Bulldog Track & Field Thrives During Day Two Of USATF Championships

EUGENE, Ore. — Kyle Garland finished fourth in the decathlon to put himself in position to make Team USA and five other qualifiers highlighted day two of the USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., Friday.

The four-day meet will run through Sunday at Hayward Field. The USATF Under-20 Championships, featuring freshmen Bulldogs Kaila Jackson and Haley Tate, will also be held at the facility later in the weekend.

Garland, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., scored 8,198 points to finish fourth in the decathlon. While finishing in the top three is one requirement to earn a spot on Team USA for the World Athletics Championships, competitors must also have scored the qualifying standard (8,460) since July 31, 2022. Garland is one of three U.S. competitors with the standard score necessary for the World Championships and the official selections will be announced at a later date.

Former Bulldog Devon Williams finished one spot behind Garland in fifth with 8,026 points. He climbed three spots from his day one finish following the first five events.

On the track, former Bulldog standout Kendal Williams managed a seventh-place finish in the 100-meter dash final. The Jacksonville, Fla., native will return to action in the 200m on Saturday.

Georgia had its first qualifier for Worlds from a former Lady Bulldog on Thursday. Keturah Orji, who won eight NCAA titles during her Georgia career (2015-18) and was the 2018 Bowerman winner, earned the silver medal in the triple jump after winning the last six USATF Outdoor titles. Orji had already hit the standard necessary in the triple in August of 2022.

Another five current or former Bulldogs advanced to finals on Friday. Caleb Cavanaugh (400m hurdles), Williams (100m), Will Sumner (800m), Matthew Boling (400m) and Lynna Irby-Jackson (400m) all punched their tickets to the next round in their respective events.

Garland and Williams started their second day in the decathlon in the 110m hurdles. Williams finished with the race’s second-fastest time of 13.91 and bumped up one spot into seventh. Garland clocked a 14.05 to finish one spot behind Williams and move into third overall.

The current and former Bulldogs finished fourth and fifth in the discus. Garland finished one inch ahead of Williams with a second toss of 45.23 meters/148 feet, 4 inches while Williams went a season best 45.18/148-3 on his third and final try. Garland remained in third overall by 131 points as Williams surged into fifth, trailing Garland by 162 points.

In the pole vault, Garland had a first attempt clearance at 4.60m/15-1 to tie for fifth and Williams went over the bar at a season best 4.50m/14-9 on his second try to take eighth. Garland trailed the leader by 313 points and was ahead of fourth by 90. Williams held onto fifth and was behind Garland by less than 200 points. With a season best javelin effort on his second attempt, Garland kept control of third place overall by 74 points. He went 58.61m/192-3 to take seventh in the event. Williams sandwiched a mark of 54.79m/179-9 between two fouls in the javelin to take 11th. His finish kept him in with just one event to go.

Garland and Williams completed their 10 events in fourth and fifth, respectively. Garland ran the 1500m in 4:53.38, sliding down one spot into fourth. Williams ran the fastest time of his season (4:40.88) to hit the 8,000-point mark.

Cavanaugh, who recently graduated from Georgia, finished fifth in his heat and was 15th overall in the first round of the 400m hurdles to sneak into the semifinal round. The sixth-place finisher at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships will race in the next round on Saturday at 10:10 p.m.

Williams ran out of the first heat in the 100m and wasted no time automatically qualifying for the final. He was second in the first group and sixth overall with a 10.10. Not long afterwards, Williams returned for the final and his 10.16 pushed him into seventh place.

Sumner, a native of Canton, Ga., punched his ticket to another round after registering a 1:47.19 in the 800m. Sumner automatically qualified for Sunday’s final (9:26 p.m.) by taking third in the second heat with the ninth-fastest time of the race.

Boling, who was racing in just his third 400m since 2021, qualified automatically for the final by being the third finisher across the line in the second heat. His time of 45.56 was just .03 from matching his personal record clocked on Thursday in the first round. Boling will race in the 400m final at 9:26 p.m. Saturday.

Irby-Jackson mimicked Boling’s finish by automatically qualifying for the final with a third-place finish in her heat. Her time of 51.19 was the fifth-fastest time of the semifinal and Irby-Jackson will race in the 400m final at 9:19 p.m. Saturday.

Up Next: Boling and Williams will return to work in the opening round of the 200m on Saturday at 7:43 p.m. Marc Minichello, who was the 2022 NCAA javelin champion, is set to compete in his featured event at 8:50 p.m.

Those athletes who finish in the top three and have the qualifying standards (time or mark) for their events will be eligible to be selected for Team USA as the team is built for the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Aug. 19-27.