[su_spacer size=”40″] The Bulldog track and field teams helped warm up the Nutter Field House in Lexington, Ky., with a series of personal best and nationally ranked performances at the McCravy Memorial on Friday.
[su_spacer size=”40″] With frigid temperatures and snow outside, the second-ranked Georgia women and sixth-ranked Bulldog men continued their progress of putting competitors on the country’s top-16 lists that will qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in early March.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The meet’s second day will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday with the women’s shot put and triple jump.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Also on Saturday, the meet will be broadcast on SEC Network+ on WatchESPN from 12 p.m. until the conclusion of the meet. Highlights from Friday’s meet will also be mixed into the telecast.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “I thought we had a good day to start things off with the highlight coming from Tatiana Gusin (in the high jump),” Bulldog head coach Petros Kyprianou said. “She is showing that she is a true leader, a true captain who is leading by example.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “Our weather to train in has been tricky, so we have had to back off at practice to keep healthy. We have been trying to run up the intensity at meets and let them be our best practices. I challenged our team to have laser focus, compete with an urgency and to have fun and they are responding well.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] With two wins during last year’s indoor season, Gusin tallied her first victory of 2016 and second straight at McCravy in the high jump. She came within a quarter-inch of her personal best (set at last year’s Southeastern Conference Championships in Lexington) after soaring a season-best and meet record height of 6 feet, 1 ¼ inches. This moved her into what would have been the No. 3 spot on the national list (tops in the SEC) coming into the weekend. Gusin cleared both 6 feet and 6-1.25 on her first attempt.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Bulldogs also had four more competitors clear 5-9.75 or better on Friday. Sophomore Mady Fagan, who hit 6 feet last weekend for the first time, went over the bar at 5-10.75 on her first try to tie for third. Junior heptathlete Kendell Williams, who is scheduled to open in the combined events next weekend, cleared 5-10.75 on her third attempt to tie for fifth.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Also, senior long jumper Chanice Porter and three-time NCAA high jump champion Leontia Kallenou each reached 5-9.75 to finish seventh and eighth, respectively.
[su_spacer size=”40″] In the final event of the day, the Bulldog quartet of senior Kisean Smith, freshman Jeramey Hampton, senior Christian Harrison and senior Zack Sims topped a two-year-old school record in the distance medley relay to finish second. Georgia clocked a time of 9:47.21 to pass the Bulldogs’ former No. 1 finish of 9:47.53, which was registered at the 2014 SEC Championships by Sims and three others.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia’s time in the DMR puts its squad second nationally, trailing only Friday night’s winner (Indiana, 9:41.10). The Bulldogs posted splits of 2:58.5 (1200 meters), 48.0 (400) and 1:48.2 (800) on its first three legs. Kyprianou was encouraged with the group’s early season finish.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “Three of these guys know each other very well and Coach (Pat) Cunniff has done a great job of connecting Hampton with them,” said Kyprianou. “I think they still have more in the tank, but they did a great job of starting things off tonight.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] Junior Georgia Stefanidi followed up her pair of pole vault victories at two meets last weekend with a season-best effort in Lexington. Clearing her first three heights on the first attempt, Stefanidi finished with a mark of 13-4.25, which puts her in the top 20 nationally.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Also in the pole vault, sophomore Emily Savage tied for the 10th-best mark in the school record books with a clearance of 12-6.25 to tie for ninth. This was Savage’s second meet with Georgia after transferring from Oklahoma.
[su_spacer size=”40″] On the track, sophomore Raytez Jenkins earned runner-up honors in the 200-meter dash with a career-best time of 21.45.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Junior Alex Poursanidis competed in his second meet of the year after opening up in December and was third in the weight throw. With three fouls scattered in his series, Poursanidis lifted his sixth and final attempt 64-3.25.
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