Track Adds Three SEC Titles, Two School Records At SEC Meet

Saturday, February 26

Birmingham, Ala.

All Day

University of Georgia

SEC Indoor Championships

Track Adds Three SEC Titles, Two School Records At SEC Meet

February 26, 2022 | Track & Field

SEC Individual Scorers SEC Indoor Championships - Full Results

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS --- Junior Kyle Garland won his third straight heptathlon title, junior Matthew Boling sped to the school's first 60-meter dash crown and Georgia's 4x400m relay team won the program its first league title in the event as the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships concluded in College Station, Texas, on Saturday.

In addition, junior Ana da Silva set a school record for the second meet in a row in the shot put to earn a bronze medal in the event. Boling, Caleb Cavanaugh, Bryce McCray and Elija Godwin put an exclamation mark on the meet by obliterating the school record in the 4x400m relay and edging Florida for the first championship of its kind for UGA.

Boling was also awarded the SEC Commissioner's Trophy for being the top male scorer with 19.5 points.

Where They Finished: The fourth-ranked Georgia men scored 47 points and finished seventh. Arkansas (86) captured the championship on the men's side. The Lady Bulldogs (23) took ninth as Arkansas (127.5) completed the meet with top honors.

Georgia featured seven different scorers on day two, including the Bulldogs' three individual titles. Scorers on Saturday included:

*Garland bested former Bulldog Devon Williams' meet record score of 6,047 from 2017 with 6,205 points to finish atop the scoreboard and improve his No. 5 all-time collegiate performer spot. Garland's total also gives him a higher No. 2 overall mark in this year's NCAA standings and gave Georgia its 10^th title in a row in the event.

*Boling secured his first SEC title thanks to his finish in the 60m a day after earning silver in the long jump. He is expected to compete in the 200m at the NCAA Indoor Championships as the national leader coming into this weekend.

*Da Silva wasted no time making her mark in the shot put, launchinig her opening try a distance that toppled her previous school record set last weekend and moving into the top three.

*Senior Titiana Marsh scored in the triple jump at her fourth SEC Indoor Championships thanks to an opening attempt that situated her in fourth place.

*True freshman Elena Kulichenko got through three heights in the high jump and managed a fourth-place finish at her first league meet.

*Junior Shelby Tyler posted a pair of first attempt clearances in the high jump and to finish in the top six for the third straight year.

*Boling teammed with Caleb Cavanaugh, Bryce McCray and Elija Godwin in the 4x400m relay and the quartet came out of the fastest heat with a school record, which earned them their first conference crown in the event in school history.

The Bulldogs had five scorers on Friday:

*KC Heron, Cavanaugh, Clay Pender and Sam Bowers passed the baton to a school record en route to fourth-place honors in the distance medley relay.

*Briefly jogging away in the middle of the event to qualifying in the 60m, Boling scored UGA's first points after earning a silver medal in the long jump.

*Posting her second top-four performance in the event in as many years, Marsh glided to a season best in the long jump to take fourth place.

*Senior Alencar Pereira's first attempt in the weight throw was his best attempt as the native of Brazil finished fifth to add more points.

*In the pole vault, freshman Nikolai van Huyssteen made the best of his first league meet by grabbing the eighth and final scoring spot.

Full Results: For results, please visit: gado.gs/8kq

Coach Caryl's Comments: "Plenty of highlights from today and we will turn them into momentum for Nationals and for the outdoor season," said head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert. "I challenged our teams last night to come out today with electric energy and they responded. Still much work to be done but I am encouraged for what is to come for this program."

The Lowdown: Following a lower scoring output on Friday, the Bulldogs tuned it up on day two. Boling, a native of Houston, Texas, stormed back in the race's final half to win the 60m championship with a 6.64. Boling's time actually broke down to 6.633 out to the thousandths place and that equaled the finish by Florida's Dedrick Vanover to declare a tie for the title. Boling's performance came a day after he clocked a personal best 6.59 to be the top qualifier in the prelims.

The Bulldogs have now captured the last 10 championships in the heptathlon. As the back-to-back-to-back champion, Garland now joins former Bulldog Garrett Scantling (2013, 2015-16) as the two competitors to ever win three SEC heptathlon crowns. Only Arkansas' run of 13 straight 5000m titles from 1994-2006 is a better run in any men's event indoors in the conference.

Garland, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., began his day two with the second best 60m hurdle time of his career. Running out of the third heat, he surged ahead of the field to win his fourth straight event of the competion. Garland held a 519-point edge going into the pole vault. After missing his opening try at 4.25 meters/13 feet, 11 ¼ inches, he then cleared his next three heights in the vault on his first attempt, including a finishing mark of 4.55m/14-11. Garland held a 428-point lead going into the finale.

Garland's only personal record of the competition came in his seventh and final event. Immediately moving to the inside No. 1 spot after 200 meters, he kept his overall lead until coming around for his fourth of five laps. Garland completed the race in 2:43.68 in fourth, which helped secure his 419-point victory.

With Boling leading off and laying down a 45.51 split to put the teams in the lead, Cavanaugh (45.37) and McCray (46.77) filled in the middle of the relay to keep the Bulldogs in the No. 1 position. Godwin then matched the anchor's fastest split at 44.95 to give Georgia (3:02.59) to knock the Gators (3:02.61) off the top of the podium.

Transferring from Barton Community College during the offseason, da Silva, a native of Brazil, muscled her initial toss in the shot put 17.52m/57-5.75. This mark not only passed her previous UGA record of 17.19m/56-4.75 by, but it also earned her third-place honors at her first SEC meet and rocketed her into what would be the nation's top-10 list this season coming into the weekend.

Marsh, a native of Chester, Va., recorded a first triple jump of 13.48m/44-2.75 and that effort was strong enough to edge the fifth-place finisher by nearly three inches. Marsh's finish matched that from the 2019 meet and gave her a total of 10 points in this season's meet.

Kulichenko earned expected SEC All-Freshman honors after being the top first-year performer in the event thanks to a second attempt clearance at 1.82m/5-11.50. Tyler, a native of Noblesville, Ind., matched her season best of 1.77m/5-9.75 on her first try at the height to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place.

Also of note, junior Sara Bailey (9:32.72) and redshirt freshman Charlotte Augenstein (10:06.66) completed their 15 laps in the 3000m with the fastest times of their careers.

Up Next: The Bulldogs will train through the first weekend of March before traveling to Birmingham, Ala., for the NCAA Indoor Championships (March 11-12). The Birmingham facility has housed the NCAA indoor meet twice (2016, 2019).

The Bulldogs then immediately start their outdoor season at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Atlanta on March 18-19. They will play host to one home meet outdoors: Torrin Lawrence Memorial – April 29-30.

Where To Find Bulldog 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.

Team Scores

MEN

1. Arkansas (86)

2. Florida (77)

3. Alabama (71)

4. Kentucky (64)

5. Ole Miss (59)

6. Tennessee (50)

7. GEORGIA (47)

8. LSU (46)

9. Texas A&M (42)

10. Auburn (33) / Missouri (33)