University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Decathletes Lead Charge At NCAAs
June 09, 2016 | Track & Field
Catch these day one interviews with head coach Petros Kyprianou and junior Devon Williams.
EUGENE, Ore. --- The Bulldog decathletes put themselves in third, fourth and sixth place following five events during the opening day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., on Wednesday.
Both junior Devon Williams (4,232 points) and sophomore Karl Saluri (4,216) posted personal-best day one scores and are in third and fourth in the decathlon. Senior Maicel Uibo, who is the two-time defending NCAA champion, is in sixth with 4,127 points and his strongest events yet to come.
"This is a World Championships level meet and we have been telling our teams this for a while," said Bulldog head coach Petros Kyprianou. "We understand the strength of our team is in the multi-events and those guys answered the call today. It will be very important for us to finish strong in the final five events of the decathlon and then start the second day strong. There is much left to do in this meet and I have confidence we will get off to a quick start on Thursday."
Williams leads his previous day one personal best set at the SEC Championships by 45 points. In the opening event on Wednesday, Williams was sixth overall in the 100-meter dash for 910 points. The Marietta, Ga., native ran a 10.78 to be fifth in his heat.
Williams began his long jump series with a foul and then completed his three jumps with a personal-best showing. He moved into the No. 10 spot on the Bulldogs' all-time top-10 list with a mark of 25 feet, 2 inches, which gave him a second-place finish in the event and scored him 977 points.
Williams wasted little time securing a personal best in the shot put to add 742 points to his total. Coming in with a career best of 45-9.25, Williams had a throw of 46-8.25 on his opener and followed that up with another pair of 46-foot throws. His effort put him in fourth place headed into the high jump.
With a personal-best clearance of 6-4 at the SEC Championships a month ago, Williams kept pace in standings with a second attempt clearance at 6-3.50 for 731 points, which put him in third place overall.
Fourth in his heat and fourth overall was Williams in the 400m for his final 872 points. He ran a 48.78 to position him in the top three going into Thursday.
Saluri is 54 points ahead of his previous day one personal best set at this year's Bulldog Decathlon. He jumpstarted his NCAA meet by clocking a personal record of 10.52 to win the 100m. Saluri shaved .14 seconds off his former career best and scored 970 points to take an early lead overall.
Picking up the second-best mark of his Georgia career, Saluri was fourth in the long jump for 910 points after opening with a foul. He went 24-3.50 on his last try.
Saluri posted two 45-foot throws to start the shot put before launching a personal record on his final attempt. He sent the shot 47-3.75 for 754 points and moved into third place.
Following three first attempt clearances in the high jump, Saluri reached a Bulldog career best height of 6-1.25 on his third try. This performance gave him 679 points and put him into fifth headed into the 400m.
Saluri completed his day by running a 48.12 for a runner-up finish and 903 points in the 400m.
Uibo began the meet with an 11.16 in the 100m, which put him in 17th place after one event with 825 points.
What was originally called a foul for Uibo in the long jump ended up being his best mark of the day. After his second attempt was reversed, he took fifth for 908 points after soaring 24-3.
Uibo saved his best throw in the shot put for his third and final try. He watched his last attempt travel 47-1.50 for 750 points. Following three events, Uibo was in seventh.
Uibo used three attempts to clear 6-7 and then left the track with two consecutive first attempt clearances to score 868 points. The Polva, Estonia, native safely cleared 6-9.50 and moved his way into fourth place overall.
The 2016 Olympic qualifier completed his fifth event in 50.85 to add 776 points to his total. This was the fastest time for Uibo since his 50.61 at the 2014 NCAA Championships.
The Bulldogs also finished the men's hammer one spot and three spots out of scoring. Junior Alex Poursanidis, who was ninth last year and scored with an eighth-place finish in 2014, took an early lead after the first flight with a mark of 225-10 on his second throw. He eventually slipped to ninth and was not able to improve on his final four throws.
Freshman Denzel Comenentia saw his second attempt in the hammer travel 223-9 in his first NCAA outdoor action. However, he finished a foot and a half short of advancing to the finals (top nine) and took 11th overall.
Georgia had its second ninth-place finisher in the meet for expected Second Team All-America honors in the shot put. Senior Ashinia Miller, who was competing in his final collegiate meet and first NCAA outdoor competition, reached 62-5.75 on his third throw.
Comenentia returned several hours later and finished 17th overall with a second shot put toss of 61-2.75. He sandwiched this mark between two fouls.
During the final event of the opening day, Maurice Freeman, Reggie Glover, Jeramey Hampton and Ayrian Evans crossed the finish line in 3:06.50 and finished 14th overall in the 4x400m relay semifinals.
In his first trip to the NCAA Championships, senior Christian Harrison completed his collegiate career in the 800m semifinals after taking a fall in the first straightaway. The Glenarden, Md., native got up and recovered to finish sixth in his heat. However, Harrison was 21st overall with a 1:51.67 and missed the finals.
The decathletes return to action at 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. Senior Chanice Porter and sophomore Keturah Orji start the women's competition on the meet's second day at 9 p.m.
Live stats and full results from the NCAA Championships will be posted at georgiadogs.com.
Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack) and Snapchat (ugatrack).
| Bulldog Decathletes - Day One | ||||||
| Name | 100m | LJ | SP | HJ | 400m | Day 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devon Williams | 10.78/910 | *25-2 (977) | *46-8.25 (742) | 6-3.50 (731) | 48.78 (872) | *4,232-3rd |
| Karl Saluri | *10.52/970 | 24-3.50 (910) | *47-3.75 (754) | *6-1.25 (679) | 48.12 (903) | *4,216-4th |
| Maicel Uibo | 11.16/825 | *24-3 (908) | 47-1.50 (750) | 6-9.50 (868) | ^50.85 (776) | 4,127-6th |
*personal best; ^season best
| Day One Finishers | |||
| Name | Event | Time/Mark | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Poursanidis | M. Hammer throw | 225-10 | 9th |
| Ashinia Miller | M. Shot put | 62-5.75 | 9th |
| Denzel Comenentia | M. Hammer throw | 223-9 | 11th |
| M. Freeman, R. Glover, J. Hampton, A. Evans | M. 4x400m relay | 3:06.50 | 14th |
| Denzel Comenentia | M. Shot put | 61-2.75 | 17th |
| Christian Harrison | M. 800m | 1:51.67 | 21st |
| Remaining Schedule For Bulldogs | ||
| Senior Maicel Uibo | Decathlon | *Thursday, 1:30 p.m. |
| Junior Devon Williams | Decathlon | *Thursday, 1:30 p.m. |
| Sophomore Karl Saluri | Decathlon | *Thursday, 1:30 p.m. |
| Senior Chanice Porter | Long Jump | Thursday, 9 p.m. |
| Sophomore Keturah Orji | Long Jump | Thursday, 9 p.m. |
| Junior Kendell Williams | Heptathlon | %Friday, 3:30 p.m. |
| Junior Kendell Williams | Heptathlon | %Saturday, 2:30 p.m. |
| Sophomore Mady Fagan | High Jump | Saturday, 6 p.m. |
| Sophomore Keturah Orji | Triple Jump | Saturday, 6:30 p.m. |
| Freshman Aliyah Johnson | Triple Jump | Saturday, 6:30 p.m. |
*decathlon: final five (110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, 1500m) start on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
%heptathlon: first four events (100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200m) starting on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. and final three (long jump, javelin, 800m) start on Friday at 2:30 p.m.
Players Mentioned
