Track Prepared For Season Conclusion At NCAA Indoors

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The second-ranked Georgia men and the Lady Bulldogs made the trip to Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday before the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships begin on Friday and continue through Saturday.

When Do The Dogs Start?: Junior Kyle Garland will start the meet in the heptathlon on Friday at 11 a.m. ET and will complete four of seven events (60-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump) on the meet's first day.

The Championships' open events begin on Friday at 4 p.m. with the men's pole vault.  The first Bulldog in an open event is junior Matthew Boling in the long jump at 5 p.m. on the opening day.  Boling competes in the 60m, 200m, 4x400m relay and long jump this weekend.  Senior Titiana Marsh is the only Lady Bulldog competing on Friday in the long jump at 8 p.m.  Saturday begins with Garland back in the heptathlon's final three events at 11:30 a.m.

Where To Catch The NCAA Championships: Live streaming of the NCAA meet will air on ESPN3 starting on Friday and run through Saturday.  The broadcast talent includes Dwight Stones, Dan O'Brien, Jill Montgomery and John Anderson.

A tape delay special of the Championships will air on ESPNU on Sunday at 9:30 p.m.

Friday (11am): http://gado.gs/8qw
Friday (5pm): http://gado.gs/8qy
Friday (8pm): http://gado.gs/8ro
Saturday (11:30am): http://gado.gs/8r2
Saturday (5pm): http://gado.gs/8r4
Saturday (8pm): http://gado.gs/8r6

Sunday on ESPNU (9:30pm): http://gado.gs/8r8

Live Results: For results throughout the weekend, please visit: http://gado.gs/8ni

Success At Recent NCAA Indoor Championships: The Lady Bulldogs have finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Indoor Championships for seven out of the last eight completed seasons (2020 season was canceled prior to Nationals because of the pandemic), including their run to a national championship in 2018.  The Georgia men have been in the top 10 for four straight completed seasons, have been in the top three twice out of the last three NCAA meets (2018, 2021) and scored their most points in meet history in 2017 (35.5).

Coach Caryl's Comments: "We have arrived at the most important meet of the indoor season and I am excited to see how this group responds in Birmingham," said Bulldog head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, who guided the USC women to the 2021 NCAA outdoor crown at her last Nationals.  "We have a smaller squad qualified but a powerful squad who can absolutely put a lot of points on the scoreboard. They are familiar with this facility from competing here earlier in the indoor season and now all that is left is for us to go out against the country's best and show what all of our hard work has been for."

What Dogs Advanced To NCAAs?: Georgia has eight student-athletes who are seeded in the top 16 in 10 different events, including the country's top-ranked 200m sprinter and long jumper in Boling and the nation's No. 2 heptathlete in Garland.

For the Lady Bulldogs, Marsh (triple/long jumps), junior Ana da Silva (shot put) and freshman Elena Kulichenko have advanced to the final indoor meet.

On the men's side, senior Elija Godwin (400m/4x400m relay), juniors Garland (heptathlon), Caleb Cavanaugh (4x400m relay), Boling (60m/200m/long jump/4x400m relay) and freshman Bryce McCray (4x400m relay) will complete their indoor season at Nationals.  Senior Delano Dunkley also made the trip across state lines as the 4x400m relay alternate.

Accolades Arrive For Dogs: Earlier this week, Garland and Kulichenko picked up hardware after being earning SEC indoor annual awards.  Garland, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., became the first Bulldog male in history to collected the SEC Indoor Men's Field Athlete of the Year award after his third straight league heptathlon crown.  Kulichenko, a native of Odintsovo, Russia, garnered the eighth SEC Indoor Women's Freshman Field Athlete of the Year award in program history for her performances in the high jump.

Birmingham Or Bust: The 2016 and 2019 NCAA Championships were also in Birmingham and Georgia's competitors experienced significant success.  The Lady Bulldogs finished third overall for the third consecutive time in 2016 and that showing was highlighted by a pair of legends in Kendell Williams winning the pentathlon with a collegiate record and Keturah Orji winning her first of three indoor crowns in the triple jump.  The Georgia men tied for ninth in 2019, delivering the squad their third straight top-10 national finish.  Bulldog great Denzel Comenentia paced his team with a third-place finish in both the weight throw and shot put.

When the Bulldogs competed in the facility for the Samford Invite earlier this season, they had 10 winners, including da Silva (shot put), Boling (60m), Godwin (400m), Kulichenko (high jump) and Marsh (long jump).

A Glimpse At The 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships: The Bulldog men finished third and the Lady Bulldogs were fifth at last year's Nationals, marking only the second time in history that both squads had finished in the top five together at the meet.  The men scored 35 points as Boling (200m) and Karel Tilga (heptathlon) captured national titles and Garland earned runner-up honors in the hep.  In addition, the 4x400m relay was fourth and Boling added another pair of points with a seventh-place showing the long jump.  For the women, there were five scorers in six events to equal 31 points and none are on this year's roster.  While Kayla Smith (pole vault) and Anna Hall (pentathlon) were second, Jasmine Moore (triple/long jumps) was fourth and eighth, respectively, and Jessica Drop added points with a sixth-place finish in the 3000m.  In addition, Hall finished third in the high jump.

What's Next For The Bulldogs?: Following the NCAA Championships, the Bulldogs start their outdoor season a week later at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Atlanta on March 18-19.  Georgia will play host to one home meet later in the outdoor season: Torrin Lawrence Memorial – April 29-30.

Where To Find Bulldog News: Results and recaps from the NCAA 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.

Track Prepared For Season Conclusion At NCAA Indoors

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Matthew Boling

Caleb Cavanaugh

Jessica Drop

Delano Dunkley

Kyle Garland

Elija Godwin

Anna Hall

Elena Kulichenko

Titiana Marsh

Bryce McCray

Jasmine Moore

Kayla Smith

Karel Tilga

University of Georgia Athletics