2018 DI NCAA Indoor Championships

LJ Sweep, Tara Davis' World Jr. Record Boost Bulldogs For NCAAs Day 2

LJ Sweep, Tara Davis' World Jr. Record Boost Bulldogs For NCAAs Day 2

The Georgia women could win their first-ever NCAA team track and field title this weekend in College Station.

Mar 10, 2018 by Johanna Gretschel
LJ Sweep, Tara Davis' World Jr. Record Boost Bulldogs For NCAAs Day 2

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS (10-March) -- The University of Georgia women have never won an NCAA team title in track and field but that could change this weekend at Texas A&M for the NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships, where the Bulldogs currently lead all other teams by 20 points going into the final day of competition.

A few historic things went Georgia's way on Day 1, including a sweep of the women's long jump by Kate Hall, Keturah Orji and true freshman Tara Davis, a feat which no other men's or women's trio from a single program has ever managed.



Hall sealed the victory on her very first jump, a solid 6.56m/21-6.24 mark which no one else in the competition would surpass. Her next two jumps though included two consecutive indoor PBs: 6.69m/21-11.5 and 6.73m/22-1, the latter of which set a new school record and would stand as the winning jump.

Orji's best mark was 6.52m/21-4.75, and Davis claimed third with a final jump of 6.50m/21-4, a new personal best.

While Davis' surprise bronze medal-winning performance was an impressive boost for the Bulldogs as she was only fifth at SECs, her hurdle prelim immediately before her final long jump broke a world record.

The California native ran 7.98 — a huge improvement on her prior best of 8.03 — to set a new world U20 record in the event.



The prior world junior record was 8.00, set one year ago by Klaudia Siciarz of Poland.

Davis is also the second-fastest qualifier to this evening's final after Arkansas' Payton Chadwick ran 7.93. She defeated NCAA leader Jasmine Camacho-Quinn in her heat.

When the Bulldogs earned consecutive runner-up team honors at the 2017 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships, they were a field event specialist team. This season, the introduction of freshmen Davis and Lynna Irby, who is the top seed in the today's 200m final and No. 2 in the 400m, as well as the development of distance runners like Jessica Drop, who earned a surprise fourth-place finish in the 5K last night, have made the Dawgs a more complete team.

In fact, we predicted this very position back in January.

Can the Bulldogs make history tonight in College Station?

Stay tuned to FloTrack for live updates of all the action to find out!