Georgia’s Anna Hall became the fourth-best all-time collegiate performer in the pentathlon and Matthew Boling registered a school record time in the 200-meter dash to start the Razorback Invitational arriving in Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday.

Hall, a native of Greenwood, Colo., shot to No. 2 on the UGA all-time performer list with the ninth-best all-time collegiate performance thanks to her winning score of 4,590 points.  This gave her a facility record (passing former Georgia great and school record holder Kendell Williams, 4,558, 2016), the NCAA lead, put her third on the 2021 world list and made her the ninth-best American performer in history.

Boling, a native of Houston, Texas, ran the fourth-fastest 200m in meet history and bettered his former school record of 20.66 set in the same facility last year with a 20.53 to win.  Already the national leader in the 400m and third in the country in the 60m, Boling shot to No. 2 on this year’s world and national lists coming into the weekend.

Georgia will begin Saturday with sophomore Karel Tilga and redshirt sophomore Ziggy Zoller wrapping up their final three events (60m hurdles, pole vault, 1000m) starting at 11:15 a.m. ET.  Junior Imani Carothers starts the open events for the Bulldogs in the women’s 60m hurdle prelims at 1:30 p.m.  On the men’s side, Boling, sophomore Curtis Borden and senior Delano Dunkley are scheduled to take the track in the 60m prelims at 2:07 p.m. 

Kyprianou’s Comments: “Today was a very productive day in both genders as we picked up two sensational NCAA marks with a good number of strong showings across the board,” said head coach Petros Kyprianou.  “Obviously Matt Boling’s blazing fast school record in the 200m and Anna becoming the fourth-best performer in the pent in collegiate history were the highlights along with a promising showing in the long jump. 

“I am looking forward to carrying this momentum to the final day and picking up some very needed NCAA qualifying marks.  Overall I’m happy with the day and most importantly how much our student-athletes are making of this opportunity to compete on the fastest track in the world!”

The Low Down: Hall and Boling stole the headlines with their dominant performances.  However, a number of other Bulldogs also shined during the third indoor meet of the year.

Sophomore Jasmine Moore collected her first victory of the year in the long jump after soaring to one of the country’s top 10 marks in 2021.  Opening with a 20 feet, 8 ½ inches, Moore then went 21-1.50 to leave a pair of USC jumpers behind.  Moore’s training partner, junior Titiana March, started with her top mark of 20-3.75 to finish fourth.  Both Lady Bulldogs passed their final two attempts as they readied for the triple jump on Saturday.

Yet another sophomore Shelby Tyler posted three consecutive first attempt clearances in the high jump and finished as the runner-up with a mark of 5-10.50.

Boling was the only competitor to break 21 seconds in the 200m.  But his teammate Delano Dunkley also had a personal best of 21.27 for fifth place in the event.

A pair of Georgia freshmen went 3-4 in the pole vault thanks in part to John Franco’s collegiate career best of 16-0.75.  Spencer Evans finished one spot behind with a second attempt clearance at 15-9.

In the women’s weight throw, redshirt freshman Mia Anderson lifted her second attempt a career-long distance of 52-8.25.  Another Bulldog made his Bulldog career debut in the men’s weight and was fourth as junior transfer Alencar Pereira built up to a fifth throw of 64-5.25.

In the pentathlon, Hall ran the fastest 60m hurdle time of her heptathlon career with an 8.48 to start the day.  Her 1,021 points put her second by 20 points after the opening event.

Hall returned in the high jump to match the best mark of her career.  Posting seven clearances, Hall cruised through 6 feet on her first try and then went over the bar at 6-1.25 also on her first attempt.  This secured her 1,054 points and put her in a 93-point lead over G’Auna Edwards.

In the shot put, Hall saved her top performance for the third round as she lifted the ball 40-2.75.  She scored 678 points to earn runner-up honors in the event.

A week after reaching a personal best in the long jump, Hall started the same event on Friday with a fresh personal record of 19-0.75.  Hall then followed that up a 19-3.25 on her second try and with a 19-8 to end the competition.  This gave her a second-place finish with another 846 points.

Hall wrapped up her third collegiate with the second-best time of her career in the 800m to clinch the overall victory.  She completed her laps in 2:08.19, which topped the nearest competitor by more than nine seconds, and tallied her final 991 points.  This delivered her a 408-point win over Oregon’s Mathilde Rey (4,182).

Tilga jumped out to a 42-point lead in the heptathlon with 3,202 points while Zoller situated himself in fifth with 3,055 during his first collegiate hep.

Zoller shot to third in the first event (60m) after speeding to a 7.01 for 879 points.  Tilga finished .07 from his 2020 personal best with a 7.25 to score 796 and stand eighth.

Tilga wasted little time in the second event of the long jump, traveling a personal-best distance of 24-7 on his opening attempt.  His best jump earned him 932 points and won the event, moving him to third overall.  Zoller made his debut in the long jump and improved to 23-6 on his final try for 852 points.  He was in second by just 14 points at this point with Tilga trailing him by three.

Tilga moved into the overall lead after the shot put thanks to a second toss of 46-8.75 for 743 points.  This put him 46 points ahead of the nearest competitor.  Zoller, who was throwing the shot for only the second time in his indoor career, reached 41-5.25 (645) and slipped him into third place.

During the high jump, Tilga battled for a clearance of 6-3.50 (731) while Zoller managed a third-attempt clearance of 6-1.25 (679) in the fourth and final event of the day for the heptathletes.