The SEC gets a lot of press for being the most dominant force in college football and deservedly so, having won seven of the past eight national championships. But track and field is similarly strong on a national scale, and that makes Georgia’s recent ascent in that sport all the more impressive.
At the recent NCAA outdoor track and field championships in Eugene, Ore., the Bulldogs made their presence known. The men’s and women’s teams — both coached by Wayne Norton — posted their best combined finish in school history. The Lady Bulldogs finished fifth, which was their best showing since 1999 and third best of all time, and the men came in sixth, which was their best ever. They pulled 35 points and 24 points, respectively, which is even more impressive when put in the context of who was missing or didn’t come through.
“Going in we felt pretty good about what we could do, not because we were dreaming and hoping we could, but because we had some athletes who actually had done it either last year or during the indoor season,” said Norton, who’s in his 15th season as Georgia’s head coach, 24th overall. “So they were pretty confident, and they gave us confidence as a program. We knew we had the talent, and we knew the odds were we could do it again.”
And so they did. The Bulldogs saw three of their athletes climb atop the medal stand. Georgia sophomore Leontia Kallenou won the school’s first national outdoor high jump title. Maicel Uibo, a sophomore on the men’s team, took first place in the decathlon, while women’s freshman Kendell Williams won the heptathlon.
Kallenou and Williams both won the national indoor titles in their respective events. Uibo was second at the indoor championships.
“We had a good meet, probably had a B-plus meet,” Norton said. “If we had had an ‘A’ meet, we could have been a lot closer to the top spot.”
Newly minted SEC member Texas A&M won the women’s championship with 75 points, followed by Texas (66), Oregon (59) and Florida (55). Oregon ran away with the men’s championship with 88 points, followed by Florida (70), Texas A&M (41.5), LSU (29) and USC (29). In all, SEC teams took 11 of the 20 top-10 places on either side.
Georgia’s outdoor showing was a continuation of a strong showing during the indoor season. The women finished third in the national indoors, and the Bulldogs combined for five NCAA titles, which is a school record. They were all won by freshmen or sophomores.
And that’s what has the Bulldogs particularly excited, that they were able to make such a showing with a relatively young team. Twenty-two athletes traveled to Oregon and only three were seniors (just one of whom scored). Seven were freshmen and six were sophomores.
The thinking is they should be even better next season. Among the freshmen coming in is Keturah Orji, a junior national champion triple-jumper who is considered one of the top horizontal jumpers in North America.
“We think we’re in really good shape, and we have things pointed in a good direction,” Norton said. “With the additional people we’ll have and everybody who’s returning after scoring, we should have a legitimate chance to challenge the top three or four teams in the mix for the championships. We feel like that’s a legitimate expectation and not just prayerful. It’s something we look forward to.”
