University of Georgia Athletics
Dogs Set To `Turn Intensity Up' At Arkansas
January 26, 2017 | Track & Field
Razorback Invite Schedule 
ATHENS, Ga. --- Coming off an impressive weekend in College Station, Texas, Georgia's track and field teams will now attempt to continue that momentum in Fayetteville, Ark., for the Razorback Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
When Does The Razorback Begin?: Senior Kendell Williams, who is the three-time defending NCAA pentathlon champion, and true freshman Louisa Grauvogel will start with the 60-meter hurdles at 12:30 p.m. ET and then compete in the the final four events of the pentathlon (high jump, shot put, long jump, 800m) on Friday.
Senior Devon Williams, who is the older brother of Kendell, and junior Karl Saluri start the heptathlon with the 60m at 12:45 p.m. They will also line up in the long jump, shot put and high jump on Friday before completing their first combined events comp of the year on Saturday with the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1000m. The open field events on Friday begin at 2:30 p.m. while the track events are slated to start at 7 p.m.
Where Are They Ranked?: The Lady Bulldogs held their No. 3 national ranking in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll while Georgia improved from No. 8 to No. 4 on the men's side.
The competition will not lack this weekend in the Randal Tyson Track Center. There will a combined 18 teams ranked in the latest national poll, including 10 in the top-10. Auburn, Florida, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas A&M are all scheduled to join the Bulldogs and Razorbacks for the two-day meet.
Individually, 15 student-athletes or relay teams who lead the nation in their respective events are slated to compete. On top of junior Keturah Orji in the triple and Kendell Williams in the pentathlon, four individuals and a relay team who won 2016 NCAA championships will also be preparing for their title defenses.
Live Results: To check Georgia's progress at the Razorback Invitational on Friday and Saturday, please visit the live results site: http://gado.gs/6ve.
TV/Web Coverage: The SEC Network+ will also provide television and webcast coverage of the meet: Friday's live stream from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. - http://es.pn/2iXs8Fc; Saturday's TV from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. - http://es.pn/2iWnTYu.
Kyprianou's Comments: "We are returning to Arkansas for what seems like is going to be an (Southeastern Conference) Championships preview with a number of top-10 out of conference teams mixed in," said Bulldog head coach Petros Kyprianou. "It is a great opportunity for us to turn the intensity up a notch and face some world-class athletes in a world-class facility that has been nice to us in the past."
The Lady Bulldogs have been third at each of the last three NCAA Indoor Championships. The Georgia men posted their best indoor finish of 15th in 2015 over the last five years. Both squads are aiming for top-five finishes this season.
"Both our men's and women's teams are excited about where we are at this time of the year," Kyprianou said. "Similar to all other coaches, trying to stay healthy and making it to the postseason in strong shape is an unavoidable top priority. I am hoping for adding a few more NCAA potential qualifiers since the meet will be very competitive and televised by ESPN to bring the energy level up even more."
This weekend's meet not only signals the start of the combined events season for the program, which was won seven multi-event NCAA titles since 2014, but it also gives the team members in the open events a chance to compete versus some of the country's best.
"Being a month prior to our first championship competition, we want to make sure everyone has had a chance to showcase his or her talents and place them at a very competitive position to either score in the SEC meet and/or qualify for NCAAs," explained Kyprianou. "This also marks the first time our combined-event team members will compete in their respective events: the heptathlon for Karl and Devon and pentathlon for Kendell and Louisa. I know they are excited and in a good place to compete in their actual event instead of bouncing from event to event and `training thru' meets. It is crucial for our teams to have many NCAA qualifiers in the combined events and jumps because our team's identity as of today has been the field events after scoring 100 percent of our NCAA indoor points in those events last year."
While the field events have been Georgia's strength recently, Kyprianou and his staff are making a point to step up the scoring for the track events.
"Our runners are very excited to continue pushing themselves and make a statement," he said. "We've already had a 20-year-old school record broken by Kendal (Williams) in the 60m in his very first race and he didn't come close to his personal best. I am very confident this young group of runners will continue to get better as we move closer to the postseason. We have to continue to say that we are a championship team. We must see it and believe it and eventually we will do it!"
What Bulldogs Are Traveling: Georgia is traveling 38 team members on Thursday in preparation for the competition. For the women, Kendell Williams and fellow seniors Tatiana Gusin, Shelby Ashe, Georgia Stefanidi, juniors Katie Stone, Mady Fagan, Aliyah Johnson, Keturah Orji, Devon Artis, Morgan Ainslie, sophomores Kate Hall, Asianna Covington and freshmen Louisa Grauvogel, Beatrice Llano, Micaiah Ransby, Catherine Reid, Amber Tanner, Jessica Drop, Yanely Gomez, Chelsea Zoller and Sam Drop are making the trip.
Seniors Sid Vaughn, Alex Poursanidis, Reggie Glover, Maurice Freeman, Ayrian Evans, Devon Williams, juniors Bryan Kamau, Alex Larsson, Cejhae Greene, Henry Dwyer, Karl Saluri, sophomores Keenon Laine, Denzel Comenentia, Kendal Williams, Jeramey Hampton, Daniel Navarro and freshman Darius Carbin will be representing the Bulldog men.
Same Name, Similar Results: The Aggie Invitational marked the first official time that "boy Kendal" (Kendal Williams) and "girl Kendell" (Kendell Williams), as the teams refer to them as, competed for Georgia together. And their results were both outstanding.
Kendal made his debut in the Red and Black during the season after redshirting in 2016 following his transfer from Florida State. He clocked a school record time of 6.68 (Eric Hall, 6.69, 1997) to win the 60m and shoot into a tie for 14th nationally this year.
Kendell competed in her second meet of the season and was solid in both of her events. She topped her own school record of 8.09 with a meet record 8.07 in the 60m hurdles to win and vault to fourth on the national list (No. 8 on world list).
The Marietta, Ga., native returned in the long jump and soared to a season-best and meet record mark of 21 feet, 4 ¾ inches to finish first. This effort shot her to No. 2 on the national list and third on the 2017 world list.
Speaking Of Meet Records...: Poursanidis (weight throw, 72-6.50), Fagan (high jump - 6-2.75) and Orji (triple jump - 45-9.25) also set meet records in Texas A&M's indoor facility to win their events. Orji's mark is the longest in the country by a foot and a half.
Early Positioning For NCAAs: The NCAA Indoor Championships are less than a month and a half away and a number of Georgia team members are ranked in the country's top 16 in their respective events and in position to advance to Nationals.
MEN: Alex Poursanidis (3rd in weight throw - 72-6.50), Keenon Laine (T-7th in high jump - 7-2.50), Darius Carbin (T-7th in high jump - 7-2.50), Kendal Williams (T-14th in 60m - 6.68)
WOMEN: *Keturah Orji (1st in triple jump - 45-9.25), *Tatiana Gusin (T-1st in high jump - 6-2.75), Mady Fagan (T-1st in high jump - 6-2.75), *Kendell Williams (2nd in long jump - 21-4.75), *Keturah Orji (3rd in long jump - 21-4.25), Kate Hall (4th in long jump - 21-3.25), Kendell Williams (4th in 60mH - 8.07), Aliyah Johnson (13th in triple jump - 42-7.50), Shelby Ashe (8th in weight throw - 68-9.75), Kendell Williams (T-13th in high jump - 5-10.75)
*returning First Team All-American in the event indoors
SEC Honors: Mady Fagan was the latest Bulldog to earn SEC weekly honors after garnering the Women's Co-Field Athlete of the Week award following her performance at the Aggie Invitational. Her high jump mark of 6-2.75 tied Gusin for the 2017 national lead and matched Gusin and 2016 Olympic finalist Levern Spencer for the No. 2 spot in the school record books. Fagan was a Second Team All-American (10th) to conclude the 2016 indoor season after finishing second at the SEC Indoor Championships.
Carbin (high jump), Gusin and Jessica Drop (3000m) all received SEC honors after the season-opening Orange & Purple Classic.
Owning Top-10 List: Kendell Williams opens up in the pentathlon at the Razorback meet and will be on the hunt to continue to make the all-time collegiate top-10 list hers alone. She owns six of the top pentathlon scores, including the collegiate record and five of the top six. Williams has won each of the last three NCAA pentathlon titles with collegiate records at each meet. Outdoors, she has won the national heptathlon championship two of the last three years and accumulated a career best 6,402 at the U.S. Olympic Trials to qualify for the Rio Games.
Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack) and Snapchat (ugatrack).
Players Mentioned
