(Photo by John Kelley)
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia finished with 12 wins on the weekend at the Spec Towns Track along with a host of career-best performances.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “We had a great meet in terms of management and operations,” said Bulldog head coach Wayne Norton. “And the weather made things go smoothly on the track and in the field. The people who needed to get into competition were able to get through the first meet successfully. Both sprint crews had good starts to their seasons. From this point on, improvement is the order of business.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] Graduate student Jenna Wargo made her Lady Bulldog debut and won the javelin with the school’s eighth-best throw in school history. Wargo, who completed her undergraduate degree at Louisville, opened with a throw of 158 feet, 6 inches to win the meet by 28 feet.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Bulldogs went 1-2-3 in the men’s discus as junior Ashinia Miller locked down the win with a fourth throw of 161-8 and an opening toss of 154-8, which was his second best. McCarty reached 161-8 on his fourth try too. However, his second-longest throw only measured 152-1. Vena took third-place honors with second attempt of 160-6.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Also in the throws, sophomore Asianna Covington worked up to a fifth throw of 152-3 to win the discus after the British Columbia native redshirted the indoor season. Freshman Anna Machovec, who is the third sibling to compete for the Bulldogs (Israel, Eve), was third with a personal-best toss of 141-7.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Freshman Devon Artis also competed at Georgia’s track for the first time and won the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.72.
[su_spacer size=”40″] A Bulldog with many races under his belt in Athens, senior Drew Branch won the men’s 400 with a personal-best time of 46.78. Branch is working to return to the NCAA Championships in his featured event, the 400 hurdles.
[su_spacer size=”40″] While former Bulldog All-American David Dickens won the men’s 100 with a 10.59, current Georgia sprinter Ayrian Evans matched his personal best (10.63) to come away with the top collegiate finish and second overall.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Freshman Katie Stone was first across the finish line in the 100 after running an 11.89 while junior Ashley Henry finished in 12.05.
[su_spacer size=”40″] In a field of 10 Georgia runners, freshman Allie Castro grabbed the top collegiate finish and was third overall in the 1500 after running a 4:40.76. Fellow freshman Anna Gandolfo was fourth overall after completing her laps in 4:42.05.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Maya Thomas, Stone, Ashley Henry and Audrey Shelton earned runner-up honors in the 4×100 relay after completing their lap in 46.90.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Georgia women also finished second in the 4×400 relay. Ashley Henry, Devon Artis, Stone and Natalie Bordes combined to clock a 3:53.42 to finish behind Western Carolina.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Led by senior Drew Branch’s second leg, Georgia won the 4×400 relay by three seconds after registering a time of 3:09.10. Sophomore Ayrian Evans led off and handed to Branch before junior Jon Okoye and freshman Raytez Jenkins finished the race for the Bulldogs.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Also of note, former Lady Bulldog All-American and an Olympian from St. Lucia, Levern Spencer, equaled the world’s No. 2 high jump mark this year (6-3.50) on a third attempt clearance to win. Georgia’s Rachael Doverspike cleared a personal-best height of 5-6 to take fourth overall.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia makes the short trip to Atlanta for the Yellow Jacket Invitational on March 27-28.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Live results and a recap from the Georgia Relays will be located at georgiadogs.com. Updates from this meet and throughout the season will be posted on Twitter at @UGA_XCTF.