Bulldogs Complete World Championships Decathlon With Three In Top Nine

BUDAPEST — Karel Tilga led the way as a trio of Bulldogs scored at least 8,400 points to all finish in the top nine in the decathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday.

In the dec, Tilga, who won an NCAA title for Georgia, tallied 8,681 points for fourth place. Volunteer assistant coach Janek Oiglane combined for 8,524 points through 10 events for sixth place while former Bulldog NCAA champion Johannes Erm went for 8,484 points for ninth. More importantly, the three Estonians all hit the Olympic standard with the Games arriving in Paris next summer.

Matthew Boling, a native of Houston and UGA graduate, ran the second leg of the 4×400-meter relay as the quartet of Trevor Bassitt, Boling, Christopher Bailey and Justin Robinson clocked a 2:58.47 to advance to Sunday’s final with the fastest time of the day in the 17-team field.

This marked the eighth of nine days at the World Championships. On Sunday, Elena Kulichenko is set to battle in the high jump final at 2 p.m. ET. The Lady Bulldog All-American matched a personal best during the qualifying round. Boling is also expected to run a leg on the Team USA 4x400m relay team in the final round at 3:37 p.m.

During the meet’s first day last Saturday, Boling ran the third leg for Team USA’s mixed 4x400m relay that won a gold medal with a world record time.