[break] [break] Georgia is traveling 34 team members to the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., for events on Friday and Saturday. Six distance runners are making the trip to Seattle, Wash., for the Husky Classic that also runs on Friday and Saturday.
[break] [break] “Our ranking sounds good, but our goal is to be No. 1 in about five or six weeks,” said Bulldog head coach Wayne Norton. “It does say that we have some really good people, which means we have a chance. It’s better to be No. 1 then No. 27. We are excited that we have a chance to do some of the things we want to do this season.”
[break] [break] “We’ve had three really good meets,” Norton continued. “The first meet we had (Auburn Invitational in Birmingham, Ala.) was probably the best first meet we have ever had and our second meet (McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Ky.) was definitely the best second meet we have ever had. The Virginia Tech Elite Meet wasn’t as great or as powerful as the first two but it was still a high-level meet for us. But what I have told the team is that we have been consistent, especially important is that we have to be consistently good. To win a championship or be in contention for a championship, all you have to do is have a level of consistency that is really good and be able to hit that level when it counts.”
[break] [break] This is the teams’ last regular season action with the SEC Indoor Championships arriving in Lexington on February 27-28. Like the Tyson meet, the NCAA Championships will be run in the Randal Tyson Track Center on March 13-14.
[break] [break] “One of the things we have found out several years ago is that we tend to do well at places we have been before,” said Norton. “We have been to Arkansas plenty of times, like Virginia Tech, and have had success there. That is the reason we went to New Mexico during last year’s regular season since we knew the national championships would be there at the end of the year. We expect the Arkansas facility to be great since it’s probably one of the best in the world and we expect to take care of business once we are there.”
[break] [break] Following the NCAA Indoor Championships in mid-March, the Bulldogs roll immediately into their outdoor season and start with the Georgia Relays on March 20-21 on the Spec Towns Track in Athens.
[break] [break] “All that we are doing indoors is fabulous and we love it, but we are still an outdoor team,” Norton explained. “Believe it or not, we still are a lot better than what we have shown indoors. We have some people who have done well, but some of those people have not been able to let go because of the weather we have dealt with and are still in their training. We will get better and still be a great team outdoors.”
[break] [break] A trio of individual Bulldog honors came this week on the heels of the Lady Bulldogs earning their first No. 1 national ranking. The Georgia women had topped out No. 4 in the previous two polls before shooting past Florida for the top spot this week. The Georgia men are currently ranked No. 8 in the latest poll after creeping to No. 6 last week.
[break] [break] Georgia sophomore Kendell Williams and true freshman Keturah combined to earn three weekly honors following last weekend’s Doc Hale Virginia Tech Elite Meet, according to announcements from the SEC and the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
[break] [break] Williams was named the USTFCCCA Division I Women’s National Athlete of the Week as well as the SEC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week. Orji garnered SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week honors for the third time this season after her performance at Virginia Tech’s Rector Field House.
[break] [break] The Tyson Invitational begins on Friday at 2 p.m. ET with the women’s mile and the women’s long jump. The Husky Classic cranks up its first day at 7 p.m. with the women’s weight throw and the women’s 200. The individual distance events in Seattle are scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.
[break] [break] Who is making the trip for Georgia?
Devon Artis, Shelby Ashe, Natalie Bordes, Quintunya Chapman, Victoria Coppage, Tatiana Gusin, Ashley Henry, Marrion Kalafut, Leontia Kallenou, Brooke Koblitz, Morgann Leleux, Addy Lippitt, Keturah Orji, Chanice Porter, Erika Ramsey, Katie Stone and Kendell Williams are all scheduled to compete at the Tyson Meet. Carly Hamilton is the sole Lady Bulldog traveling to the Husky Classic.
[break] [break] Drew Branch, Jamario Calhoun, Ayrian Evans, Reggie Glover, Christian Harrison, Jimmy Hicks, Brendan Hoban, Raytez Jenkins, Bryan Kamau, Alex Larsson, Ashinia Miller, Alex Poursanidis, Garrett Scantling, Maicel Uibo, Nick Vena, Derrick White and Devon Williams are all traveling for the Georgia men to Fayetteville. Charles Grethen, Brandon Lord, Zack Sims, Kisean Smith and Sid Vaughn are competing for Georgia in Seattle.
[break] [break] Who will be joining the Bulldogs?
The Bulldogs will be joined by Arkansas (Women: No. 3/Men: No. 3), Florida (Women: No. 2/Men: No. 2), Texas A&M (Women: No. 4/Men: No. 4), Kentucky (Women: No. 7), Alabama (Men: No. 15), Missouri (Women: No. 16), Tennessee (Men: No. 13), South Carolina, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Florida State (Women: No. 13/Men: No. 21), Texas Tech (Women: No. 12/Men: No. 14), Houston (Men: No. 22), Akron (Women: No. 14/Men: No. 19), Nebraska (Men: No. 7), Clemson (Women: No. 22), Texas (Women: No. 6/Men: No. 9), Oklahoma State (Women: No. 15/Men: No. 17), Baylor (Men: No. 16), Kansas State (Women: No. 10), Penn State (Men: No. 5) and others in the Razorbacks’ facility.
[break] [break] The Georgia crew traveling to Washington will face members from Oregon (Women: No. 5/Men: No. 1), Stanford (Women: No. 9/Men: No. 10), BYU (Men: No. 24), UCLA (Women: No. 19) and others.
[break] [break] Making Their Presence Known
A host of Georgia competitors will be aiming to strengthen their hold as national contenders or establish themselves as forces to be reckoned with this weekend.
[break] [break] WOMEN
● Ashe opened her Lady Bulldog career with a 66 feet, 1 ½ inch performance in the weight throw in Kentucky to shoot to fourth in the school record books. After fouling out at Virginia Tech, she is off her personal best set before starting her career at Cal-Berkeley and is poised for a breakout performance.
● Chapman and Williams will be competing in open events after earning what are the sixth (4,257) and top (4,609) scores nationally in the pentathlon. The pair will compete at least in the 60-meter hurdles (maybe the long jump as well) this weekend. Both either reached or set fresh personal bests in the hurdles last weekend.
● Gusin and Kallenou will return in the high jump after training through last weekend’s meet. They are tied for eighth nationally with clearances at 6 feet this year. Kallenou swept the SEC and NCAA titles in the high jump in 2014.
● Leleux surged from an opening meet height of 13 feet, 1 ½ inches to 13-10.50 at McCravy and then to 14-4 (tied for fourth nationally) at the VT Elite Meet in the pole vault after moving to bigger poles this season.
● Following the “every-other” meet pattern, Orji competed in the long jump at the VT Elite Meet and was second behind Williams with a career-best mark of 21 feet, 2 inches, which is ranked fourth nationally. This weekend, Orji will jump for the second time in the triple jump. She set U.S. Junior and school records in the triple jump earlier this year with the longest mark in the NCAA this year (45-10.50).
● Porter returns to action in the long jump after last competing in mid-January. The 2013 SEC indoor champion and runner-up at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships has a personal-best mark of 21 feet, 2 ¾ inches.
[break] [break] MEN
● Larsson and Poursanidis get back to work in the weight following two personal bests at the VT Elite Meet. Poursanidis, a First Team All-American in the hammer last year as a true freshman, was fourth in the weight last week with a mark of 66 feet, 9 ¾ inches. Larsson, a Second Team All-American in the hammer during his first year in 2014, reached 60-10.75 for 12th at Virginia Tech.
● Another thrower, Ashinia Miller, will also be returning to the ring after starting his junior season with an elevated consistency in the shot put. Miller grabbed the national lead with a school record toss of 66 feet, 7 ¾ inches at McCravy (currently stands fourth nationally) and went nearly 63 feet last weekend.
● Similar to the pentathletes, Scantling, Uibo and Williams will sharpen their skills in open events at Arkansas. The trio currently stands 1-2-10 (1-2-3 in the SEC) in the heptathlon as Scantling (5,886) holds a slight edge on Uibo (5,847). Scantling and Uibo will be pole vaulting this weekend and Williams will be running the 60 hurdles. Williams is coming off a performance in the hurdles at the VT Elite Meet where he finished third with the fourth-best time in school history at 7.89.
● Vena was overshadowed by his junior shot put teammate at McCravy, but he bettered Miller at the VT Elite Meet with a personal best of his own. He had a mark of 65 feet, 7 inches to improve his No. 3 spot on Georgia’s all-time top-10 list and is fifth on the national performance list.
[break] [break] Past Success For The Bulldogs
Georgia has two existing school records on the men’s side that were set at past Tyson Invites. The late great Torrin Lawrence won the 400 after clocking a 45.03, which remains the fourth-best indoor time in collegiate history. Ian Burrell also set the school’s No. 1 mark in both the 3000 (7:59.04) and the 5000 (13:46.97) at the 2007 meet. However, only his 5000 record still remains after Brandon Lord clocked a 7:56.50 to take over the No. 1 spot in the 3000 earlier this season.
[break] [break] Neither Grethen nor Lord won their events last year at the Husky meet, but each clocked a then personal-best time in the 800 (1:49.01) and 5000 (14:00.60), respectively. Also of note, Hamilton set a then school record of 4:36.06 to take ninth in the mile at the 2013 meet and former Bulldog Aaron Evans set the current men’s 800 record of 1:47.88 at the 2012 Husky Classic.
[break] [break] Live and full results and a recap from this weekend’s meets will be located at georgiadogs.com. Updates from this meet and throughout the season will be posted on Twitter at @UGA_XCTF.