Beyond the Hedges: 1/31/2013

It was a big two days this weekend in track and field at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville. A few highlights: sophomore Morgann Leleux soared to 14-9 on pole vault, a mere half-inch from the UGA record and good enough for the national lead; freshman Chanice Porter hit 21-0.50 (6.41 m) to win the long jump and take the national lead; sophomore Hilenn James tossed to 55-1.50 in shot put to set a new UGA record that had stood 13 years; senior Lucie Ondraschkova placed second in the pentathlon with a total score of 4,072, a personal best; junior Caleb Whitener placed third in shot put at 59-11.25, while teammate Nick Vena took second with a distance of 62-6.75, good for fourth place on UGA's all-time list; Justin Scott-Wesley clocked a 6.75 in the 60 m preliminaries, sixth-best time in program history, before placing seventh in the finals with 6.79; sophomore Carly Hamilton blew past a 23-year-old school record in the 3000 m to finish in 9:20.89, good for third place at the meet; and Maicel Uibo took second in the heptathlon with 5,755 points, second-best in program history, while reaching personal bests in six of the seven events. When all points were tallied, The Georgia women finished in fifth place as a team, and the men finished in fourth. For their efforts, Porter and Uibo were named SEC Freshmen of the Week.

The No. 6 women's tennis team played a pair of matches this weekend hosting the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Sunday, No. 73 Columbia tried their racquets against UGA, falling 4-1. Monday, it was Georgia State who fell to the Dawgs, 4-0. With the pair of wins, Georgia secured the program's 23rd berth in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, 8-11 February in Charlottesville, to try for the program's fourth indoor title. In the meantime, the team travels to Clemson Saturday for an 11:00 a.m. match.

The men's tennis team, also No. 6, likewise emerged victorious from their ITA Kickoff hosting stint. Friday, Georgia had a tough fight against Vandy, but freshman Austin Smith, a Cumming, Georgia product, clinched the 4-3 win at No. 5 singles 6-3, 7-5. Saturday, the Dawgs downed VCU 5-1 to earn a trip to the men's ITA National Team Indoor Championships, 15-18 February in Seattle. Georgia is hosting Clemson this afternoon at 4:00 in a big rivalry match and travels to Buckeye country Sunday to take on No. 4 Ohio State in a huge out-of-conference contest between national powers.

When last we checked in with women's basketball, they'd struggled in a pair of games: a close win at Arkansas and a brutal loss to Texas A&M. Sunday, three ladies (Jasmine Hassell, Tiaria Griffin, and Krista Donald) scored in double digits as Georgia beat Florida 69-52 at Stegeman Coliseum. UGA led 64-33 at one point in the second half, and it was a matter of cruising home from that point for the win. Georgia's bench showed signs of life again, contributing 22 points. Bama visits Stegeman tonight at 7:00, and the Lady Bulldogs travel to Rupp to take on Kentucky at 2:00 Sunday afternoon in a game televised on the SEC Network (also available on ESPN 3).

Up in Knoxville, the swimming and diving teams were swept by the aqua-Vols Saturday. Both were upsets as the unranked men's Tennessee team defeated Georgia 161.5-132.5 and the No. 12 women's Tennessee team handed the No. 2 UGA women their first loss 161-139. Next up is a tri-meet with Bama and South Carolina in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. The teams then head far west to College Station where Texas A&M is hosting the SEC Championships, 19-23 February. The last home dual meet, against Texas on 12 January, gave the Georgia women's team their 82nd consecutive home win. The Red and Black has a good piece about this streak that goes back to 1995 when Georgia had its first and last loss at the Gabrielsen Natatorium. And once again, Chase Kalisz was named SEC Freshman of the Week after winning the 200 butterfly, the 200 breaststroke, and the 400 individual medley in the Tennessee meet. Kalisz is 9-0 in his individual events on his young Bulldog career and has been named Freshman of the Week every time he's been eligible in his very young Bulldog career.

The equestrian team started competing again for the new year with a trip to California to take on Fresno State, beating the hosts 12-4, including a 4-0 sweep in Equitation over fences, a 3-1 win in Horsemanship, a 2-1 comeback win in Equitation on the Flat, and a 3-1 win in Reining. The No. 3 team takes to the saddle again on the road at No. 1 South Carolina this Saturday.

The Ice Dawgs, UGA's club men's hockey team, wrapped up the conference schedule this weekend with a 5-3 win over Vandy and a 6-3 loss to South Carolina. The 5-3 record puts them in a three-way tie for first place in the SEC East with Florida and South Carolina. The Ice Cocks (?) have to play Vandy twice in Nashville, 8 and 9 February, so conference tourney seeding won't be settled until we get those results. UGA fell to 10-12 over all Sunday after a 10-3 loss to Central Florida. Up next are UNC Wilmington at the Duluth IceForum tomorrow night at 9:30 and Tech in Cumming at The Ice complex Saturday night at 9:00 to wrap up the regular season.

Whew! I hope you feel caught up with UGA sports now. Add any more news you have in the comments, because there's always so much going on, I know I'm missing something.