University of Georgia Athletics
Track & Field Signs ‘Best Recruiting Class In Our History’
November 16, 2018 | Track & Field
ATHENS, Ga. --- Featuring eight of the nation's top-ranked prospects in their individual events, Georgia's track and field program has signed arguably two of the country's top classes, according to head coach Petros Kyprianou.
Starting on Wednesday and rolling through the afternoon Friday, Georgia signed 14 prospects, including national high school leaders in the pole vault, heptathlon, triple jump, long jump, high jump and in the sprints. While the Bulldogs have already signed a majority of their class, prospects have until Aug. 1, 2019, to sign with an institution.
This week's signing class comes on the heels of Georgia's program having the most memorable 2018 indoor and outdoor seasons in history. The Lady Bulldogs captured their first NCAA indoor team title and then missed on the indoor-outdoor sweep by one point to finish second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Georgia men began their year with a record-breaking third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships before collecting the first national team championship in their history outdoors.
"Today is a great day to be part of our track and field program," said Kyprianou, who is going into his fourth year as Georgia's head coach and 11thyear overall with the program. "This week our team has signed the best recruiting class in our history and it proved one more time that this program is here to stay. We may not have what others have in facilities and extraordinary recruiting attractions, but our student-athletes have been the best ambassadors of our University among the track and field recruiting world. Student-athletes come here with intentions to win both on and off the track and that is what makes me proud as their head coach.
"These signees chose to come here for our coaching staff, for the chance to compete for championships and to pursue their Olympic dream as they have seen our team members do recently. I am also extremely proud of our staff and their relentless efforts in attracting the best talent to Athens. It takes a special group of coaches to come in, buy in to this mission, stay true and loyal to the philosophy and come together as a unit to sign eight U.S. No. 1 prospects, based on Track & Field Newsrankings for returning seniors, and more!
"As a head coach, you can't be happier and more eager for the new breed of Bulldogs. From where we have been with Keturah Orji and Maicel Uibo and where we still are with Lynna Irby, our program is hungry to take off to new levels of success and consistency. That's the importance of our mission statement in succeeding by doing simple things extraordinarily well: sign the top student-athletes and provide them with world-class coaching and education. That is us, that is Georgia! Go Dawgs!"
Arria Minor- Sprints (Denver, Co. – Denver East HS)
Jasmine Moore- Jumps (Mansfield, Texas – Lake Ridge HS)
Anna Hall– Combined Events, Jumps (Highlands Ranch, Co. – Valor Christian HS)
Shelby Tyler– High Jump (Noblesville, Ind. – Noblesville HS)
Julia Fixsen – Pole Vault/High Jump (Shoreview, Minn. – Mounds View HS)
Haze Farmer– Pole Vault (Hot Springs, Ark. – Lake Hamilton HS)
Caleb Cavanaugh- Sprints (Houston, Texas – Strake Jesuit)
Matthew Boling- Sprints (Houston, Texas – Strake Jesuit)
Anna Burnett- Distance (Woodstock, Ga. – Woodstock HS)
Ellie Hall– Distance (Marietta, Ga. – Marietta HS)
Ani Henderson– Distance (Marietta, Ga. – Marietta)
Gracie Jauch– Pole Vault (Forest, Va. – Jefferson Forest HS)
Aliyah Whisby– Combined Events (Newnan, Ga. – East Coweta HS/Kennesaw State)
The Bulldogs open their 2018-19 indoor campaign at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, Mass., on Dec. 1. The next meet is the UAB Blazer Invitational at the site of the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala., on Jan. 11-12.
Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack) and Snapchat (ugatrack).
Starting on Wednesday and rolling through the afternoon Friday, Georgia signed 14 prospects, including national high school leaders in the pole vault, heptathlon, triple jump, long jump, high jump and in the sprints. While the Bulldogs have already signed a majority of their class, prospects have until Aug. 1, 2019, to sign with an institution.
This week's signing class comes on the heels of Georgia's program having the most memorable 2018 indoor and outdoor seasons in history. The Lady Bulldogs captured their first NCAA indoor team title and then missed on the indoor-outdoor sweep by one point to finish second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Georgia men began their year with a record-breaking third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships before collecting the first national team championship in their history outdoors.
"Today is a great day to be part of our track and field program," said Kyprianou, who is going into his fourth year as Georgia's head coach and 11thyear overall with the program. "This week our team has signed the best recruiting class in our history and it proved one more time that this program is here to stay. We may not have what others have in facilities and extraordinary recruiting attractions, but our student-athletes have been the best ambassadors of our University among the track and field recruiting world. Student-athletes come here with intentions to win both on and off the track and that is what makes me proud as their head coach.
"These signees chose to come here for our coaching staff, for the chance to compete for championships and to pursue their Olympic dream as they have seen our team members do recently. I am also extremely proud of our staff and their relentless efforts in attracting the best talent to Athens. It takes a special group of coaches to come in, buy in to this mission, stay true and loyal to the philosophy and come together as a unit to sign eight U.S. No. 1 prospects, based on Track & Field Newsrankings for returning seniors, and more!
"As a head coach, you can't be happier and more eager for the new breed of Bulldogs. From where we have been with Keturah Orji and Maicel Uibo and where we still are with Lynna Irby, our program is hungry to take off to new levels of success and consistency. That's the importance of our mission statement in succeeding by doing simple things extraordinarily well: sign the top student-athletes and provide them with world-class coaching and education. That is us, that is Georgia! Go Dawgs!"
Arria Minor- Sprints (Denver, Co. – Denver East HS)
- 11.38 - 100m, 22.89 - 200m, 51.92 - 400m
- No. 1 ranked high school sprinter in 100m, 200m and 400
- 2018 New Balance Nationals Indoor champion in 400m
- Represented Team USA as gold medalist on both 2017 Pan American Junior 4x400m relay and 2018 U-20 World Junior Championships 4x400m relay
Jasmine Moore- Jumps (Mansfield, Texas – Lake Ridge HS)
- 45 feet, 4 ¾ inches(w) (13.83m) - Triple Jump, 21-0.25 (6.40m) - Long Jump
- No. 1 ranked high school triple jumper and long jumper
- USATF Junior champion in triple jump
- New Balance Nationals Indoor champion in triple jump
Anna Hall– Combined Events, Jumps (Highlands Ranch, Co. – Valor Christian HS)
- 5798 - Heptathlon, 6 feet (1.83m) - High Jump
- No. 1 ranked high school heptathlete
- USATF Junior champion in heptathlon
- National high school record holder (5,798)
- 2018 New Balance Nationals Indoor champion in pentathlon
Shelby Tyler– High Jump (Noblesville, Ind. – Noblesville HS)
- 6 feet, ¾ inches (1.85m) - High Jump
- No. 1 ranked high school high jumper
- 2018 USATF Junior champion
Julia Fixsen – Pole Vault/High Jump (Shoreview, Minn. – Mounds View HS)
- 13 feet, 11 ¼ inches (4.24m) - Pole Vault, 5-8 (1.72m) – High Jump
- No. 1 ranked pole vaulter in 2018 Track & Field News rankings
- IAAF World U-20 Championships finalist
- Minnesota state record holder and state champion
Haze Farmer– Pole Vault (Hot Springs, Ark. – Lake Hamilton HS)
- 17 feet, 4 inches (5.28m) - Pole Vault
- No. 1 ranked U.S. rising senior
- Runner-up at 2018 New Balance Nationals Outdoor
- Arkansas state vault and decathlon champion
Caleb Cavanaugh- Sprints (Houston, Texas – Strake Jesuit)
- 51.53 400mH, 37.20 – 300mH
- No. 1 ranked senior in 400mH
- 2018 New Balance Nationals Outdoor All-American after taking third in 400mH
Matthew Boling- Sprints (Houston, Texas – Strake Jesuit)
- 21.20 - 200m, 46.15 - 400m
- No. 2 ranked senior in 400m
- Represented Team USA at 2018 U-20 World Junior Championships and was runner-up in 4x400m relay
- 2018 Texas state 6-A long jump champion and 400m runner-up
Anna Burnett- Distance (Woodstock, Ga. – Woodstock HS)
- 2:13 - 800m, 4:57 – Mile
- 2017 Atlanta Track Club All-Metro Team
Ellie Hall– Distance (Marietta, Ga. – Marietta HS)
- 17:41 - 5k, 10:47 - 3200m
- Helped lead Marietta to back-to-back Georgia state 7-A cross country titles as well as the 2018 track and field team championship
- 2017-18 Marietta Daily Journal/Cobb County Girls Athlete of the Year
Ani Henderson– Distance (Marietta, Ga. – Marietta)
- 2:09.41 - 800m, 5:00 - 1600m
- No. 8 ranked junior in the 800m
- Helped lead Marietta to back-to-back Georgia state 7-A cross country titles as well as the 2018 track and field team championship
- Competitor at 2018 New Balance Nationals Outdoor
Gracie Jauch– Pole Vault (Forest, Va. – Jefferson Forest HS)
- 13 feet (3.96m) - Pole Vault
- 2018 Virginia 4-A state champion
- Set state meet record
Aliyah Whisby– Combined Events (Newnan, Ga. – East Coweta HS/Kennesaw State)
- 5490 – Heptathlon
- Transfer from Kennesaw State
- Competitor at 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships
- 1:55 - 800m, 4:18 – Mile
- 2017 GHSA 4-A Region 8 cross country champion
The Bulldogs open their 2018-19 indoor campaign at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, Mass., on Dec. 1. The next meet is the UAB Blazer Invitational at the site of the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala., on Jan. 11-12.
Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack) and Snapchat (ugatrack).
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Jumps
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