ATHENS — It was an eventful weekend for Georgia athletics, though not entirely successful.
First, the highlight: Georgia track star Matthew Boling continued his assault on the record book. The junior sprinter from Houston reset the school’s 200-meter dash record to wrap up the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta on Saturday. His 19.92 not only surpassed the 51 competitors but it also matched the world’s third-fastest time this year to top his own school record in the 200. Boling’s previous UGA record was 20.06, which he clocked at the 2021 SEC Championships.
Boling’s feat in the 200 comes a week after breaking the school 100-meter record with a time of 9.98 at the University of Florida’s Tom Jones Memorial. That was the second-fast time in the world for 2022. He has set seven school records while running track for the Bulldogs.
It was also a productive weekend for Georgia’s baseball team and women’s tennis team.
The Diamond Dogs won yet another SEC series and did it on the road against Alabama. Georgia took the first two games, with Saturday’s victory featuring the triumphant return of ace starter Jonathan Cannon. The tall righty from Alpharetta, who missed the last two weeks with a forearm injury, threw just 66 pitches in five innings to strike out six and retire all 15 batters he faced. With Cannon leaving the game on a pitch count, Luke Wagner, Chandler Marsh and Jack Gowen collected six more K’s on the way to a 3-0 victory.
For the year, Cannon lowered his overall ERA to 1.55 and 0.69 in SEC play. In 52 ⅓ innings this season, he has 51 strikeouts and three walks.
“Jonathan had great command and set the tone for us,” coach Scott Stricklin said. “He wanted to go one more inning and had a perfect game going, too, but he knew he was on a pitch count.”
Georgia (28-12, 11-7 SEC) was unable to get the sweep, however, losing 3-0 on Sunday. But the Bulldogs remain in second in the SEC East and within the top-third of the league overall.
After a matchup against Georgia State (24-16) at home Tuesday (6 p.m.), the Bulldogs are back on the road against LSU on Friday-Sunday.
Georgia’s No. 14-ranked women’s tennis team (17-6, 10-3 SEC) fought its way to the SEC Tournament finals this past weekend in Gainesville, Fla., but couldn’t get past powerful Texas A&M (30-1, 13-0) to score another title. The Aggies won 4-0. Georgia junior Ania Hertel and freshman Mell Reasco made the all-tournament team.
The men’s tennis team was bounced by No. 5 Tennessee 4-0 in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals in Athens on Friday. And Georgia’s No. 14-ranked softball team dropped two of three to LSU.
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