Track & Field To Open Indoor Campaign At Ted Nelson Invitational

Friday, January 24

Bryan-College Station, Texas

University of Georgia

Ted Nelson Invitational

Track & Field To Open Indoor Campaign At Ted Nelson Invitational

January 24, 2025 | Track & Field

Schedule Heat Sheets

ATHENS, Ga. --- The Georgia track & field teams are set to begin their 2025 seasons on Saturday when they compete at the Ted Nelson Invitational on the campus of Texas A&M University.

The one-day meet will take place at the Fasken Indoor Track & Field facility in Bryan-College Station, Texas, providing the Bulldogs with an early opportunity to test the competition surface for the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships. Texas A&M will play host to SEC Indoors on Feb. 27-March 1 following Georgia's five-meet regular season schedule.

Who's The Competition?: Georgia joins a field of 13 teams, including three Southeastern Conference representatives, competing at the Ted Nelson Invitational. Texas A&M and Vanderbilt join the Bulldogs as SEC teams participating in the meet while Air Force, Houston, Northern Colorado, SMU, TCU, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas State, UNLV, UT-Arlington, and UTSA round out the field.

When Do The Bulldogs Start?: The Bulldogs will open competition in both field and running events at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday. Senior transfer Jordan Fick and freshman newcomer Maximus Tucker will compete in red and black for the first time in the men's shot put to kick off the field events while junior Ella Rush and freshman Jaci Wright run the 60-meter hurdles on the track.

Where To Catch The Action: There will be ESPN streaming coverage of the Ted Nelson Invitational starting at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday.

SEC Network+ Info:
Ted Nelson Invitational – Saturday, January 24
SEC Network+ – https://gado.gs/cim

Live Results: For results throughout the weekend from the Ted Nelson Invitational, please visit: https://gado.gs/cin

Coach Caryl's Comments: "We are extremely excited about having our first competition after a busy summer filled with the Olympics and a full fall of getting to know and training these teams with our coaching staff," Georgia head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said. "I'm eager to see what all of our student-athletes can do across the events, especially with this large group of newcomers that we have. The goal for this opening meet is to knock the rust off and see where we stand. Then, we can aim to improve week to week since the postseason comes quickly indoors. Let's get started and Go Dawgs!"

What Bulldogs Are Competing?: 18 women and 16 men will make the trip to Bryan-College Station for the season opener. On the women's side, T'oni Birden, Aaliyah Butler, Sanaa Frederick, Sole Frederick, Kieley Gayle, Alisa Gordon, Sydney Harris, Kaila Jackson, Elena Kulichenko, Kelsie Murrell-Ross, Danah Nembhard, Dejanea Oakley, Karsen Phillips, Ella Rush, Michelle Smith, Haley Tate, Skylynn Townsend, and Jaci Wright will make their season debuts in Texas.

Brody Buffington, Shemar Chambers, London Costen, Jordan Fick, Will Floyd, Jehlani Gordon, Ian Hodge, Chance Jones, Eddie Kurjak, Micah Larry, Luther Mogelvang, Ervin "Flash" Pearson, Xai Ricks, Maximus Tucker, Nikolai van Huyssteen, and Zavien Wolfe will represent the men's team at Texas A&M.

A Look Back At The 2024 Indoor Season: Georgia's track & field teams continued their history of success with stellar indoor seasons in 2024. The Lady Bulldogs placed third at the NCAA Indoor Championships with 33 points to earn their sixth top-three and ninth top-10 national finish since 2013. The Bulldog men tied for 15^thplace with 14 points for their eighth top-15 placement since 2015. Individually, sophomore sprinter Christopher Morales Williams took the national spotlight, sweeping the SEC and NCAA titles in the 400-meter dash while posting an all-time world-best time of 44.49 in the 400m prelims at the SEC Championships. Morales Williams was named USTFCCCA South Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year and SEC Men's Runner of the Year following his impressive 2024 campaign. In total, Smith Gilbert's teams came away with two SEC champions, nine scoring All-Americans, and one NCAA champion during the 2024 season.

Where This Season Will Take The Dogs: Following Saturday's meet, the Bulldogs will head to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the Razorback Invitational for the second-straight season on Jan. 31-Feb. 1. Georgia will then take a week off from competition before splitting the squads between Clemson, S.C. for the Tiger Paw Invitational and Nashville, Tenn., for the Music City Challenge on Feb. 14-15. The Bulldogs will wrap up the regular season at the USC Invite in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 22.

Georgia will open postseason competition at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships on Feb. 27-March 1, returning to Bryan-College Station for the second time this season. The NCAA Indoor Championships will be held two weeks later as the indoor season wraps in Virginia Beach, Va., on March 14-15.

Where To Find Bulldogs News: Results and recaps from the Bulldogs' indoor season will be found at georgiadogs.com. News and updates from Georgia's track & field and cross country teams are always located on X/Instagram at @UGATrack.