ga., who will also run the 4x100m relay with the two aforementioned Bulldogs, qualified automatically for the quarterfinals by taking second in his heat and 11^th overall.  He ran a 46.03 and will be racing on Friday at 7:20 p.m.

Cavanaugh gave Georgia’s relay yet another individual qualifier with his performance in the 400m hurdles.  He ran the second-fastest time of his Bulldog career at 51.10 to take 12^th overall.  Cavanaugh will race in the 400m hurdle quarterfinals at 7:55 p.m. on Friday.

Similar to his showing in the 100m, Boling automatically qualified for the next round in the 200m by taking second in his heat (eighth overall).  He ran a wind-legal 20.51 and will battle the quarterfinals field on Friday at 8:10 p.m.

In other action, redshirt sophomore decathlete Kyle Garland, who made the choice to compete in the open long jump and 110m hurdles, finished 25^th in the long jump with a third attempt of 23-10.75.  Garland then finished 41^st in the opening round of the 110m hurdles with his 14.28.

Georgia also had a pair of competitors in the shot put.  Graduate transfer Jonathan Tharaldsen had his top effort of 60-6.50 between his first and third throws for 17^th while sophomore Gavin Beverage’s longest toss of 58-3 on his second throw earned him 30^th place.

Also on the track, junior Sam Bowers registered the third-best 1500m time of his career (3:52.52) for 43^rd place.

Results and recaps from the NCAA East Prelims will be found at georgiadogs.com.  News and updates from Georgia’s track and field and cross country teams are always located on Twitter/Instagram at @UGATrack.

Bulldog qualifiers for NCAA Championships

NameEventTime/Mark – Place

Alencar Pereira        M. Hammer Throw   *222 feet, 7 inches – 4^th

Bulldog qualifiers for quarterfinals at NCAA East Prelims

NameEventTime/Mark – Place

Arian Smith               100m                           *10.14w – 5^th

Matthew Boling       200m                           20.51 – 8^th

Elija Godwin             400m                           46.03 – 11^th

Matthew Boling       100m                           10.21w – 12^th

Caleb Cavanaugh     400m hurdles                        51.10 – 12^th