University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Matthew Boling
March 30, 2021 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Matthew Boling has already made his mark on the Georgia track and field program. But in so many ways, the talented sophomore is just getting started.
At the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this month, the 6-foot Boling captured the national championship in the 200 meters, lowering his school record with a time of 20.19 and edging LSU's Terrance Laird for the title by .01 seconds. It was the fifth-fastest time in NCAA history and the fastest in the world this year.
Boling also earned All-America honors in the long jump with a seventh-place finish. At the SEC Indoor Championships in late February, Boling passed a Georgia and NFL legend when he broke Champ Bailey's longstanding school record in the indoor long jump. Back in 1998, Bailey, the 12-time Pro Bowl cornerback who is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, jumped 25 feet, 10.75 inches at the SEC Indoors. Boling smashed that with a mark of 26-5.75.
Now, Boling turns his attention to the outdoor season, his first at Georgia due to the pandemic. During a recent Quick Chat, Boling, who was finishing up an afternoon snack, talked about his eating habits, breaking Bailey's record, winning the 200, and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: Do you have to eat constantly because of the training you do and the calories you're burning every day?
Boling: This morning I had eggs at 8:30, and then at 11:30 I had a turkey sandwich, and now I'm eating this afternoon snack. My next meal will probably be dinner, so I'm eating about four times a day.
Frierson: What's the perfect pre-race meal, or is there one?
Boling: I like chicken or salmon the night before a race because I always feel light the day after I eat it. I like salmon the best, with quinoa. That's what I had before (the 200 final at) nationals.
Frierson: Let's go back to that 200 final. The race was 20 seconds long but did it feel longer than that in some ways or does it go by so fast that it's over in no time?
Boling: The first half of the race I'm so zoned in that I don't even realize how long it's been, and then toward the second half I remembered a lot of things — OK, remember to do this, remember to do that — or else I'll forget and run badly. The first half, I'm just locked in, and then the second half, when I'm actually getting tired, when that mental barrier kind of comes, that's when I try to focus on technique.
Frierson: How much different is it running indoors? Are you maybe better indoors than outdoors?
Boling: I'm definitely better outdoors just because I'm a bigger person, so on the tight turns I'm being pulled to the middle. This is only my second year running indoors so it was a big adjustment because of those turns.
It's way different. In an outdoor race, you've only got the one big turn at the beginning (in the 200), that's in the first 100 meters, and then it's a straightaway. Indoor, you've got to turn and then after 100 meters there's another turn, so you've got to tell your body to turn even when you're already tired. It's definitely a big adjustment.
You can see that in every race I've improved a lot indoors. My first-ever indoor 200 last year was 20.90, and now I'm at 20.19, so I think a lot of it has to do with practice. We don't have an indoor track here so when I go to meets, that's the practice.
Frierson: You won it by .01 seconds, which is about as tight as it could get. Did you feel like you'd won when you crossed the finish line?
Boling: I felt like I won because I knew I leaned my chest and my whole foot was in front of him, so I had the ability to push that way (forward) better. I was 95% sure that I won but I didn't want to act like I won [laughs] until I saw it. I think just seeing my name on the board with 20.19 next to it, there were so many emotions with that. I didn't mean to get that hyped but all of my emotions came out at once.
Frierson: You may be a little young to really know who Champ Bailey is, but to set a school record in the long jump and to do as well as you're doing in that event has to be a really good feeling.
Boling: I didn't jump 8 meters (26.25 feet) for a while and at SECs I jumped 8.07, and it was also cool beating Champ Bailey's record. For Christmas when I was in kindergarten, my parents got me and my brother Champ Bailey jerseys because we liked him when he was on the Broncos, so I've been a fan of his and it was kind of cool to do that.
Frierson: Do you feel like you're just getting going in the long jump?
Boling: There's definitely a lot more I can do in it just because my technique isn't the best. I lean back at takeoff a lot, but I just have to really focus on the technique. Sometimes when I'm trying to jump far all I'm thinking about is jumping far.
Frierson: Going into the outdoor season, I'm sure your goals are the same but are your expectations any different after how well the indoor season went?
Boling: I'm not sure. I'd say from having a good indoor season it gave me a lot of confidence in my training and in my ability to run even faster times outdoor. My goals have been high since the beginning of the season so I don't think my goals have changed at all, but the confidence that I have has gotten higher.
Frierson: Who is the funniest person on the team?
Boling: Probably Delano (Dunkley), the third leg on our 4x400 relay team. He'll just yell random stuff at practice or he'll sing ridiculously long. And then it's really obvious when he's in a bad mood [laughs] because he'll be really quiet when he's normally really loud.
I'd say the sprint group as a whole is really funny and we all get along well with each other. We're all funny people and I feel like we all do have our own personalities, we all have our own little things that we do.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
Matthew Boling has already made his mark on the Georgia track and field program. But in so many ways, the talented sophomore is just getting started.
At the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this month, the 6-foot Boling captured the national championship in the 200 meters, lowering his school record with a time of 20.19 and edging LSU's Terrance Laird for the title by .01 seconds. It was the fifth-fastest time in NCAA history and the fastest in the world this year.
Boling also earned All-America honors in the long jump with a seventh-place finish. At the SEC Indoor Championships in late February, Boling passed a Georgia and NFL legend when he broke Champ Bailey's longstanding school record in the indoor long jump. Back in 1998, Bailey, the 12-time Pro Bowl cornerback who is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, jumped 25 feet, 10.75 inches at the SEC Indoors. Boling smashed that with a mark of 26-5.75.
Now, Boling turns his attention to the outdoor season, his first at Georgia due to the pandemic. During a recent Quick Chat, Boling, who was finishing up an afternoon snack, talked about his eating habits, breaking Bailey's record, winning the 200, and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: Do you have to eat constantly because of the training you do and the calories you're burning every day?
Boling: This morning I had eggs at 8:30, and then at 11:30 I had a turkey sandwich, and now I'm eating this afternoon snack. My next meal will probably be dinner, so I'm eating about four times a day.
Frierson: What's the perfect pre-race meal, or is there one?
Boling: I like chicken or salmon the night before a race because I always feel light the day after I eat it. I like salmon the best, with quinoa. That's what I had before (the 200 final at) nationals.
Frierson: Let's go back to that 200 final. The race was 20 seconds long but did it feel longer than that in some ways or does it go by so fast that it's over in no time?
Boling: The first half of the race I'm so zoned in that I don't even realize how long it's been, and then toward the second half I remembered a lot of things — OK, remember to do this, remember to do that — or else I'll forget and run badly. The first half, I'm just locked in, and then the second half, when I'm actually getting tired, when that mental barrier kind of comes, that's when I try to focus on technique.
Frierson: How much different is it running indoors? Are you maybe better indoors than outdoors?
Boling: I'm definitely better outdoors just because I'm a bigger person, so on the tight turns I'm being pulled to the middle. This is only my second year running indoors so it was a big adjustment because of those turns.
It's way different. In an outdoor race, you've only got the one big turn at the beginning (in the 200), that's in the first 100 meters, and then it's a straightaway. Indoor, you've got to turn and then after 100 meters there's another turn, so you've got to tell your body to turn even when you're already tired. It's definitely a big adjustment.
You can see that in every race I've improved a lot indoors. My first-ever indoor 200 last year was 20.90, and now I'm at 20.19, so I think a lot of it has to do with practice. We don't have an indoor track here so when I go to meets, that's the practice.
Frierson: You won it by .01 seconds, which is about as tight as it could get. Did you feel like you'd won when you crossed the finish line?
Boling: I felt like I won because I knew I leaned my chest and my whole foot was in front of him, so I had the ability to push that way (forward) better. I was 95% sure that I won but I didn't want to act like I won [laughs] until I saw it. I think just seeing my name on the board with 20.19 next to it, there were so many emotions with that. I didn't mean to get that hyped but all of my emotions came out at once.
Frierson: You may be a little young to really know who Champ Bailey is, but to set a school record in the long jump and to do as well as you're doing in that event has to be a really good feeling.
Boling: I didn't jump 8 meters (26.25 feet) for a while and at SECs I jumped 8.07, and it was also cool beating Champ Bailey's record. For Christmas when I was in kindergarten, my parents got me and my brother Champ Bailey jerseys because we liked him when he was on the Broncos, so I've been a fan of his and it was kind of cool to do that.
Frierson: Do you feel like you're just getting going in the long jump?
Boling: There's definitely a lot more I can do in it just because my technique isn't the best. I lean back at takeoff a lot, but I just have to really focus on the technique. Sometimes when I'm trying to jump far all I'm thinking about is jumping far.
Frierson: Going into the outdoor season, I'm sure your goals are the same but are your expectations any different after how well the indoor season went?
Boling: I'm not sure. I'd say from having a good indoor season it gave me a lot of confidence in my training and in my ability to run even faster times outdoor. My goals have been high since the beginning of the season so I don't think my goals have changed at all, but the confidence that I have has gotten higher.
Frierson: Who is the funniest person on the team?
Boling: Probably Delano (Dunkley), the third leg on our 4x400 relay team. He'll just yell random stuff at practice or he'll sing ridiculously long. And then it's really obvious when he's in a bad mood [laughs] because he'll be really quiet when he's normally really loud.
I'd say the sprint group as a whole is really funny and we all get along well with each other. We're all funny people and I feel like we all do have our own personalities, we all have our own little things that we do.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
Players Mentioned
Sprints/Jumps
/ Track & FieldGeorgia Track & Field Spec Towns Invitational Day 3 Presser - Kimani Jack
Saturday, April 11
Georgia Track & Field Spec Towns Invitational Day 3 Presser - Caryl Smith Gilbert
Saturday, April 11
Georgia Track & Field Day 2 Presser - Maximus Tucker
Friday, April 10
Georgia Track & Field Spec Towns Invitational Highlights
Friday, April 10