University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldog Weight Throwers Lead Surge At Kentucky Invitational
January 16, 2010 | Track & Field
LEXINGTON, Ky. --- Georgia track and field exploded for eight personal-best marks during the first day of the 2010 indoor track season at the Kentucky Invitational on Friday night.
"This wasn't a spectacular start for us, but I was not expecting a spectacular start with the weather we have dealt with and some of the other things we can't control," said head coach Wayne Norton, adding that all five of Georgia's competitors in the weight had career-best throws. "But we finished with a lot of (personal bests) and I think our highlight had to be John Freeman in the weight. I have said it before in the years past, but during the indoor season, each week we are looking forward to the next meet because we are expecting to get better and better as the time goes on."
The Bulldogs also finished with two NCAA provisional qualifying marks and a win following the first day of action despite not having their home track to practice on. Georgia practiced at Athens Academy during the fall semester and is now making the short trip to Clarke Central High School to practice while the teams‚ track is being renovated. Spec Towns Track is expected to open in early March.
Freeman, who opened with two fouls, notched Georgia's first NCAA provisional qualifying mark of the year after launching a career-best weight throw of 66 feet, 10 inches for second place. He moved from ninth to eighth on the school's all-time top-10 list with the fourth throw of his series.
Freeman is returning to action after being one of two Bulldog All-Americans in the hammer throw at last year's NCAA Championships. Georgia finished with two All-Americans during the 2009 indoor season and four more during the outdoor campaign.
"John had some warm-up throws and a couple fouls that went even farther than his best throw so we know he has some more left in him," Norton said.
Senior Branislav Danis finished third in the competition with a personal-best throw of 63-6.25 while fellow senior David Schiedt launched a career-best mark of 59-2 to take sixth.
Sophomore Nikola Lomnicka shined for the Lady Bulldogs in the women's weight. Competing for the first time for Georgia, the Clemson transfer had a personal-best toss of 63-5 on her first throw to finish fourth and take over the No. 4 spot in the school record books.
Lomnicka was runner-up in the hammer at the 2009 ACC Outdoor Championships after earning third-place honors in the weight at the conference indoor meet.
Junior Alesha Asijie, yet another new arrival for Georgia, finished sixth in the weight after recording a personal-best throw of 59-6.75. This is the sixth-best throw in UGA history.
Latroya Darrell, who arrived in Athens after transferring from Central Arizona, recorded the longest triple jump for the Lady Bulldogs in the last three seasons to win the first event for Georgia this year. Darrell had a career-best mark of 40-8.75 on her sixth and final jump to top the nearest competitor by more than five inches and move into the No. 8 spot in the record books.
Another newcomer to the program, freshman Maria Augutis, finished sixth in the triple jump with a best mark of 38-11.75. In addition, freshman Saniel Atkinson competed in her first meet for Georgia and took eighth (38-1.25).
Sophomore Aaron LaGarde took off for a personal-best jump of 50-4 to take third in the men‚s triple jump for the Bulldogs.
In the women's pole vault, graduate student Kat Majester tied for second after going over the bar at an indoor career-best 12-1.50 on her opening attempt at the height. This is only Majester's second year pole vaulting after she cheered for four years at Clemson and then jumped for the Tigers during the 2009 season.
Junior Cory Holman also made his debut for the Bulldogs in the high jump. Holman cleared the bar at 6-10.25 on his first attempt and finished in a four-way tie for third place.
Action begins again for the Bulldogs at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning at the Kentucky Invitational.
"This wasn't a spectacular start for us, but I was not expecting a spectacular start with the weather we have dealt with and some of the other things we can't control," said head coach Wayne Norton, adding that all five of Georgia's competitors in the weight had career-best throws. "But we finished with a lot of (personal bests) and I think our highlight had to be John Freeman in the weight. I have said it before in the years past, but during the indoor season, each week we are looking forward to the next meet because we are expecting to get better and better as the time goes on."
The Bulldogs also finished with two NCAA provisional qualifying marks and a win following the first day of action despite not having their home track to practice on. Georgia practiced at Athens Academy during the fall semester and is now making the short trip to Clarke Central High School to practice while the teams‚ track is being renovated. Spec Towns Track is expected to open in early March.
Freeman, who opened with two fouls, notched Georgia's first NCAA provisional qualifying mark of the year after launching a career-best weight throw of 66 feet, 10 inches for second place. He moved from ninth to eighth on the school's all-time top-10 list with the fourth throw of his series.
Freeman is returning to action after being one of two Bulldog All-Americans in the hammer throw at last year's NCAA Championships. Georgia finished with two All-Americans during the 2009 indoor season and four more during the outdoor campaign.
"John had some warm-up throws and a couple fouls that went even farther than his best throw so we know he has some more left in him," Norton said.
Senior Branislav Danis finished third in the competition with a personal-best throw of 63-6.25 while fellow senior David Schiedt launched a career-best mark of 59-2 to take sixth.
Sophomore Nikola Lomnicka shined for the Lady Bulldogs in the women's weight. Competing for the first time for Georgia, the Clemson transfer had a personal-best toss of 63-5 on her first throw to finish fourth and take over the No. 4 spot in the school record books.
Lomnicka was runner-up in the hammer at the 2009 ACC Outdoor Championships after earning third-place honors in the weight at the conference indoor meet.
Junior Alesha Asijie, yet another new arrival for Georgia, finished sixth in the weight after recording a personal-best throw of 59-6.75. This is the sixth-best throw in UGA history.
Latroya Darrell, who arrived in Athens after transferring from Central Arizona, recorded the longest triple jump for the Lady Bulldogs in the last three seasons to win the first event for Georgia this year. Darrell had a career-best mark of 40-8.75 on her sixth and final jump to top the nearest competitor by more than five inches and move into the No. 8 spot in the record books.
Another newcomer to the program, freshman Maria Augutis, finished sixth in the triple jump with a best mark of 38-11.75. In addition, freshman Saniel Atkinson competed in her first meet for Georgia and took eighth (38-1.25).
Sophomore Aaron LaGarde took off for a personal-best jump of 50-4 to take third in the men‚s triple jump for the Bulldogs.
In the women's pole vault, graduate student Kat Majester tied for second after going over the bar at an indoor career-best 12-1.50 on her opening attempt at the height. This is only Majester's second year pole vaulting after she cheered for four years at Clemson and then jumped for the Tigers during the 2009 season.
Junior Cory Holman also made his debut for the Bulldogs in the high jump. Holman cleared the bar at 6-10.25 on his first attempt and finished in a four-way tie for third place.
Action begins again for the Bulldogs at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning at the Kentucky Invitational.
| Georgia's NCAA Provisional Qualifiers | ||
| Name | Event | Mark/Time |
| John Freeman | Weight | 66 feet, 10 inches |
| Nikola Lomnicka | Weight | 63-5 |
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