Track Returns For Second Indoor Meet

Saturday, January 23

Columbia, S.C.

All Day

University of Georgia

Carolina Challenge

January 22, 2021 | Track & Field

Schedule Heat Sheets

ATHENS, Ga. --- The Bulldog track and field teams will compete in their second indoor meet of the year when the Carolina Challenge arrives in Columbia, S.C., on Saturday.

Georgia will open in four different field events at 11 a.m. on Saturday.  Redshirt freshman Mia Anderson (women's shot put), sophomore Julia Fixsen, redshirt freshman Gracie Jauch, sophomore Kaeli Thompson, senior Kayla Smith, junior Courtney Long (women's pole vault), sophomore Anna Hall (long jump) and senior Justes Nance (men's long jump) will begin the action for the Bulldogs.  Junior Imani Carothers opens the events on the track in the 60-meter hurdle prelims at 11:05 a.m.

This will be the third year that South Carolina will be hosting meets in the Carolina Indoor Track & Field Complex.  Due to COVID-19, there will be no spectators allowed in the facility.

The Competition: The Bulldogs and the meet host Gamecocks will join Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Mississippi State from the Southeastern Conference, along with Campbell, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Tech, North Carolina A&T, Savannah State and Southern Wesleyan.

Live Results: For live results to this weekend's meet, please visit: http://gado.gs/5xn

Kyprianou's Comments: "We are visiting South Carolina's indoor facility and we are excited to be competing there as it comes with a reputation of great performances," said head coach Petros Kyprianou.  "Since the state of Georgia lacks an indoor facility, we are thankful we are within driving distance to Clemson and South Carolina in order to help us improve upon our quest of qualifying as many Dawgs for NCAAs as we can.

"I am eager to watch our young Dawgs find their greatness and create some leadership along the way.  We have to do a good job of understanding that when you have an opportunity to qualify for NCAAs or win an event, you have to grab it by the horns!  We still have some student-athletes who need to step up and show leadership, certain event groups who need to shine and team members who need to overcome injuries.  These are very challenging times but there is always light at the end of the tunnel.  Regardless, our Dawgs are set to continue our quest for as many NCAA qualifiers as we can get!"

Who's Competing & When: Twenty-one Georgia women and 21 Bulldog men are scheduled to travel for UGA.  In addition to those mentioned above who will compete first, other Georgia women making the trip are: seniors Jessica Drop, Samantha Drop, Destiny Jackson, Halle McClintock, Chelsea Zoller, juniors Anna Marian Block, Sakari Famous, Titiana Marsh, redshirt sophomore Grace Clements, sophomores Sara Bailey, Jasmine Moore, Shelby Tyler and freshman Gracie O'Neal.

In addition to Nance, seniors Jack Bradley, Delano Dunkley, Johannes Erm, Nate Reichard, junior Elija Godwin, redshirt sophomores Kyle Garland, Nicholas Yanek, Ziggy Zoller, Clay Pender, sophomores Matthew Boling, Curtis Borden, Sam Bowers, Caleb Cavanaugh, Chase Condra, Wesley John, Karel Tilga and freshmen Spencer Evans, John Franco, Gavin Beverage and Zachary Roe are scheduled to compete for the Bulldogs.

Erm will be making his season debut.  He won the 2018-19 SEC heptathlon titles indoors and posted fifth and fourth-place finishes at the 2019 and 2018 NCAA indoor meets, respectively.  Erm led the country with 6,114 heptathlon points in 2020 and was ninth in the pole vault at SECs while training for Nationals.

Where Does The Indoor Season Take The Dogs: Georgia opened the season at Clemson last weekend and will return there for the Tiger Paw Invitational on Feb. 12-13.  In addition, the Bulldogs will compete at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., on Jan. 29-30.

The postseason begins with the SEC Indoor Championships in Fayetteville on Feb. 25-27.  Georgia will return to Arkansas' campus on March 12-13 for the NCAA Indoor Championships.  One week later, the outdoor season cranks up in Atlanta.

Shortened 2020: Last year, the Georgia women worked up to a No. 4 ranking on the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll while the Bulldog men stood at No. 5 headed into the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.  However, after UGA arrived and joined the other qualifying teams for a practice day in the Albuquerque Convention Center, the meet was cancelled before it began and the Bulldogs flew home.

Although Nationals was cancelled, all of those team members who competed indoors used a year of eligibility. Since the outdoor season, along with the rest of the NCAA's other spring sports, was also canceled, student-athletes did not exhaust a year of their outdoor eligibility in 2020.

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).