Georgia junior Karel Tilga has been named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I National Men’s Athlete of the Week following the Spec Towns Invitational.

This marked the first USTFCCCA weekly honor outdoors for the Bulldog men since former NCAA champion heptathlete Devon Williams earned the accolade during the 2017 outdoor season.  Senior Marie-Therese Obst has already garnered the National Women’s Athlete of the Week honor once this season for her record-breaking performance in the javelin.

Tilga, a native of Tartu, Estonia, completed his first collegiate decathlon in two years with the second-best score (8,484) in collegiate history to win the Spec Towns Invitational competition.  Winning three of 10 events and setting a school record, Tilga surged into the national lead by nearly 800 points and turned in the highest ever decathlon score before the month of May.

Tilga became the No. 4 all-time Estonian with his performance and easily cruised past the Olympic standard score of 8,350.  He was in a fierce battle with former Bulldog Garrett Scantling (8,476) & former Wisconsin Badger Zach Ziemek (8,213) for the title as the decathletes finished 1-2-3 in the world this year.