University of Georgia Athletics
T&F Men Take Second At NCAA Outdoor Championships
June 12, 2026 | Track & Field
EUGENE, Ore. --- The Bulldog men scored 49 points for a runner-up finish highlighted by two individual national champions at the NCAA Outdoor Championships Friday.
This marked Georgia's second-best performance at the meet in history behind the Bulldogs' title at the old Hayward Field in 2018. This was Georgia's eighth top 10 finish since 2017, its third top four finish in history and the program now has four top-10 finishes since Caryl Smith Gilbert took over as the Director of Track & Field before the 2022 season.
Arkansas captured the men's team title with 56 points as Tennessee finished third with 46 points.
There were a series of individual highlights for UGA on Friday:
*A pair of freshmen in Jonathan Simms and Sidi Njie earned silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the 400-meter dash with a pair of personal bests. This marked the first time the Bulldogs had ever had two finalists in the men's 400m at the meet.
*Another Georgia duo scored in the men's high jump, marking the first time two had finished in the top eight in the event for UGA since 2019. Junior and national leader Kimani Jack captured Georgia's first NCAA outdoor high jump title while junior Riyon Rankin, who was seeded 20th, scored for the second time at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (2024) with a fifth-place finish.
*Scoring for the second time since 2023, the Georgia 4x400m relay won the program's first national championship in the event with the No. 4 all-time collegiate performance. Simms anchored the relay and ran a split of 42.99 to pass LSU in the final moments of the race,
Current Women's Team Scores: Washington (18) goes into the final day in the lead with Iowa State (15) and Nebraska (14) in second and third. Georgia is currently in 26th with three points.
What Bulldogs Scored On Day Three: The Bulldogs had five scorers on Friday: Kimani Jack, high jump – 1st; men's 4x400m relay – 1st; Jonathan Simms, 400m – 2nd; Sidi Njie, 400m – 3rd; Riyon Rankin, high jump – 5th.
Junior Nina Ndubuisi was Georgia's sole scorer on Thursday with a sixth-place finish in the women's shot put.
On Wednesday, Georgia had three scorers for the men: Jordan Davis – javelin, 4th; Nick Reynolds – javelin, 5th; Jayden Keys – long jump, 7th.
Meet Breakdown: Other than the decathlon running Wednesday-Thursday and the heptathlon going Friday-Saturday, the meet is set up to be a men's competition on Wednesday and Friday and a women's competition on Thursday and Saturday.
Day 1 In The Heptathlon: Senior Ella Rush completed four of seven heptathlon events and is in 19th with 3,370 points going into Saturday's final three events.
When Do The Bulldogs Start Day 4: Rush begins the final three events of the heptathlon (long jump, javelin, 800m) at 5:30 p.m. ET. The women will race in the 4x100m relay at 8:02 p.m. while Danah Nembhard is slated to triple jump at 8:10 p.m. on the field events side.
Where To Catch The NCAAs: ESPN has exclusive rights to broadcast the meet and will feature the Nationals on ESPN and ESPN2 this week:
Saturday: 8 p.m., ESPN2
Live Results: To check out live results throughout the four-day season finale, please check: https://gado.gs/evp
The Lowdown: Georgia competed in three events, one relays and the first four events of the heptathlon on Friday.
The Bulldogs locked down their second-place team finish with a record-breaking showing in the 4x400m relay in the men's finale. Xai Ricks started with the stick and had UGA in second place with a 45.50 split before Njie dropped a 44.18 to nearly close the gap on the leader. Following London Costen's 45.28 split on the third leg, Simms carried the baton for a lap around in 42.99, which is the fastest anchor in school history. He passed LSU (2:57.96) at the line for the 2:57.93 victory.
Jack, a native of London in his first year with the Bulldogs, posted four first attempt clearances in the high jump before the situation became interesting for the eventual champion. He missed his opening try at 2.25 meters/7 feet, 4 ¼ inches as Arkansas' Scottie Vines cleared on his first attempt. Jack then made the decision to pass to the next height (2.28m/7-5.75) with two more misses allowed. He promptly cleared the next height on his first try while Vines and two other competitors had three fouls at 2.28m/7-5.75.
Rankin, who was seventh at the meet two years ago, had three second try clearances in the high jump, capping out at a season best 2.22m/7-3.25 for fifth. This earned him fifth place and four more points for the Bulldogs.
Simms, a native of Allen, Texas, flew to a 43.92 finish and was only behind Alabama's Samuel Ogazi, who set the collegiate record with a 43.38. Simms' 43.92 put him No. 6 on the all-time collegiate performers/performance list. Njie shaved .04 off his personal best from the NCAA East Prelims with a 44.20 to take third. The last scorer for Georgia in the event was 2026 World champion Christopher Morales Williams as he edged Ogazi for the 2024 title.
Competing at her second NCAA outdoor meet in the heptathlon, Rush started the competition by running a 14.01 for 16th place in the 100m hurdles. Rush returned in the high jump with three first attempt clearances before achieving a mark of 1.66m/5-5.25 on her second attempt. This effort put her in 21st place in the event and overall following two of seven events.
Rush improved on her second and third attempts in the shot put, capping her day in the event with a mark of 11.96m/39-3. She was 13th after the final round and was in 22nd headed into the 200m. She completed her first day with a 24.54 for 15th in the event, which pushed her into 19th overall.
Senior Brion Stephens wrapped up his career with a 2.11m/6-11 clearance in the high jump for 20th after transferring in from Louisville before the season. In addition, Matias Reynaga finished 23rd (14:22.83) in the 5000m.
How To Keep Up With The Dogs: Results and recaps from the NCAA Outdoor Championships will be found at georgiadogs.com. News and updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams are always located on X/Instagram at @UGATrack.
This marked Georgia's second-best performance at the meet in history behind the Bulldogs' title at the old Hayward Field in 2018. This was Georgia's eighth top 10 finish since 2017, its third top four finish in history and the program now has four top-10 finishes since Caryl Smith Gilbert took over as the Director of Track & Field before the 2022 season.
Arkansas captured the men's team title with 56 points as Tennessee finished third with 46 points.
There were a series of individual highlights for UGA on Friday:
*A pair of freshmen in Jonathan Simms and Sidi Njie earned silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the 400-meter dash with a pair of personal bests. This marked the first time the Bulldogs had ever had two finalists in the men's 400m at the meet.
*Another Georgia duo scored in the men's high jump, marking the first time two had finished in the top eight in the event for UGA since 2019. Junior and national leader Kimani Jack captured Georgia's first NCAA outdoor high jump title while junior Riyon Rankin, who was seeded 20th, scored for the second time at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (2024) with a fifth-place finish.
*Scoring for the second time since 2023, the Georgia 4x400m relay won the program's first national championship in the event with the No. 4 all-time collegiate performance. Simms anchored the relay and ran a split of 42.99 to pass LSU in the final moments of the race,
Current Women's Team Scores: Washington (18) goes into the final day in the lead with Iowa State (15) and Nebraska (14) in second and third. Georgia is currently in 26th with three points.
What Bulldogs Scored On Day Three: The Bulldogs had five scorers on Friday: Kimani Jack, high jump – 1st; men's 4x400m relay – 1st; Jonathan Simms, 400m – 2nd; Sidi Njie, 400m – 3rd; Riyon Rankin, high jump – 5th.
Junior Nina Ndubuisi was Georgia's sole scorer on Thursday with a sixth-place finish in the women's shot put.
On Wednesday, Georgia had three scorers for the men: Jordan Davis – javelin, 4th; Nick Reynolds – javelin, 5th; Jayden Keys – long jump, 7th.
Meet Breakdown: Other than the decathlon running Wednesday-Thursday and the heptathlon going Friday-Saturday, the meet is set up to be a men's competition on Wednesday and Friday and a women's competition on Thursday and Saturday.
Day 1 In The Heptathlon: Senior Ella Rush completed four of seven heptathlon events and is in 19th with 3,370 points going into Saturday's final three events.
When Do The Bulldogs Start Day 4: Rush begins the final three events of the heptathlon (long jump, javelin, 800m) at 5:30 p.m. ET. The women will race in the 4x100m relay at 8:02 p.m. while Danah Nembhard is slated to triple jump at 8:10 p.m. on the field events side.
Where To Catch The NCAAs: ESPN has exclusive rights to broadcast the meet and will feature the Nationals on ESPN and ESPN2 this week:
Saturday: 8 p.m., ESPN2
Live Results: To check out live results throughout the four-day season finale, please check: https://gado.gs/evp
The Lowdown: Georgia competed in three events, one relays and the first four events of the heptathlon on Friday.
The Bulldogs locked down their second-place team finish with a record-breaking showing in the 4x400m relay in the men's finale. Xai Ricks started with the stick and had UGA in second place with a 45.50 split before Njie dropped a 44.18 to nearly close the gap on the leader. Following London Costen's 45.28 split on the third leg, Simms carried the baton for a lap around in 42.99, which is the fastest anchor in school history. He passed LSU (2:57.96) at the line for the 2:57.93 victory.
Jack, a native of London in his first year with the Bulldogs, posted four first attempt clearances in the high jump before the situation became interesting for the eventual champion. He missed his opening try at 2.25 meters/7 feet, 4 ¼ inches as Arkansas' Scottie Vines cleared on his first attempt. Jack then made the decision to pass to the next height (2.28m/7-5.75) with two more misses allowed. He promptly cleared the next height on his first try while Vines and two other competitors had three fouls at 2.28m/7-5.75.
Rankin, who was seventh at the meet two years ago, had three second try clearances in the high jump, capping out at a season best 2.22m/7-3.25 for fifth. This earned him fifth place and four more points for the Bulldogs.
Simms, a native of Allen, Texas, flew to a 43.92 finish and was only behind Alabama's Samuel Ogazi, who set the collegiate record with a 43.38. Simms' 43.92 put him No. 6 on the all-time collegiate performers/performance list. Njie shaved .04 off his personal best from the NCAA East Prelims with a 44.20 to take third. The last scorer for Georgia in the event was 2026 World champion Christopher Morales Williams as he edged Ogazi for the 2024 title.
Competing at her second NCAA outdoor meet in the heptathlon, Rush started the competition by running a 14.01 for 16th place in the 100m hurdles. Rush returned in the high jump with three first attempt clearances before achieving a mark of 1.66m/5-5.25 on her second attempt. This effort put her in 21st place in the event and overall following two of seven events.
Rush improved on her second and third attempts in the shot put, capping her day in the event with a mark of 11.96m/39-3. She was 13th after the final round and was in 22nd headed into the 200m. She completed her first day with a 24.54 for 15th in the event, which pushed her into 19th overall.
Senior Brion Stephens wrapped up his career with a 2.11m/6-11 clearance in the high jump for 20th after transferring in from Louisville before the season. In addition, Matias Reynaga finished 23rd (14:22.83) in the 5000m.
How To Keep Up With The Dogs: Results and recaps from the NCAA Outdoor Championships will be found at georgiadogs.com. News and updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams are always located on X/Instagram at @UGATrack.
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