Two current Bulldogs and one Georgia signee have medaled in four events at a variety of international track and field meets to highlight the summer for the UGA program thus far.
Tara Davis capped her day of competition off at the Pan Am Junior Championships in Trujillo, Peru, on Friday by cruising to a victory in the long jump. Catching a wind of 2.4 meters/second, Davis traveled 21 feet, 4 ¼ inches to clinch the win. She took a single wind-legal attempt at the USATF Junior Championships and won by more than a foot with an effort of 21-9.
Davis, a native of Agoura Hills, Calif., sped to a time of 13.05 in the 100-meter hurdle finals earlier Friday to take second behind fellow American Tia Jones (13.01). After blazing to a personal best 12.95 in the opening round of the USATF Juniors last month, Davis topped Jones by .01 for the title in the finals with a 13.01. In the 100m hurdle semifinals on Friday, Davis won her heat and also had the second-fastest time overall behind Jones with a mark of 13.42.
Rising sophomore Sam Drop will start the 5000m on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET. Drop won the event at the USATF Juniors after completing her laps in 16:56.91. Sam and her twin sister Jessica will start their second cross country season in September after clocking top-three times in the 10,000m and 5000m, respectively, during their first outdoor track campaign.
A pair of current Georgia throwers recently reached the podium at the Under-23 European Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Denzel Comenentia, who wrapped up his sophomore season by taking fifth in both the shot put and hammer throw at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships, earned runner-up honors in the shot put with an effort of 65-2. The native of the Netherlands was fifth in the qualifying round after his throw measured 61-5.
Rising sophomore Beatrice Llano, who is a native of Norway, secured the bronze medal in the hammer throw with the second-best performance of her Georgia career. Situated seventh during the qualifying round with a toss of 213-7, Llano lifted her fourth attempt 218-11 in the finals to take third. She was third at NCAAs with a mark of 221-2 and captured the Southeastern Conference title in her first try.
Another duo of incoming Bulldogs is also competing in the decathlons in Europe this weekend. Estonia’s Johannes Erm starts his 10 events with the 100m at the Under-20 European Championships on Saturday in Grosseto, Italy, and will wrap up the competition on Sunday. Ranked as the world’s No. 1 returning junior this season, Erm was the bronze medal winner at the 2016 World Junior Championships. Erm hails from the same hometown as former Bulldog great Maicel Uibo, who was a two-time NCAA decathlon champion and six-time First Team All-American.
Iceland’s Tristan Jonsson begins his decathlon at the Under-20 EAP Combined Events Challenge in Hexham, England, on Saturday and will also conclude the 10 events on Sunday. A World Junior Championships finalist, Jonsson has a personal record of 7,468 at the junior level and scored 7,078 in the decathlon in July. He is the son of former Georgia letterman Jon Arnar Magnusson, who competed in the decathlon at three Olympics, including the 1996 Games when he finished seventh with an Icelandic national record.