Kate Hall didn’t waste any time en route to an NCAA championship in long jump.
On her first attempt in the event Thursday in Eugene, Oregon, the University of Georgia freshman posted a 22-foot, 1-inch jump, breaking the school record. After her final jump, Hall ran to the stands to celebrate her opening mark that stood its ground against the other 23 competitors.
Hall, who transferred to UGA from Iowa State, bested her previous top jump of the year by more than nine inches. Only Kentucky’s Sha’Keela Sanders and Alabama’s Quanesha Burks had better jumps during the season. Sanders and Burks finished fifth and 11th in the Championship, respectively.
The Casco, Maine, native earned Second Team All-America honors at Iowa State thanks to a 12th-place finish in long jump at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships. Hall set the National and American Junior long jump records in high school.
Combining with Hall to form a UGA 1-2 sweep, Keturah Orji finished second with a 22-foot, 1/4-inch jump. Orji missed breaking her personal-best mark this season — which ranked third in the nation going into the NCAA Championships — by half an inch. While Hall and Orji were separated by just three-quarters of an inch at the top, the third-place finisher trailed the duo by six inches, putting a measure of dominance by the two Bulldogs in the event.
With the first- and second-place finishes from UGA participants, the Bulldogs received 18 points from the long-jump event — 10 from Hall and eight from Orji. The 18 points shot UGA up to 24.2 total through six events, giving it a sizable lead over second-place Kentucky, who has 14, going into Friday.
Orji will compete in the triple jump final Saturday. She owns the NCAA outdoor record in the event and is the two-time defending champion.
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