UGA Track and Field Hosts Inaugural Torrin Lawrence Memorial.

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UGA Track and Field Hosts Inaugural Torrin Lawrence Memorial.

Keturah Orji
Keturah Orji
Photo: Greg Poole/Bulldawg Illustrated

 
 
The Georgia track and field teams will host their second home meet of the year to wrap up the regular season as they welcome competition for the inaugural Torrin Lawrence Memorial.

 
Clemson, Georgia Tech and members from a number of other schools will convene at the Spec Towns Track on Saturday. The women’s 5000 meters will start the day at 9:30 a.m. and the first field event, the men’s hammer, is scheduled for 10 a.m. Georgia will honor its 16 seniors at 11:30 a.m. and then have a special recognition in honor of the late great Torrin Lawrence at 11:45 a.m.
 
 
Live Results:
 
To check on Georgia at its Torrin Lawrence Memorial, please visit the live results link by CLICKING HERE.
 
 
Meet Schedule:
 
CLICK HERE for the Torrin Lawrence Memorial meet schedule.
 
 
Performance List:
 
CLICK HERE for the performance list.
 
 
Kyprianou’s Comments:
 
“As we embark into the postseason, we need to stop and remember a great Bulldog who made his mark both on and off the track,” said Kyprianou, who was an assistant coach during Lawrence’s career at UGA. “This weekend’s meet is dedicated to the great Torrin Lawrence and we expect a number of alumni to show up and honor his memory. I had the chance to be around Torrin and got to know him in all of his four years in Athens. Even though I didn’t coach him directly, I remember his warm energy and personality along with his tremendous athletic ability, like running a 45.03 indoors early in his career as a Dawg. I am very excited to have a number of Olympic caliber athletes, who are both Dawgs and outsiders, coming together to compete in Torrin’s honor. Torrin’s mother, Ms. Elaine Davis, was very supportive of this idea and she is expected to be in attendance on Saturday where we will present her with Torrin’s jersey.
 
 
“This meet is a great opportunity for our teams to get tuned in to our championship season as we approach SECs and NCAAs. We will try to get healthy and maintain some momentum going into next week as the postseason begins. Our student-athletes and coaches are excited to turn up the heat and finally unlock that red ‘GO TIME’ button in their control panels! We look forward to a fun and energetic weekend.”
 
 
Remembering A Bulldog Great:
 
Known in the past as the Georgia Invitational, Kyprianou and his coaching staff decided this season to rename the Bulldogs’ final home meet of the year the Torrin Lawrence Memorial. Lawrence, a Jacksonville, Fla., native competed for Georgia from 2009 to 2012 and graduated with a degree in Sociology in 2013. During his time as a Bulldog, he captured three SEC titles, an NCAA crown and set a collegiate record in the indoor 300m. Lawrence was tragically killed in a car accident on July 28, 2014. He was 25-years-old.
 
 
Lawrence, who still owns two of the top 10 collegiate indoor 400m times in history, started his career as the 2009 SEC Freshman Runner of the Year and was eventually named the 2010 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Male Track Athlete of the Year later. Following his UGA career, Lawrence signed with Nike and was one of Team USA’s brightest prospects in the sprints.
 
 
Season Debut:
 
One Bulldog, who happens to be the American and collegiate triple jump record holder and four-time NCAA and five-time SEC champion in her featured event, is scheduled to make her season debut on Saturday. Senior Keturah Orji, a Mount Olive, N.J., native who was fourth at the 2016 Olympics, will start her day in the long jump at 12:15. She has also been a four-time First Team All-American in the long jump during her five postseasons in the Red and Black. Orji is slated to return to the runway on Saturday for the triple jump at 3 p.m. She traveled to compete at the Virginia Challenge two weeks ago, but chose not to compete as wet, cooler conditions persisted.
 
 
The Georgia heptathletes and decathletes (minus junior Karl Saluri) made their combined event debuts in April at the Spec Towns Track. The foursome will compete on Saturday, but only in a couple select open events as they train for the postseason. Seniors Kendell Williams and Devon Williams and freshman Louisa Grauvogel are currently ranked in the country’s top 10, including Kendell at No. 1 in the heptathlon and Devon at No. 2 in the decathlon. Saluri will compete in his first decathlon of the year at the SEC Championships.
 
 
Kendell Williams and Grauvogel will compete in the 100m hurdles and the long jump on Saturday. Devon Williams is entered in the long jump and 110m hurdles while Saluri is scheduled to pole vault and throw the discus.
 
 
Recognizing Georgia’s Seniors:
 
The Bulldog family will honor 16 seniors during the Torrin Lawrence Memorial. Morgan Ainslie (Marietta, Ga.), Natalie Bordes (Alpharetta, Ga.), Asianna Covington (Vancouver, British Columbia), Holly Ebbets (Leesburg, Ga.), Sarah Gardner (Marietta, Ga.), Morgan Green (Roswell, Ga.), Lauren Kelly (Suwanee, Ga.), Catelyn Schmiedebusch (Troy, Ohio), Georgia Stefanidi (Pallini, Greece), Kendell Williams (Marietta, Ga.), Ayrian Evans (Ellenwood, Ga.), Maurice Freeman (Arnoldsville, Ga.), Reggie Glover (Orlando, Fla.), Alex Poursanidis (Paphos, Cyprus), Sid Vaughn (Baton Rouge, La.) and Devon Williams (Marietta, Ga.) are expected to line up near the finish line as a Bulldog for the final time. Nine of these – Ainslie, Covington, Ebbets, Green, Schmiedebusch, Evans, Freeman, Vaughn and Devon Williams – graduate from UGA on Friday. Kelly graduated last year and will be honored with his group.
 
 
Roesler Returns To Work:
 
Georgia volunteer assistant coach Laura Roesler, who currently sits second on the 2017 world list with an 800m time of 1:59.54, has plans of running her third 800m of the season on Saturday following the men’s race at 1:55 p.m. Roesler was the 2014 NCAA 800m champion for Oregon with a 2:01.22 after taking second in 2013. Her personal best of 1:59.04 also came during the 2014 season while representing the Ducks.
 
 
What’s Up Next For The Dogs After The Torrin Lawrence Memorial?:
 
The fourth-ranked Bulldog men and the ninth-ranked Lady Bulldogs turn their attention immediately to the postseason after Saturday. They will meet their league counterparts at the Southeastern Conference Championships in Columbia, S.C., and compete May 11-13. This will be two weeks before the qualification meet at the NCAA East Prelims in Lexington, Ky., on May 25-27 and the NCAA Championships will follow in Eugene, Ore., on June 7-10.
 
 
 
 

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