Track Ready To ‘Compete Against The Best’ At SECs

Friday, February 22

Fayetteville, Ark.

All Day

University of Georgia

SEC Indoor Championships

Track Ready To ‘Compete Against The Best’ At SECs

February 21, 2019 | Track & Field

Meet Notes Meet Schedule Heat Sheets

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. --- The sixth-ranked Georgia men and 23^rd-ranked Lady Bulldogs traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., on Wednesday in preparation for the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships at the Razorbacks' Randal Tyson Track Center scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

When Do The Bulldogs Start On Saturday?: Sophomore Aliyah Whisby and freshman Sterling Lester will start the meet in the pentathlon (60-meter hurdles) on Friday at 12 p.m. ET. Sophomore Johannes Erm will begin the first event of the heptathlon (60m) minutes after the pentathlon start at 12:15 p.m.  The open events begin for Georgia on Friday at 4:45 p.m. with freshman Clay Pender in the men's mile prelims.  The first open field event for the Bulldogs will be senior Denzel Comenentia in the men's shot put at 5 p.m.

Where To Catch The SEC Championships: Dwight Stones, Jill Montgomery and John Anderson will be ESPN's crew for the SEC Championships as the meet will be featured on the SEC Network and SECN+.
Friday: (SECN+) 4:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. ET
Saturday: (Live on SECN+/Tape Delayed on SECN) 3:55 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Sunday: (Tape Delayed on SECN) 8 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.

Live Results: For results throughout the weekend, please visit: gado.gs/1ip

Kyprianou's Comments: "We have arrived in the postseason and everyone is excited to compete against the best in the country at a world-class facility," said fourth-year head coach Petros Kyprianou.  "As I always say, championship season is what it's all about whether you compete for team or individual championships.  Our student-athletes understand that it is time to hit that red button and launch their best self to higher heights and represent our team at the best of their abilities.

"We do have a significant number of new faces who have never been exposed to this caliber of competition, and we would like to baptize them in fire!  It is time to see why the SEC meet is the strongest conference in the USA and that if they want to be a part of something special, it is a great opportunity they get this upcoming weekend!

"Our ultimate goal remains the same: get as many SEC champions as we can and in the process, qualify more team members to the NCAA Championships in a few weeks.  All in all, the Track Dawgs are fired up to compete in this year's version of the SEC Indoor Championships."

Who Is Ranked In The SEC?: A total of 15 SEC men and women's track and field programs are included in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) top 25 national rankings released Monday.  A nation-leading seven SEC men's teams are ranked: No. 2 Texas A&M, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 GEORGIA, No. 13 Alabama, No. 18 South Carolina, No. 19 Ole Miss.

A nation-best eight SEC women's teams are ranked in the top 25:  No. 1 Arkansas, No. 4 LSU, No. 6 Kentucky, No. 7 Florida, No. 14 Alabama, No. 17 South Carolina, No. 23 GEORGIA, No. 24 Tennessee.

A Glimpse At The 2018 SEC Championships: In a meet that would serve as a tune-up for the Georgia women before their captured their first NCAA team title and for the men prior to their record-breaking third-place finish at Nationals, the Lady Bulldog scored 84.5 points for second and the Bulldog men tallied 71 points for fifth.

The Lady Bulldogs utilized 13 scorers and three champions to pull off their runner-up finish.  Lynna Irby won the first of her SEC 200m sweep while Keturah Orji and Kate Hall won the triple and long jumps to lock down the horizontal jumps. In addition to Irby also establishing a school record of 50.62 to take second in the 400m, returners Jessica Drop (2^nd– 3000m, school record 9:11.01), Amber Tanner (4^th– 800m, former personal best 2:06.28) and Hailey Branch (6^th– 5000m, personal best 16:42.24) also scored in 2018.

The Georgia men took advantage of 11 individual scorers, which included two league champions, and a scoring relay team to finish fifth.  Comenentia set a Dutch national record with a facility record toss of 77-9.50 in the weight throw and Erm captured the heptathlon title at his first conference meet to both grab top honors.  Darius Carbin (2^nd– high jump, former personal best 7-4.25), Keenon Laine (3^rd– high jump, 7-3), Comenentia (3^rd– shot put, 64-2.50) and Michael Nicholls (4^th– 60mH, 7.84) scored in 2018 and are back this year.

Last Time In Fayetteville: Members of Georgia's teams competed at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 8-9 as a tune-up for SECs.  Comenentia, who remains third on the NCAA's weight throw list, worked up to a fourth shot put throw of 67 feet, 11 ¾ inches to win by more than seven feet. This effort topped his previous school record set in 2018 by nearly a foot, put him third on the current national list and 10^th on the 2019 world list. Comenentia also qualified for the IAAF World Championships in Doha with his performance.

A pair of Bulldogs surged into a tie for fourth on the current national list in the high jump and finished second and third at the meet.  Laine narrowly missed his career best after clearing 7-5 on his second try while Carbin reached a new personal record of 7-5 on his second attempt to take third after having to go three tries at 7-1.50 earlier in the competition. Sophomore Michael Hans also posted a personal record of 8:23.95 to win the 3000m

The Lady Bulldogs also left the Tyson Invitational with a number of notable performances in their final regular season meet.  Shaving .02 seconds off of her career best, Tanner improved her No. 3 spot in the school record books to take second in the 800m (2:06.26) with one of the nation's top-20 times. Freshman Titiana Marsh bettered her own No. 10 spot on Georgia's all-time top-10 list in the triple jump with a fourth round mark of 42-9.50. Lester registered the ninth-best time in UGA history with a 23.99 to take 22^nd in the 200m as she continues to train for her third career pentathlon. Junior Ansley Heavern ran a 9:59.49 to finish first in the 3000m.

What Bulldogs Are Competing?: For the Lady Bulldogs, senior Grace Tavani, juniors Micaiah Ransby, Kayla Smith, Ansley Heavern, Samantha Drop, Amber Tanner, sophomore Aliyah Whisby, Carson Dingler, Yanely Gomez, Halle McClintock, Lynna Irby, freshmen Imani Carothers, Courtney Long, Anna Marian Block, Emma Rose Bagwell, Sakari Famous, Titiana Marsh and Sterling Lester traveled for SECs.

On the men's side, seniors Keenon Laine, Jonathan Raines, Denzel Comenentia, juniors Taylor Scarbrough, Darius Carbin, Tyler Jones, Jonathan Pelham, Michael Nicholls, sophomores John Bradley, Michael Hans, Antonios Merlos, Johannes Erm, Justes Nance, freshmen Clay Pender, Nicholas Yanek, Ziggy Zoller and Elija Godwin will represent Georgia.

Did You Know?: The Georgia men and women's cross country teams were recently named USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams for the 13^thconsecutive year.  The Bulldog men posted a 3.5 cumulative GPA during the 2018 fall semester to be UGA's top team in that category.  The Georgia women finished with a 3.34 GPA for the term.

Also of note, junior Jessica Drop and Tavani were included as All-Academic Individuals.  Drop, a Durham, Conn., native, has a 3.9 GPA in Cellular Biology while Tavani, a Roswell, Ga., native, has a 3.54 GPA in Spanish and Communication Studies.  Drop was third at the 2018 NCAA South Regional for the second straight year to earn All-Region honors for the third year in a row.  Tavani was 23^rdat the Regional to collect her first All-Region certificate.

What's Next For The Bulldogs?: After the SEC meet, the Bulldogs will train through the first weekend of March before traveling to Birmingham, Ala., for the NCAA Indoor Championships (March 8-9).  The Georgia women won the program's first national team championship in 2018 and the men had a record-breaking third-place finish.

The Bulldogs then immediately start their outdoor season at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Atlanta on March 15-16. They will host two home meets outdoors: Spec Towns Invitational – April 5-6, Torrin Lawrence Memorial – April 26-27.

Where To Find Bulldogs News: Results and recaps from the SEC Indoor Championships will be found at georgiadogs.com.  News and updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams are always located on Twitter/Instagram at@UGATrack.