The sixth-ranked Georgia women and the 15th-ranked Bulldog men took a combined 26 team members to compete and have a total of 29 entries for the meet. There are 48 competitors from the East Region in every individual event and 24 in the relays.
The NCAA West Prelims will be running simultaneously in College Station, Texas, with the same format. The top 12 in each event from both regions will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore, on June 9-12.
Four 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 (Anna Hall, Asya Reynolds – heptathlon; Karel Tilga, Kyle Garland – decathlon). However, Hall will not compete in Eugene in the heptathlon but will rather try to qualify in both the open high jump and long jump in Jacksonville.
Garland will also not be in the combined event field in Oregon and will instead attempt to punch his ticket in the 110-meter hurdles and long jump this week. Tilga is the country’s top-ranked decathlete while Reynolds is ranked fifth in the heptathlon nationally.
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. Junior Alencar Pereira will begin the meet for the Bulldogs in the hammer throw on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. ET. The first event on the track for the Georgia men will be Garland lining up in the opening round of the 110m hurdles at 6 p.m.
The women’s first day will be on Thursday. Freshman Charlotte Williams will be in the hammer field at 1:30 p.m. 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 all four days. The winds are predicted to hover around 10 miles an hour each competition day.
Live Results: For live results between Wednesday and Saturday, 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 link for each day:
Day 1 (Wednesday) – http://gado.gs/72w
Day 2 (Thursday) – http://gado.gs/72y
Day 3 (Friday) – http://gado.gs/730
Day 4 (Saturday) – http://gado.gs/732
Kyprianou’s Comments: “We are very excited to go down to Jacksonville and go through step one of our mission, which is capitalizing on our hard work this season when we arrive in Eugene,” said head coach Petros Kyprianou. “This meet serves as a qualifying process and there are no winners or losers and that makes it a tricky situation for ultra-competitive teams. We have to stay focused and tune in to this process as we go through those qualifying rounds. I’m expecting more than 80 percent of this group to advance to Oregon and I’m very eager to see the other 15-20 percent punch their ticket as a result of the desire to compete for a championship in a few weeks. Our student-athletes are well tuned in and know what our teams’ motto and focus are so I’m very excited to see them take an opportunity for NCAA glory. Go Dawgs!”
What Bulldogs Are Competing: The Lady Bulldogs have qualified the following competitors: graduate transfer Julia Hall, seniors Jessica Drop, Destiny Jackson, Marie-Therese Obst, Kayla Smith, Amber Tanner, Chelsea Zoller, junior Titiana Marsh, sophomores Anna Marian Block, Jasmine Moore, Shelby Tyler, along with the aforementioned Anna Hall, Reynolds, Williams and Carothers.
The Bulldog men will be traveling this group: graduate transfer Jonathan Tharaldsen, senior Delano Dunkley, juniors Sam Bowers, Elija Godwin, Labo Oke, sophomores Gavin Beverage, Matthew Boling, Caleb Cavanaugh and freshman Arian Smith, in addition to the group already listed of Garland and Pereira.