Spring Break
Bulldog track and field finishes 11th at NCAAs
Issue date: 6/15/09 Section: Sports
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Georgia men's track and field team completed the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 11th place in Fayetteville, Ark., on Saturday.
Texas A&M (48 points) edged Oregon (46), Florida State (46) and Florida (46) for the men's team title. On the women's side, Texas A&M (50) completed the sweep by winning over Oregon (43).
The Bulldogs' 19 points gave them their best finish since another 11th-place finish at the 2002 national meet. This gives Georgia, who finished with four All-Americans, its sixth top-20 finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the last 10 years. The team's 19 points were also the most the Bulldogs had scored since the 2003 meet.
The Lady Bulldogs had a pair of competitors in the meet - Michelle Thompson (javelin) and Georgina Nembhard (100-meter dash, 200) - but failed to score for the first time at an NCAA outdoor meet since 1994.
The Bulldog throwers scored 13 of the 19 points to pace Georgia, including a second straight NCAA javelin title from junior Chris Hill with a school-record performance. In addition, senior Justin Gaymon finished third in the 400-meter hurdle finals to score six more points for the Bulldogs.
Hill became the first member of the Georgia men's team to win back-to-back NCAA crowns since Andras Haklits captured a pair of hammer championships in 2001-02. While Jenny Dahlgren was the last Georgia team member to repeat as a national champion (hammer throw - 2006-07) before Hill, there have only been four team members in program history to win at least two consecutive NCAA outdoor titles. This is the 13th national championship (11th outdoor) in program history for the men.
In the 400 hurdles, Gaymon also had a third-place finish in 2007 before earning All-American honors in the event in 2008, despite being disqualified in the finals last year. He completes his career as a six-time All-American and a three-time SEC champion.
Two Georgia hammer throwers - Nate Rolfe and John Freeman - left with All-America certificates and scored three more points for the Bulldogs.
Rolfe had a top mark of 214-7 to take seventh. This was the second All-America certificate of Rolfe's career at UGA after taking eighth in the hammer in 2007.
Freeman waited until his final effort to launch a throw measuring 213-3 and finished eighth. This is the first All-American honor for Freeman, who had the second-longest throw of his career in the finals, after taking 17th in the qualifying round of last year's meet.
This marks the first time since 2003 (Lucais MacKay, Panagiotis Mavraganis) that Georgia has had more than one All-American in the hammer at one NCAA meet.
Georgia's Scorers At The 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships
Name Event Mark / Place
*Chris Hill Javelin 1st / 268-4^
*Justin Gaymon 400-meter hurdles 3rd / 49.02
*Nate Rolfe Hammer 7th / 214 feet/ 7 inches
*John Freeman Hammer 8th / 213-3
* - All-American; ^ - personal-best mark
- Georgia Sports Communications
Texas A&M (48 points) edged Oregon (46), Florida State (46) and Florida (46) for the men's team title. On the women's side, Texas A&M (50) completed the sweep by winning over Oregon (43).
The Bulldogs' 19 points gave them their best finish since another 11th-place finish at the 2002 national meet. This gives Georgia, who finished with four All-Americans, its sixth top-20 finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the last 10 years. The team's 19 points were also the most the Bulldogs had scored since the 2003 meet.
The Lady Bulldogs had a pair of competitors in the meet - Michelle Thompson (javelin) and Georgina Nembhard (100-meter dash, 200) - but failed to score for the first time at an NCAA outdoor meet since 1994.
The Bulldog throwers scored 13 of the 19 points to pace Georgia, including a second straight NCAA javelin title from junior Chris Hill with a school-record performance. In addition, senior Justin Gaymon finished third in the 400-meter hurdle finals to score six more points for the Bulldogs.
Hill became the first member of the Georgia men's team to win back-to-back NCAA crowns since Andras Haklits captured a pair of hammer championships in 2001-02. While Jenny Dahlgren was the last Georgia team member to repeat as a national champion (hammer throw - 2006-07) before Hill, there have only been four team members in program history to win at least two consecutive NCAA outdoor titles. This is the 13th national championship (11th outdoor) in program history for the men.
In the 400 hurdles, Gaymon also had a third-place finish in 2007 before earning All-American honors in the event in 2008, despite being disqualified in the finals last year. He completes his career as a six-time All-American and a three-time SEC champion.
Two Georgia hammer throwers - Nate Rolfe and John Freeman - left with All-America certificates and scored three more points for the Bulldogs.
Rolfe had a top mark of 214-7 to take seventh. This was the second All-America certificate of Rolfe's career at UGA after taking eighth in the hammer in 2007.
Freeman waited until his final effort to launch a throw measuring 213-3 and finished eighth. This is the first All-American honor for Freeman, who had the second-longest throw of his career in the finals, after taking 17th in the qualifying round of last year's meet.
This marks the first time since 2003 (Lucais MacKay, Panagiotis Mavraganis) that Georgia has had more than one All-American in the hammer at one NCAA meet.
Georgia's Scorers At The 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships
Name Event Mark / Place
*Chris Hill Javelin 1st / 268-4^
*Justin Gaymon 400-meter hurdles 3rd / 49.02
*Nate Rolfe Hammer 7th / 214 feet/ 7 inches
*John Freeman Hammer 8th / 213-3
* - All-American; ^ - personal-best mark
- Georgia Sports Communications
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