UGA track and field athletes excel in summer competitions
Published 4:09 pm Saturday, June 23, 2018
- Gabriella Audi | The Red & BlackFreshman Tara Davis competes in the long jump for the University of Georgia at the Spec Towns Invitational Meet in Athens on April 6.
Georgia track and field’s Tara Davis, a rising sophomore, won the long jump competition this week at the USA Junior Outdoor Championships. Davis secured her spot in the International Association of Athletics Federation World Under-20 Championships by winning earlier this week. She will compete in Tampere, Finland, on July 19-24.
Davis took only three of six possible jumps during the competition Thursday, and two of them were good enough to win the competition. In her first jump she reached 21 feet, 4 1/3 inches, which would have been good enough to win the competition by 5 inches. Davis jumped 22 feet and 1/4 inch on her second jump for a UGA personal record. Davis’ second jump puts her third all-time in the school’s top-10 list.
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Davis earned indoor first-team All-American honors in the 60-meter hurdles and long jump earlier this year as she helped the Bulldogs win their first NCAA team title. Davis was also a scoring All-American in outdoor long jump in which she helped the Bulldogs finish second in the nation.
Three future Bulldogs earned awards, including signee Kyle Garland, who earned a personal-best 7,562 points en route to a first-place finish. Also competing on the men’s side was Elijah Godwin, who placed third in the 400-meter dash. Godwin has also made the 4×400-meter relay pool for the World Juniors. Sterling Lester, a signee for the Georgia women, finished second in the heptathlon with a personal-best 5,523 points.
The Bulldogs had three athletes qualify for the European Championships, including Denzel Comenetia, Johannes Erm and Antonios Merlos. Maicel Uibo and Karl Saluri, both former Bulldogs, qualified for the European Championships in decathlon. Also competing in the decathlon will be future Bulldog Karel Tilga. The European Championships will be held in Berlin, Germany, on August 7-12.
Georgia women’s Louisa Grauvogel competed at the IAAF Combined Event Challenge last weekend and finished fourth in the heptathlon. After scoring 6,162 points she is now second in scoring for the Bulldogs.
Printed with permission from The Red & Black independent student media organization in Athens, Ga.; redandblack.com/sports.
