Track Earns Three SEC Annual Outdoor Awards

ATHENS, Ga. --- The Bulldogs have earned three Southeastern Conference yearly outdoor awards, according to a league announcement.

Recently garnering No. 1 and No. 3 rankings in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) polls, the Lady Bulldogs and Georgia men, respectively, shared these recent SEC accolades.  Just as she did indoors in 2018, senior Keturah Orji was named the Women's Field Athlete of the Year as well as the Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  Junior Denzel Comenentia was named the Men's Field Athlete of the Year for the first time in his career.

This completes an unprecedented run for Orji at the conference level.  After earning SEC Women's Freshman Field Athlete of the Year honors both indoors and outdoors in 2015, Orji was named the Women's Field Athlete of the Year for six straight seasons starting with the 2016 indoor campaign and ending in the latest outdoor season.

The three-time USTFCCCA National Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year has been named the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year three times. Orji graduated with a degree in Financial Planning on May 4 after sporting a 3.97 grade point average.  She will begin pursuing her Master's degree in Sport Management in the 2018 fall semester. Orji will also receive a $7,500 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
Orji, a native of Mount Olive, N.J., most recently punched her ticket to her fourth NCAA Outdoor Championships by winning the triple jump with a mark of 46 feet, ½ inches and taking second in the long jump (21-0).  She swept the triple and long jumps at the SEC Championships thanks to a collegiate record effort of 47-11.75 in the triple and a school record mark of 22-4.25 in the long.  Orji's victory in the triple made her the first SEC competitor in history to win the same event all four years indoor and outdoor.  She now owns the top six legal triple jump measurements in collegiate history and three of the top four wind-aided performances in the NCAA ever.

Comenentia, a native of Amsterdam, Netherlands, became the first SEC competitor since 2008 to sweep the shot put and hammer throw in back to back years.  He launched the nation's second-longest shot put mark this year (68-6) and stayed consistent in the hammer with a meet record mark of 249-1. Comenentia also owns the nation's No. 2 hammer measurement in 2018 after winning the Texas Relays with a 250-3. This performance made him the No. 10 all-time performer in collegiate history.  Most recently, he cruised to a victory in the hammer at the NCAA East Prelims after a toss of 241-1 and was the runner-up in the shot put (66-8.75) as he pursues his first national title.

The NCAA Outdoor Championships will arrive in Eugene, Ore., on June 6-9.

News and updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can be found at georgiadogs.com and are always located on Twitter/Instagram at@UGATrack.

University of Georgia Athletics

Players Mentioned

Denzel Comenentia

Keturah Orji

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