Track Sends Reps To Tyson Invite, Husky Classic

Friday, February 14

Fayetteville, Ark.

All Day

University of Georgia

Tyson Invitational

February 13, 2020 | Track & Field

2020 Tyson Invitational - Schedule 2020 Husky Classic - Schedule 2020 Husky Classic - Entries 2020 Tyson Invitational - Entries 2020 Tyson Invitational - Heat Sheets 2020 Husky Classic - Heat Sheets

ATHENS, Ga. --- The Bulldog track and field teams split up on Thursday headed to the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash., that will be run over the weekend.

Events are scheduled to begin on Friday at 2 p.m. ET in Fayetteville and at 5 p.m. in Seattle.  This will mark the Bulldogs' second competition at Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center this year and the first trip to Washington's facility for the Husky meet since 2016.

Where Are The Dogs Ranked: The Lady Bulldogs are ranked No. 4 in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll while the men checked in at No. 9.

Live Results: For live results to the Tyson Invitational, please visit: http://gado.gs/4d4

For live results to the Husky Classic, please visit: http://gado.gs/4d2

Kyprianou's Comments:"These are the last regular season meets before the postseason arrives so we will be training through the weekend, but also looking for the consistency we have seen and some improvements in another couple spots," said head coach Petros Kyprianou.  "We already have the usual suspects qualified for the NCAA Championships and hopefully we can get a couple more by the end of the weekend.  I am looking forward to our teams taking another step in Fayetteville and Seattle towards a successful indoor finale."

Who's Competing & When: Nineteen Georgia women and 16 Bulldog men are scheduled to compete for UGA.  Freshmen Haze Farmer and Collin Lark are scheduled to begin the meet for the Bulldogs in the men's pole vault at 3 p.m. on Friday.  Sophomore Sterling Lester is slated to begin the events on the track for UGA in the 60-meter hurdles at 4:15 p.m. on Friday.

Others competing for the Georgia women are: seniors Kayla Smith, Ansley Heavern, Micaiah Ransby, Amber Tanner, juniors Tiffany Yue, Chelsea Zoller, Destiny Jackson, sophomores Titiana Marsh, Courtney Long, Imani Carothers and freshmen Jasmine Moore, Julia Fixsen, Sara Bailey, Grace Clements, Anna Hall, Ani Henderson, Arria Minor and Shelby Tyler.

In addition to the men listed above, seniors Darius Carbin, Taylor Scarbrough, juniors Johannes Erm, Jack Bradley, Taylor Scarbrough, Delano Dunkley, Michael Hans, Justes Nance, Nate Reichard, sophomore Elija Godwin and freshmen Matthew Boling, Caleb Cavanaugh, Kyle Garland, Michael Malkowski, Tyler Fox and Karel Tilga are scheduled to line up for Georgia.

Eight Georgia team members – five Lady Bulldogs and three men – are scheduled to line up in distance races at the Husky Classic.  Freshman Nicole Pachuta will start the competition in the 3000m at 6:15 p.m. on Friday.

Juniors Jessica Drop, Samantha Drop, sophomore Anna Marian Block and freshmen Ellie Hall and Pachuta will join freshmen Sam Bowers, Wesley John and Chase Condra from the men's team.

What To Watch For: A variety of Bulldogs will be competing in their featured events or debuting in an event that are of note.  Here are a number of items to watch:
FRIDAY

TYSON INVITATIONAL- Men's pole vault at 2 p.m.: Farmer and Lark are both coming off collegiate personal bests with Farmer rocketing to fourth on the all-time list with a clearance of 17 feet, 4 ½ inches to win his third straight meet and Lark improving to 16-6.75 at the Razorback Invitational.
Women's 60mH prelims at 6:10 p.m.: Carothers has steadily dropped her personal record this season, topping out at the country's 14^th-best time of 8.18 last time out.
Women's long jump invitational at 6:30 p.m.: Moore and Marsh both soared more than 20 feet in their first long jump competition in 2020. Moore is sixth nationally at 20-11.75 going into her second competition in the event.
Women's 800m at 7:10 p.m.:Tanner narrowly missed her personal best with a 2:05.72 last time out and is training to improve on her third-place finish at last year's league meet.
Men's 400m at 7:40 p.m.: Godwin ran a 47.07 at the 2019 SEC indoor meet and will be running in the event this weekend for the first time in 2020.
HUSKY CLASSIC– Women's 5000m at 8 p.m.– Jessica and Samantha Drop, along with Ellie Hall, will make their season debut in the event. Jessica owns the school record in the event from 2018 (15:43.28) while Samantha is eighth on the all-time list at 16:33.57 from 2017.

SATURDAY

Men's 200m at 3:10 p.m.: Boling and Godwin are scheduled to return to the track in the 200m during the meet's second day. Boling currently stands 11^thnationally with the second-fastest time in UGA history (20.90) while Godwin had a 21.02 earlier this season.
Men's high jump invitational at 3:30 p.m.:Much like many of the other events, the SEC is loaded in the front of the pack in the men's high jump, including Carbin. He has hit at least 7-3.25 in all three of his meets and has a season-best mark of 7-4.50, which is fourth nationally.
Women's high jump invitational at 3:30 p.m.:Another freshman, Tyler, sits No. 6 on the national performance list with a season-opening clearance of 5-11.50.
Women's pole vault invitational at 4 p.m.: Smith reminded the nation of her presence last time in Fayetteville with the country's sixth-best mark in 2020 (14-4). Fixsen has reached 13-10 this year and nearly hit the 14-foot mark during her high school career.
Women's triple jump invitational at 4 p.m.:Moore and Marsh are slated to line up in their second event on Saturday. Moore is currently the NCAA leader at 45-7.25 and Marsh is 10^thnationally with a top effort of 43-8.

*Also of note: Hall on the women's side and Erm, Garland and Tilga on the men's side will continue to train for the combined events by throwing the shot put this weekend.

Did You Know?: Sixteen of the entries on the school's all-time top-10 lists have come from the Tyson Invitational, including Torrin Lawrence's school record in the 400m of 45.03 from 2010.  Two more entries in the school record books originated from the Husky Classic and both are school records (800m, Aaron Evans, 1:47.88; 5000m, Brandon Lord, 13:43.92).

What Happened Last Time Out: The Bulldogs had a variety of highlights from the Razorback Invite in Fayetteville on Jan. 31 – Feb. 1.

On the first day, Smith and Farmer swept the pole vault competitions while Boling and Anna Hall left with showings that ranked in the country's top five in their respective events.

Hall completed her five events in the pentathlon with 4,202 points for second place and the No. 8 spot in the school record books.  This performance put her second on this year's NCAA performance list.

Smith had four first attempt clearances at her first five heights in the pole vault and then put an exclamation mark on her day with a career-best mark to win.  Smith cleared 14-4 on her third and final try to rocket to third on the school's all-time top-10 list with the best UGA mark since 2013.  Also of note, Fixsen reached 13-4.25 for fifth place.

Taking second in his heat and fifth overall, Boling sped to the top 200m time for the Bulldogs since the late great Torrin Lawrence set the school record (20.77) in 2009.  Boling crossed the finish line in 20.90 and moved right outside the country's top 10 this season.

Farmer boosted himself to the top of the podium in the pole vault for the third straight meet thanks to reaching a fresh collegiate personal record of 17-4.50.  He cleared all three of his heights on his first try and is now No. 4 on UGA's all-time top-10 list.

Carbin hit at least 7-3.25 for the third time this year and finished second in the high jump.

Georgia exploded for a series of performances that repositioned the Bulldogs at the top or near the top of the 2020 NCAA and world performance lists on the second day of the Razorback Invitational.

Starting the day in 1-2-4, the Bulldogs finished the meet with a perfect gold, silver and bronze in the heptathlon with two scores of at least 6,000 points and one six points short. Erm moved to second in the school record books with a 2020 NCAA/world leading mark of 6,114 points to be the 11^th top performer in collegiate history.

Tilga battled in his first collegiate combined event competition for 6,019 points for runner-up honors and to take over the No. 6 spot in the school record books, No. 2 on this year's NCAA list and No. 22 collegiate performer of all-time.

Garland was third in his first multi-event comp at UGA with 5,994 points, which ranks seventh in school history, third on the national performance list and become the No. 25 all-time collegiate performer.

In addition, Moore put her name up with some of the all-time greats in the women's triple jump by taking control of this year's NCAA women's triple jump list.

Already hanging around the top five nationally in both the long and triple jumps, Moore answered an opening foul in the triple with an effort of 45-7.25. This took over the national lead and the No. 2 spot in the UGA record books behind collegiate record holder Keturah Orji. Moore also had a mark of 45-0.50 in her series, which also would lead the country.

Marsh opened at 43-0.25 in the triple and then improved to 43-8 on her fourth try for fourth place.

The Drop sisters fought for a 2-3 finish in the 3000m Invitational to establish a new top-five entry in the school record books. Jessica Drop was the runner-up with a 9:18.64, which put her seventh on the national list for this season. Samantha Drop finished in 9:26.50 and jumped from 10^th to fourth on the school's all-time top-10 list.

Tanner nearly caught her personal record in the 800m set last year on her way to third-place honors. She completed her laps in 2:05.72, which was only .13 off of her time from the 2019 SEC Championships.

Two weeks after establishing a new personal record, Carothers bettered her 60m hurdle time to 8.18 to be third in the qualifying round and improve her No. 4 spot in the school record books.

Where Does The Indoor Season Take The Dogs: This weekend's meets will wrap up the Bulldogs' indoor regular season.  The postseason begins with the SEC Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas, on Feb. 28-29.  Georgia will return to Albuquerque, N.M., for the first time since 2014 for the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 13-14.

One week later, the outdoor season cranks up in Atlanta at the Yellow Jacket Invitational.  The Bulldogs play host to three outdoor meets in 2020 at the Spec Towns Track in Athens: Spec Towns Invitational (April 3-4), Torrin Lawrence Memorial (April 24-25) and Bulldog Last Chance (May 9).

How To Keep Up With The Dogs: Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack) and Snapchat (ugatrack).