Going the Distance: Dawgs Post Mixed Results at NCAA Championships

For the last four days, your Georgia Bulldogs Track & Field team have been wrapping up their season at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas. Beginning Wednesday and carrying on through Saturday, the Dawgs took to the track and performed on the field to a series of mixed results. So let’s set the mood and find out how your Bulldogs did:

We’ll begin with the ladies, who had a rough time. The Lady Dawgs finished tied for 66th in the field with a lone point earned by sophomore Aliyah Whisby’s 8th place finish in the long jump. Among other strong performers from throughout the season, Titiana Marsh (Fr.) managed a 43 foot triple jump on an injured ankle to finish 15th (which, I don’t even want to think about how she managed that. DGD.) and Sterling Lester scored a career-best in heptathlon to finish 11th in the meet and as the nation’s top freshman. It should be clear from the above that it’s important to remember that the Lady Bulldogs are incredibly young. But it was clear that Coach Petros Kyprianou was not pleased, commenting “This was not the finish we are used to...” That said, Kyprianou laid the blame at his own feet (as good coaches should) and believes the experience will prove beneficial for the young and returning team members which, when combined with the new incoming class, provides hope for the future.

The men, on the other hand, were quite successful down in Texas. On Thursday, sophomore Johannes Erm had himself quite a day, posting the winning score and meeting the Olympic standard score in the decathlon. So, before I go any further, congratulations to NCAA Decathlon Champion Johannes Erm! In the high jump on Friday, the Dawgs earned points as Keenon Laine (Sr.) finished 4th and Darius Carbin (Jr.) came in 7th. Appropriately, the man to lock things down for Georgia throughout the week was senior Denzel Comenentia. His performances in the discus (5th), shot put (2nd), and hammer-throw (5th) pushed the Dawgs over the top in terms of the number of points needed to find their way onto the infield. Finishing in 4th with 32.5 points, the Dawgs clinched another team trophy (the 10th for the Dawgs and Lady Dawgs since 2016).

All in all, it was a great season in which our athletes represented themselves admirably at the track and earned valuable experience for the future.

Until next year...

GOOOO DAWGS!!!