University of Georgia Athletics
Saturday, February 29
College Station, Texas
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SEC Indoor Championships
Three Golds Highlight SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships
February 29, 2020 | Track & Field
COLLEGE STATION, Texas --- Georgia's track and field teams piled up three individual titles and had nine other scorers during the final day of the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in College Station, Texas, on Saturday.
The second-ranked Georgia women finished third with 78 points while the sixth-ranked Bulldog men were 10th thanks to 32 points scored. Arkansas (106) captured the men's title and the Lady Razorbacks (102) were the women's winner.
Redshirt freshman Kyle Garland continued one of the Bulldogs' most significant runs in recent history as he claimed the heptathlon title by 150 points. Garland's 5,856 points delivered Georgia its eight straight SEC championship in the event.
Senior Amber Tanner captured the Lady Bulldogs' first indoor 800 meter crown since 1995 (Mary McClung). She finished an indoor conference career that saw her go 21st in 2017, fourth in 2018 and third in 2019 before her first career title on Saturday.
Appropriately on Feb. 29 of a Leap Year, freshman Jasmine Moore bettered her individual point total to 18 points in a suspenseful fashion to clinch the triple jump title. She traveled 45-1 to edge Texas A&M's Deborah Acquah (44-11.50) to give Georgia its fifth crown in the event since 2015 (Keturah Orji, 2015-18).
Other day two Bulldog scorers included:
Sunday: (Tape Delayed on SECN) 9 p.m. ET
"Today was an outstanding finish to a great SEC meet for us," said coach Petros Kyprianou. "We came here thinking of taking this meet as a preview for NCAAs, which is our Super Bowl. Our team stepped it up, some our youngsters punched their tickets to Nationals with high fashion.
"One of our biggest highlights was getting a new NCAA qualifier in freshman Julia Fixsen with an amazing mark, which was a great surprise. Overall, we had seven freshmen finish in the top two in the toughest conference in the country. When you are in the SEC and do that, you have a good chance of replicating that at the NCAA Championships.
"Obviously the three gold medals we got were points of pride at this meet and show what type of talent is on these rosters. Overall, I am very excited about these teams and the energy is contagious. Now we leap into the next phase of our postseason and I think we will all head to Albuquerque with confidence."
The SEC gold medals set the tone on the day. Tanner, a native of Brentwood, Tenn., did just as she did in the 800m prelims by taking control of her waterfall group from the start of the race. When the racers were allowed to cut in, Tanner then grabbed the lead of the entire finalists field and rode it all the way to her 2:04.35. This was the second-fastest finish of her career.
Moore, a native of Grand Prairie, Texas, jumped out to a lead in the triple jump immediately with an opening mark of 43-6. Despite three fouls on jumps two through four, Moore bettered her mark and her lead to 44-8.75 on her fifth try. Then, Acquah went 44-11.50 on her last attempt and the meet's second to last attempt. However, Moore popped her 45-1 to clinch the victory for the Lady Bulldogs on her sixth try.
In the heptathlon, Garland finished third in his heat and overall in the day's first event (60m hurdles) with an 8.16. He added 942 points to his total and went into the pole vault up 203 points.
Garland posted his first personal record of the meet when the pole vault arrived. Following up a pair of second attempt clearances, he then went over the bar on his third try at the next two heights, which were both career bests. Garland topped out at 15-3 on his second attempt at the bar for 804 points and finished three seconds ahead of the hep's second-place finisher to clinch the overall victory with a 2:47.15 in the 1000m.
There were also a flurry of second through eighth-place scorers on Saturday for the Bulldogs. In her first test at a league meet, Fixsen cleared six heights in the pole vault and passed her collegiate personal best four times en route to a final mark of 14-7.50. This stands third in the school record books and is expected to earn Fixsen a spot at Nationals.
Boling clocked the second-fastest time of his career with a 20.71 to secure a silver medal in the 200m. The school record holder in the event won the second heat in the final and only trailed LSU's Terrance Laird's 20.52 when the final times were combined.
On Friday, Godwin sped to a career best 46.40 to be the third qualifier in the 400m. A day later, Godwin trimmed that down to a 45.96 for third in the final with a time that represents the No. 3 entry in the school record books. This positions him in the top 10 nationally going into the weekend.
Jessica Drop upped her scoring total to 11 points on the weekend after taking third in the 3000m. Hanging with the lead back throughout her race's laps, Jessica finished in 9:16.25 to hold off the nearest competitor at 9:16.38. In addition, she was honored at the meet for being the women's Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Five spots behind her sister was Samantha Drop in the 3000. Samantha's 9:26.79 allowed her to score in both this event and the 5000m (seventh) along with her sister in both distance events.
Smith and Fixsen were two of the last four left in the pole vault and Smith was able to continue her 2020 consistency by again clearing 14 feet, this time on her third and final attempt.
While Moore collected the first-place hardware in the triple, sophomore Titiana Marsh scored for the second year in a row with her 43-0.50. Like Moore, her last jump was her best jump and ultimately elevated her a spot to fifth in the final standings.
Tyler cleared her first two heights on her first try and finished with a mark of 5-7.75 for fifth place. While she fouled out making attempts at 5-9.75, Tyler is tied for sixth nationally at 5-11.50 and is position to advance to Nationals.
Also of note, senior Darius Carbin, who won the 2017 title as a freshman and is ranked fifth nationally with a clearance of 7-4.50 this season, did not compete in the men's high jump. However, Carbin is expected to be ready for the NCAA meet in two weeks.
Sophomore Imani Carothers matched her personal best in the 60m hurdle prelims and then scored for the second time in her career in the final. While she slipped one spot to seventh from her 2019 finish, Carothers shaved .10 off of her time from last year to finish in 8.20.
Block was a year out this weekend from when she finished ninth in the 800m in 2019 and she responded by breaking into the top-eight scorers on Saturday. Block raced to a 4:50.41 for eighth place in the mile to add another point to Georgia's total.
Georgia returns to action at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 13-14.
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.
Final Team Standings
WOMEN
1. Arkansas (102)
2. LSU (87.5)
3. GEORGIA (78)
4. Alabama (67)
5. Kentucky (63)
6. Texas A&M (58)
7. Florida (45)
8. Ole Miss (43)
8. Tennessee (43)
10. Missouri (24.5)
11. Auburn (19)
12. South Carolina (18)
13. Mississippi State (9)
14. Vanderbilt (6)
MEN
1. Arkansas (106)
2. LSU (88)
3. Texas A&M (82)
4. Florida (75)
5. Tennessee (67)
6. Kentucky (55.5)
7. Missouri (43)
8. Ole Miss (41)
9. Alabama (35)
10. GEORGIA (32)
11. South Carolina (20)
12. Auburn (12.5)
13. Mississippi State (4)
The second-ranked Georgia women finished third with 78 points while the sixth-ranked Bulldog men were 10th thanks to 32 points scored. Arkansas (106) captured the men's title and the Lady Razorbacks (102) were the women's winner.
Redshirt freshman Kyle Garland continued one of the Bulldogs' most significant runs in recent history as he claimed the heptathlon title by 150 points. Garland's 5,856 points delivered Georgia its eight straight SEC championship in the event.
Senior Amber Tanner captured the Lady Bulldogs' first indoor 800 meter crown since 1995 (Mary McClung). She finished an indoor conference career that saw her go 21st in 2017, fourth in 2018 and third in 2019 before her first career title on Saturday.
Appropriately on Feb. 29 of a Leap Year, freshman Jasmine Moore bettered her individual point total to 18 points in a suspenseful fashion to clinch the triple jump title. She traveled 45-1 to edge Texas A&M's Deborah Acquah (44-11.50) to give Georgia its fifth crown in the event since 2015 (Keturah Orji, 2015-18).
Other day two Bulldog scorers included:
- Freshman Julia Fixsen crushed her previous personal best with a mark of 14-7.50 in the pole vault and left the facility with runner-up honors.
- Freshman Matthew Boling came through in the 200m with a silver medal after registering a 20.71 in just the fourth indoor race at this distance in his life.
- Sophomore Elija Godwin answered a personal record in the 400m on Friday with another on the meet's second day to take third with a 45.96.
- Junior Jessica Drop returned to the podium in the 3000m after registering a 9:16.25 for third in the event.
- Senior Kayla Smith reached 14-2.50 to mirror her 2019 finish but with a much improved mark in the pole vault.
- Freshman Shelby Tyler had a pair of clearances in the high jump and finished fifth with a mark of 5-7.75.
- Sophomore Imani Carothers scored for the second straight year in the 60m hurdles and left with two points with a seventh-place finish.
- Junior Samantha Drop finished eighth in the 3000m to give she and her sister scoring spots in both that race and the 5000m in 2020 after she was eighth in the 5000 last year.
- Sophomore Anna Marian Block scored for the first time individually at the SEC indoor meet with an eighth-place showing in the mile (4:50.41).
- Freshman Anna Hall scored 4,166 points to take second in the pentathlon.
- Freshman Haze Farmer was the runner-up in the pole vault after reaching the second-best height of his career 17-7.
- Freshman Jasmine More used her sixth and final try in the long jump to grab second-place honors with a mark of 21-1.25.
- Sisters Jessica and Samantha Drop combined to score seven points in the 5000m after taking fourth and seventh, respectively.
- Sophomore Sterling Lester secured her second top-five finish of her career in the SEC pentathlon during her first combined events competition of the year.
Sunday: (Tape Delayed on SECN) 9 p.m. ET
"Today was an outstanding finish to a great SEC meet for us," said coach Petros Kyprianou. "We came here thinking of taking this meet as a preview for NCAAs, which is our Super Bowl. Our team stepped it up, some our youngsters punched their tickets to Nationals with high fashion.
"One of our biggest highlights was getting a new NCAA qualifier in freshman Julia Fixsen with an amazing mark, which was a great surprise. Overall, we had seven freshmen finish in the top two in the toughest conference in the country. When you are in the SEC and do that, you have a good chance of replicating that at the NCAA Championships.
"Obviously the three gold medals we got were points of pride at this meet and show what type of talent is on these rosters. Overall, I am very excited about these teams and the energy is contagious. Now we leap into the next phase of our postseason and I think we will all head to Albuquerque with confidence."
The SEC gold medals set the tone on the day. Tanner, a native of Brentwood, Tenn., did just as she did in the 800m prelims by taking control of her waterfall group from the start of the race. When the racers were allowed to cut in, Tanner then grabbed the lead of the entire finalists field and rode it all the way to her 2:04.35. This was the second-fastest finish of her career.
Moore, a native of Grand Prairie, Texas, jumped out to a lead in the triple jump immediately with an opening mark of 43-6. Despite three fouls on jumps two through four, Moore bettered her mark and her lead to 44-8.75 on her fifth try. Then, Acquah went 44-11.50 on her last attempt and the meet's second to last attempt. However, Moore popped her 45-1 to clinch the victory for the Lady Bulldogs on her sixth try.
In the heptathlon, Garland finished third in his heat and overall in the day's first event (60m hurdles) with an 8.16. He added 942 points to his total and went into the pole vault up 203 points.
Garland posted his first personal record of the meet when the pole vault arrived. Following up a pair of second attempt clearances, he then went over the bar on his third try at the next two heights, which were both career bests. Garland topped out at 15-3 on his second attempt at the bar for 804 points and finished three seconds ahead of the hep's second-place finisher to clinch the overall victory with a 2:47.15 in the 1000m.
There were also a flurry of second through eighth-place scorers on Saturday for the Bulldogs. In her first test at a league meet, Fixsen cleared six heights in the pole vault and passed her collegiate personal best four times en route to a final mark of 14-7.50. This stands third in the school record books and is expected to earn Fixsen a spot at Nationals.
Boling clocked the second-fastest time of his career with a 20.71 to secure a silver medal in the 200m. The school record holder in the event won the second heat in the final and only trailed LSU's Terrance Laird's 20.52 when the final times were combined.
On Friday, Godwin sped to a career best 46.40 to be the third qualifier in the 400m. A day later, Godwin trimmed that down to a 45.96 for third in the final with a time that represents the No. 3 entry in the school record books. This positions him in the top 10 nationally going into the weekend.
Jessica Drop upped her scoring total to 11 points on the weekend after taking third in the 3000m. Hanging with the lead back throughout her race's laps, Jessica finished in 9:16.25 to hold off the nearest competitor at 9:16.38. In addition, she was honored at the meet for being the women's Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Five spots behind her sister was Samantha Drop in the 3000. Samantha's 9:26.79 allowed her to score in both this event and the 5000m (seventh) along with her sister in both distance events.
Smith and Fixsen were two of the last four left in the pole vault and Smith was able to continue her 2020 consistency by again clearing 14 feet, this time on her third and final attempt.
While Moore collected the first-place hardware in the triple, sophomore Titiana Marsh scored for the second year in a row with her 43-0.50. Like Moore, her last jump was her best jump and ultimately elevated her a spot to fifth in the final standings.
Tyler cleared her first two heights on her first try and finished with a mark of 5-7.75 for fifth place. While she fouled out making attempts at 5-9.75, Tyler is tied for sixth nationally at 5-11.50 and is position to advance to Nationals.
Also of note, senior Darius Carbin, who won the 2017 title as a freshman and is ranked fifth nationally with a clearance of 7-4.50 this season, did not compete in the men's high jump. However, Carbin is expected to be ready for the NCAA meet in two weeks.
Sophomore Imani Carothers matched her personal best in the 60m hurdle prelims and then scored for the second time in her career in the final. While she slipped one spot to seventh from her 2019 finish, Carothers shaved .10 off of her time from last year to finish in 8.20.
Block was a year out this weekend from when she finished ninth in the 800m in 2019 and she responded by breaking into the top-eight scorers on Saturday. Block raced to a 4:50.41 for eighth place in the mile to add another point to Georgia's total.
Georgia returns to action at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 13-14.
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.
Final Team Standings
WOMEN
1. Arkansas (102)
2. LSU (87.5)
3. GEORGIA (78)
4. Alabama (67)
5. Kentucky (63)
6. Texas A&M (58)
7. Florida (45)
8. Ole Miss (43)
8. Tennessee (43)
10. Missouri (24.5)
11. Auburn (19)
12. South Carolina (18)
13. Mississippi State (9)
14. Vanderbilt (6)
MEN
1. Arkansas (106)
2. LSU (88)
3. Texas A&M (82)
4. Florida (75)
5. Tennessee (67)
6. Kentucky (55.5)
7. Missouri (43)
8. Ole Miss (41)
9. Alabama (35)
10. GEORGIA (32)
11. South Carolina (20)
12. Auburn (12.5)
13. Mississippi State (4)
Players Mentioned
Distance
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Sprints/Jumps
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Jumps
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Jumps
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Distance
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Distance
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Pole Vault
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Pole Vault
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Multi-Events
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Sprints
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Multi-Events
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Multi-Events
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Jumps
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Jumps
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Jumps
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Jumps
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Sprints/Multi-Events
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High Jump
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