[su_spacer size=”40″] The Bulldog men used two scorers to completed the two-day meet in a tie for 15th place. This is the best finish for Georgia since the Bulldogs took sixth in 1995.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Arkansas (63) won the women’s team title at the Randal Tyson Track Center and Oregon (46.50), Florida (36) and Kentucky (35) rounded out the rest of top five.
[su_spacer size=”40″] On the men’s side, Oregon (74) finished first with Florida (50), Arkansas (39), Texas A&M (33) and Texas Tech (31) completing the top five finishers.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “We didn’t reach our goals at this one, but we are happy that we were able to pull out a finish in the top three,” said Bulldog head coach Wayne Norton, whose women’s team finished in the top 10 for the third straight year and for the sixth time since 2004. “As track coaches, we tend to talk about meets as a good one or a bad one. We just happen to be an awesome team who had an average meet. There were a few places where we wanted some more points, but we did have many highlights. We won the pentathlon and (Quintunya) Chapman scored in that which was great and we scored well in the high jump and triple jump and a couple other spots. This finish reminds us of what we need to do and gives us satisfaction that all of our hard work is paying off, we just have to keep making progress.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] Sophomore Kendell Williams won Georgia its second NCAA individual title of the weekend and the third of her career as she set a collegiate record with 4,678 points in the pentathlon. Senior Quintunya Chapman complemented Williams, who also set a collegiate record in the pentathlon’s 60-meter hurdles on Saturday, in the pentathlon by taking sixth to score.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Also on the women’s side, true freshman Keturah Orji finished second in the triple jump at the first NCAA meet of her career while senior Morgann Leleux scored two points for the Lady Bulldogs in the pole vault during the final indoor Nationals of her career.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Junior Garrett Scantling finished with runner-up honors with a school record 6,068 points in the closest heptathlon competition in history while his sophomore teammate Devon Williams (older brother of Kendell) earned expected First Team All-America honors for the first time after finishing fifth overall.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Adding to Leontia Kallenou’s third straight NCAA title in the high jump, Williams captured her third consecutive national championship (second in the pentathlon) to add 10 points to Georgia’s total. This was the Lady Bulldogs’ 16th NCAA indoor title in history and 30th overall. Thanks to her 4,609 scored at the McCravy Memorial earlier this year, Williams has the top three scores all-time in collegiate history.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Williams clocked an 8.10 in the opening heat of the pentathlon’s first event (60 hurdles) to take an early lead with 1,107 points. Williams trimmed .11 seconds off of her previous personal-best time. Her time is now just .01 from tying former Lady Bulldog and 2008 Olympic silver medalist Hyleas Fountain (8.09, set in an open event) for the school record.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Williams’ 8.10 topped Fountain’s collegiate and NCAA Championships meet record of 8.15 set in the pentathlon 60 hurdles at the 2004 NCAA Championships in Fayetteville.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Williams now has four collegiate records: pentathlon (twice), heptathlon 100 hurdles (12.99) and pentathlon 60 hurdles.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Clearing four heights, Williams tied Mississippi State senior Erica Bougard for the high jump win thanks to a first try clearance at 6 feet. This scored both competitors 1,016 points and kept them within 14 points of each other going into the third event.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Williams saved herself in the shot put with a third throw of 40-2. A 37-foot throw and a 38-foot throw were Williams’ first two attempts before recording her final toss, which scored her 677 points.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Momentum had been built for Williams in the shot put, and she raised the pressure level on Bougard in the long jump. Williams came out of the gates with a pentathlon personal-best effort of 21-5.25 for 1,017 points and the event win. Bougard, who competed in the open long jump on Friday, only reached 20-2.50 for 899 points.
[su_spacer size=”40″] In the pentathlon’s final event, the 800, Williams needed to stay within seven seconds of Bougard, who won the 2013 NCAA title and was runner-up in 2014, to clinch the victory. Williams stayed within striking distance of the SEC West’s Bulldog through the first three laps and closed to less than a second at the end with a career-best 2:17.30.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Chapman posted a personal best of her own in the 60 hurdles to start her scoring run. She ran an 8.33, which ranks fifth in the UGA record books, to score 1,055 points and start the competition in fourth place.
[su_spacer size=”40″] For her second personal best of the meet, Chapman lifted her first effort in the shot put a distance of 45-9.25 to win the event and get back on track after her high jump. Chapman scored 791 points in the event.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Chapman returned in the long jump with career-best effort No. 3 on the day. Opening with a mark of 18-10.50, she went 19-11 and then 19-10.25 to complete a strong series. Chapman scored 871 points and took sixth overall in the event.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Helping to pull Williams along, Chapman locked down her fourth personal best of the day when she crossed the 800 finish line in 2:15.38. Not only did this give her a third-place finish in the event, but it also scored her 887 points and solidified her sixth-place overall finish.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Chapman finished at the bottom of the ranks with a single clearance in the high jump. The former sprinter went over the bar at 5-0.25 on her opening attempt and finished at that height for 655 points.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The decision of who would win the 2015 NCAA heptathlon title came down to Scantling and Minnesota’s Luca Wieland running the 1000. Wieland started the seventh and final event up by 10 points and had to either beat Scantling or finish within a second of the Bulldog.
[su_spacer size=”40″] After five laps, Scantling clocked the fastest time of his life (2:44.57) for sixth place. However, Wieland stayed right behind him and took seventh in the event with a 2:45.35, clinching the two-point win 6,070-6,068.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Scantling, a native of Jacksonville, Fla., ran the second-fastest 60 hurdles time of his career to finish third in his event and add 982 to his total. Following a 7.98 at his first heptathlon of the year, Scantling blazed to an 8.00 and stayed in his third place spot.
[su_spacer size=”40″] In the pole vault, Scantling tied for second after reaching the same height that he had to win this year’s SEC crown. Scantling made a second attempt clearance at 16-2.75 to score 895 points.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Devon Williams recorded his fifth straight personal record to start the second day of the heptathlon. He clocked the second-fastest time in Bulldog history with a 7.85 to win the event and score 1,020 points. Williams moved from sixth to fifth in the overall standings with his performance.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Like Scantling, Williams also matched his mark from SECs in the pole vault and tied for ninth in the event on Saturday. He cleared 14-11 on his second try and scored 775 points in the second to last event of the day.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Orji added an NCAA second-place trophy to her SEC first-place trophy thanks to her showing in the triple jump. Arriving in Fayetteville as the national leader, Orji answered an opening round run-through to advance to the finals with a 44-7.50 jump. She then went 45-2.25 on her fourth try to open the finals and finished one spot behind Florida senior Ciarra Brewer, who took over the nation’s No. 1 mark with an opening mark of 45-11.75.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Leleux, a native of New Iberia, La., responded to a no height at the SEC Championships to have a pair of third attempt clearances for seventh place in the pole vault. Leleux reached a height of 14-1.25 to score indoors for the third time in career at NCAAs.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Also of note, junior Ashinia Miller and senior Nick Vena finished 12th and 15th in the men’s shot put. Miller reached 60-5.25 on his second throw and Vena had an opening throw of 59-3.50 before fouling twice.
[su_spacer size=”40″] There is little rest for the Bulldogs as they start their outdoor season in Athens with the Georgia Relays on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21. The Georgia Combined Events will also run on Wednesday, March 18 and Thursday, March 19 at the Spec Towns Track.