ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. --- Fifth-year senior Kyle Garland set the collegiate heptathlon record to win his first individual national championship with the world’s second-best score in history to highlight the final day of the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in the Albuquerque Convention Center Saturday.
Garland and his teammates combined to take second with their top finish in school history after scoring a program record 40 points. The Lady Bulldogs finished fifth for the second time in three years after tallying 31 points.
Wrapping up first on Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs marked their best finish since scoring the same total in 2021 also for fifth. Arkansas (64) edged Texas (60) for the team title while Florida (45) finished third and Stanford (33) took fourth. On the men’s side, Arkansas (63) completed the sweep while Florida (34), Washington (31) and Texas Tech (29) took third through fifth, respectively.
Garland was also part of a program record three NCAA individual titles as senior sprinters Elija Godwin (400-meter dash) and Matthew Boling (200m) each flexed their muscles in their opening heats out of lane six for championships.
Garland, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., topped fellow Pennsylvania native and Arkansas junior Ayden Owens-Delerme by scoring 6,639 points to Owens-Delerme’s 6,518. Garland’s score shatters his previous school record of 6,415 set earlier this year, leaves Ashton Eaton’s 13-year-old collegiate record of 6,499 set at the 2010 NCAA meet behind and moves him to No. 2 in world history, trailing only Eaton’s 6,645 scored in 2012. Garland now takes control of both the all-time score in the heptathlon and the decathlon outdoors after he went for 8,720 points after 10 events last spring for the Bulldogs.
This marks Georgia’s third national championship in the event after Karel Tilga (6,264 points) won in 2021 and Devon Williams (6,177) captured gold in 2017. Garland was runner-up to Owens-Delerme last year with 6,200 and was also second to his teammate Tilga two years ago with the exact same score.
Godwin, a fifth-year runner, collected his first NCAA title as well during his final showing at indoor Nationals after matching his personal and current world best in the final. Godwin, a native of Covington, Ga., became the Bulldogs’ second national champion in the event (late great Torrin Lawrence, 2010) and the first scoring All-American in the event as well since Lawrence in 2012.
Boling set a school record to win the 2021 200m crown and then repeated that feat on Saturday with a fresh No. 1 mark for the Bulldog record books to bring more hardware back to Athens. The Bulldog men have now won nine NCAA individual indoor crowns dating back to their first in 1995.
Georgia had a total of 11 scorers on the second and final day of action. The Bulldogs were 7-for-7 on Friday with qualifiers on the track and the Bulldogs reaped the benefits from that windfall a day later. Freshman Kaila Jackson handled her largest collegiate test yet by earning a silver medal in the 60-meter dash. Two spots behind her was fellow freshman training partner Autumn Wilson, who matched her personal record to add another five points to the team total.
Four events later, the Lady Bulldog first-year standouts returned in the 200m final and again made up a fourth of the scorers in the eight-woman field. This time it was Wilson who narrowly missed her personal best for a bronze medal while Jackson ran the second fastest 200m of her career to slip into the eighth and final scoring spot.
Sophomore Elena Kulichenko became a two-time scorer in the high jump after soaring over the bar at 1.88 meters/6 feet, 2 inches for a bronze medal. She becomes the first third-place finisher in the event for the Lady Bulldogs since Anna Hall brought a bronze back to Athens in 2021.
Boling joined Christopher Morales Williams, Caleb Cavanaugh and Will Sumner in the meet’s final event, the 4x400m relay, and the Bulldogs bulked their total by yet another eight points thanks to a runner-up finish. This bettered the Bulldogs’ 2022 finish by two spots to help complete the top indoor Nationals finish in history.
Junior transfer Mikeisha Welcome made the best out of her first appearance in the red and black at Nationals by dropping a mammoth personal record and St. Vincent national record in the triple jump to finish fourth. The top 13 finishers in the event all posted personal bests, including Lady Bulldog senior Titiana Marsh.
Sumner ran in his first final and also left the track following the 800m with a two-point bump for Georgia’s total.
Where To Catch The NCAA Championships: Live streaming of the NCAA meet aired on ESPN3. The broadcast talent included Dwight Stones, Dan O’Brien, Larra Overton and John Anderson.
A tape delay special of the Championships will air on ESPNU on Sunday at 6 p.m.
Sunday on ESPNU (6 p.m.): http://gado.gs/a72
Full Results: For results throughout the weekend, please visit: http://gado.gs/a73
The Lowdown: Godwin turned his third trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 400m the most memorable one. Running out of lane six in the opening heat, Godwin immediately set the tone by taking the lead at the break and crossing the finish line in 44.75. This equaled his school record and tied his No. 5 spot on the all-time collegiate performer’s list as he boosted the Bulldogs’ total by 10 points.
Godwin’s relay mate and training partner, Houston, Texas, native Matthew Boling drew the same position on the track as Godwin for the final and departed with the same results. Having registered the second-fastest time of his career during the prelims, Boling took control of the first heat and crossed the finish line in 20.12 with the nearest competitor coming across in 20.20. He become the first repeat indoor champion for the Bulldogs after also grabbing gold in 2021.
Boling made his second appearance of the day as the leadoff leg for Georgia’s 4x400m relay. Boling made the handoff to Cavanaugh before Morales Williams closed the third leg for the Bulldogs. In the final 400m, Sumner sped to a 44.76 split to help deliver the silver medal finish for his team.
Jackson, a Redford, Mich., shot out of lane three and raced to a 7.08 to finish only behind collegiate record holder and Texas senior Julien Alfred (6.94). Former Georgia All-American Kate Hall, who was sixth in the 60m during Georgia’s national championship season, was the only other Lady Bulldog to score in the 60m in school history prior to this year.
The Georgia women made it three all-time scoring All-Americans in the 60m when Wilson blasted out of the starting blocks to finish fourth. She matched her career best time of 7.12 and helped give the Lady Bulldogs’ 13 combined points in the event.
Waiting for the 400m, 800m and 60m hurdles to be completed, Wilson and Jackson, lined up side by side in their lanes, returned to the oval in the 200m final and combined for another seven points. Wilson won the opening heat with a 22.45 and was third overall when the dust settled from the second group. The last third-place finish in the 200m for Georgia was in 2018 when Lynna Irby clocked the school record of 22.55, which Wilson decimated on Friday.
Jackson complemented her silver in the 60m with an eighth-place finish after completing her 200m lap in 22.84. This marked the third time Jackson has broken 23 seconds in the last two weeks and gave the Georgia women two scorers in the event for the first time in UGA history.
Kulichenko, a native of Odintsovo, Russia, made a five-spot improvement from her 2022 finish after tallying four clearances in the high jump. Clean on at her first two heights, Kulichenko went over 1.85m/6-0.75 on her second try and then 1.88m/6-2 on her third attempt. This marked Georgia’s first six points of the meet and established the fifth time in 2023 that she eclipsed at least 6 feet, including her 1.92m/6-3.50 clearance for silver at SECs.
Welcome, who moved from St. Vincent to Canada when she was 8 years old and then transferred from Oklahoma to Georgia this year, started her series with a career-best effort of 14.07m/46-2 on her second try. After improving to 14.09m/46-2.75 on her third attempt, Welcome sailed the longest distance of her career (14.21m/46-7.50) to lock down fourth place. She completes the year No. 2 on the school’s all-time list, trailing only the former collegiate record holder Keturah Orji.
Also of note, Marsh had the three longest efforts of her career in the triple jump to take ninth. Marsh completed her series at 13.80m/45-3.50 after also competing in the long jump on Friday.
Sumner, a native of Canton, Ga., came into NCAAs as the school record holder and left with an expected First Team All-America honor. He completed his four laps in the 800m final in 1:51.46 and was moved to seventh place after an event disqualification. Sumner is the first scorer in the even for Georgia since Aaron Evans in 2012.
The historic hep was highlighted by Garland having career bests in all three of his events. Garland blasted a personal record 7.74 in the 60m hurdles, taking second in the event and holding a 152-point lead overall. After popping a previous personal best in the open hurdles at SECs (7.77), Garland now moves from No. 3 to No. 2 in the school record books with Saturday’s time. Senior Johannes Erm ran a 9.43 in the hurdles to start his second day, slipping to 13th overall.
Garland came in at 4.46m/16-7.25, passed at the next height in the pole vault and then cleared six more bars to finish with his second personal best of the day. He soared over 5.16m/16-11 on his last attempt to finish third in the event and extend his lead to 214 points going into the 1000m. Slowed by a minor injury sustained during Saturday’s warmup, Erm made an effort in the vault before retiring in the event to ready to help pace Garland for the 1000m.
In the 1000m, Erm did indeed set the pace for Garland as Garland managed yet another personal record of 2:41.36 to take fifth overall and clinch his crown. Erm, routinely checking his watch to make sure he and his teammate were on pace, shouted words of encouragement during the second to last lap before dropping off and letting Garland finish his race in record-breaking style.
Up Next: The Bulldogs start their outdoor season in a week at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Atlanta on March 17-18. Georgia will play host to one home meet later in the outdoor season: Spec Towns & Torrin Lawrence Invitational – April 6-8.
Where To Find Bulldog News: Results and recaps from the NCAA Indoor Championships will be found at georgiadogs.com. News and updates from Georgia’s track and field and cross country teams are always located on Twitter/Instagram at @UGATrack.
Day 2 Scorers
Name Event Finish (Mark/Time)
Kyle Garland Heptathlon 1st (+6,639 pts.)
Elija Godwin M. 400m 1st(*44.75)
Matthew Boling M. 200m 1st($20.12)
M. Boling M. 4x400m Relay 2nd (3:03.10)
C. Cavanaugh, C. Morales Williams, W. Sumner
Kaila Jackson W. 60m 2nd (7.08)
Elena Kulichenko W. High Jump 3rd (1.88m/6-2)
Autumn Wilson W. 200m 3rd(22.45)
Mikeisha Welcome W. Triple Jump 4th(*46-7.50)
Autumn Wilson W. 60m 4th(*7.12)
Will Sumner M. 800m 7th(1:51.46)
Kaila Jackson W. 200m 8th(22.84)
Heptathlon Day 1 Scores
Name 60m LJ SP HJ Day 1
Kyle Garland 6.87 (5th) *26-1.50 (2nd) +53-11.75 (1st) 6-11.50 (1st) !3,773 pts. (1st)
60mH PV 1000m TOTAL
*7.74 (1st) *16-11 (1st) *2:41.36 #6,639 pts. – 1st
60m LJ SP HJ Day 1
Johannes Erm *6.96 (10th) +24-9 (9th) *49-4.25 (6th) +6-4.25 (7th). *3,383 pts. (7th)
60mH PV 1000m TOTAL
9.43 (13th) ~NH (13th) DNF 4,037 pts. – 13th
$school record ; +season best
^standing reflects position after each event; !No. 2 day one hep score in world history (top by a collegian); Garland’s long jump & shot put were meet records; ~Erm sustained a minor injury during Saturday’s warm-up that affected all three of his events; #collegiate/school record, No. 2 in world history
Garland and his teammates combined to take second with their top finish in school history after scoring a program record 40 points. The Lady Bulldogs finished fifth for the second time in three years after tallying 31 points.
Wrapping up first on Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs marked their best finish since scoring the same total in 2021 also for fifth. Arkansas (64) edged Texas (60) for the team title while Florida (45) finished third and Stanford (33) took fourth. On the men’s side, Arkansas (63) completed the sweep while Florida (34), Washington (31) and Texas Tech (29) took third through fifth, respectively.
Garland was also part of a program record three NCAA individual titles as senior sprinters Elija Godwin (400-meter dash) and Matthew Boling (200m) each flexed their muscles in their opening heats out of lane six for championships.
Garland, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., topped fellow Pennsylvania native and Arkansas junior Ayden Owens-Delerme by scoring 6,639 points to Owens-Delerme’s 6,518. Garland’s score shatters his previous school record of 6,415 set earlier this year, leaves Ashton Eaton’s 13-year-old collegiate record of 6,499 set at the 2010 NCAA meet behind and moves him to No. 2 in world history, trailing only Eaton’s 6,645 scored in 2012. Garland now takes control of both the all-time score in the heptathlon and the decathlon outdoors after he went for 8,720 points after 10 events last spring for the Bulldogs.
This marks Georgia’s third national championship in the event after Karel Tilga (6,264 points) won in 2021 and Devon Williams (6,177) captured gold in 2017. Garland was runner-up to Owens-Delerme last year with 6,200 and was also second to his teammate Tilga two years ago with the exact same score.
Godwin, a fifth-year runner, collected his first NCAA title as well during his final showing at indoor Nationals after matching his personal and current world best in the final. Godwin, a native of Covington, Ga., became the Bulldogs’ second national champion in the event (late great Torrin Lawrence, 2010) and the first scoring All-American in the event as well since Lawrence in 2012.
Boling set a school record to win the 2021 200m crown and then repeated that feat on Saturday with a fresh No. 1 mark for the Bulldog record books to bring more hardware back to Athens. The Bulldog men have now won nine NCAA individual indoor crowns dating back to their first in 1995.
Georgia had a total of 11 scorers on the second and final day of action. The Bulldogs were 7-for-7 on Friday with qualifiers on the track and the Bulldogs reaped the benefits from that windfall a day later. Freshman Kaila Jackson handled her largest collegiate test yet by earning a silver medal in the 60-meter dash. Two spots behind her was fellow freshman training partner Autumn Wilson, who matched her personal record to add another five points to the team total.
Four events later, the Lady Bulldog first-year standouts returned in the 200m final and again made up a fourth of the scorers in the eight-woman field. This time it was Wilson who narrowly missed her personal best for a bronze medal while Jackson ran the second fastest 200m of her career to slip into the eighth and final scoring spot.
Sophomore Elena Kulichenko became a two-time scorer in the high jump after soaring over the bar at 1.88 meters/6 feet, 2 inches for a bronze medal. She becomes the first third-place finisher in the event for the Lady Bulldogs since Anna Hall brought a bronze back to Athens in 2021.
Boling joined Christopher Morales Williams, Caleb Cavanaugh and Will Sumner in the meet’s final event, the 4x400m relay, and the Bulldogs bulked their total by yet another eight points thanks to a runner-up finish. This bettered the Bulldogs’ 2022 finish by two spots to help complete the top indoor Nationals finish in history.
Junior transfer Mikeisha Welcome made the best out of her first appearance in the red and black at Nationals by dropping a mammoth personal record and St. Vincent national record in the triple jump to finish fourth. The top 13 finishers in the event all posted personal bests, including Lady Bulldog senior Titiana Marsh.
Sumner ran in his first final and also left the track following the 800m with a two-point bump for Georgia’s total.
Where To Catch The NCAA Championships: Live streaming of the NCAA meet aired on ESPN3. The broadcast talent included Dwight Stones, Dan O’Brien, Larra Overton and John Anderson.
A tape delay special of the Championships will air on ESPNU on Sunday at 6 p.m.
Sunday on ESPNU (6 p.m.): http://gado.gs/a72
Full Results: For results throughout the weekend, please visit: http://gado.gs/a73
The Lowdown: Godwin turned his third trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 400m the most memorable one. Running out of lane six in the opening heat, Godwin immediately set the tone by taking the lead at the break and crossing the finish line in 44.75. This equaled his school record and tied his No. 5 spot on the all-time collegiate performer’s list as he boosted the Bulldogs’ total by 10 points.
Godwin’s relay mate and training partner, Houston, Texas, native Matthew Boling drew the same position on the track as Godwin for the final and departed with the same results. Having registered the second-fastest time of his career during the prelims, Boling took control of the first heat and crossed the finish line in 20.12 with the nearest competitor coming across in 20.20. He become the first repeat indoor champion for the Bulldogs after also grabbing gold in 2021.
Boling made his second appearance of the day as the leadoff leg for Georgia’s 4x400m relay. Boling made the handoff to Cavanaugh before Morales Williams closed the third leg for the Bulldogs. In the final 400m, Sumner sped to a 44.76 split to help deliver the silver medal finish for his team.
Jackson, a Redford, Mich., shot out of lane three and raced to a 7.08 to finish only behind collegiate record holder and Texas senior Julien Alfred (6.94). Former Georgia All-American Kate Hall, who was sixth in the 60m during Georgia’s national championship season, was the only other Lady Bulldog to score in the 60m in school history prior to this year.
The Georgia women made it three all-time scoring All-Americans in the 60m when Wilson blasted out of the starting blocks to finish fourth. She matched her career best time of 7.12 and helped give the Lady Bulldogs’ 13 combined points in the event.
Waiting for the 400m, 800m and 60m hurdles to be completed, Wilson and Jackson, lined up side by side in their lanes, returned to the oval in the 200m final and combined for another seven points. Wilson won the opening heat with a 22.45 and was third overall when the dust settled from the second group. The last third-place finish in the 200m for Georgia was in 2018 when Lynna Irby clocked the school record of 22.55, which Wilson decimated on Friday.
Jackson complemented her silver in the 60m with an eighth-place finish after completing her 200m lap in 22.84. This marked the third time Jackson has broken 23 seconds in the last two weeks and gave the Georgia women two scorers in the event for the first time in UGA history.
Kulichenko, a native of Odintsovo, Russia, made a five-spot improvement from her 2022 finish after tallying four clearances in the high jump. Clean on at her first two heights, Kulichenko went over 1.85m/6-0.75 on her second try and then 1.88m/6-2 on her third attempt. This marked Georgia’s first six points of the meet and established the fifth time in 2023 that she eclipsed at least 6 feet, including her 1.92m/6-3.50 clearance for silver at SECs.
Welcome, who moved from St. Vincent to Canada when she was 8 years old and then transferred from Oklahoma to Georgia this year, started her series with a career-best effort of 14.07m/46-2 on her second try. After improving to 14.09m/46-2.75 on her third attempt, Welcome sailed the longest distance of her career (14.21m/46-7.50) to lock down fourth place. She completes the year No. 2 on the school’s all-time list, trailing only the former collegiate record holder Keturah Orji.
Also of note, Marsh had the three longest efforts of her career in the triple jump to take ninth. Marsh completed her series at 13.80m/45-3.50 after also competing in the long jump on Friday.
Sumner, a native of Canton, Ga., came into NCAAs as the school record holder and left with an expected First Team All-America honor. He completed his four laps in the 800m final in 1:51.46 and was moved to seventh place after an event disqualification. Sumner is the first scorer in the even for Georgia since Aaron Evans in 2012.
The historic hep was highlighted by Garland having career bests in all three of his events. Garland blasted a personal record 7.74 in the 60m hurdles, taking second in the event and holding a 152-point lead overall. After popping a previous personal best in the open hurdles at SECs (7.77), Garland now moves from No. 3 to No. 2 in the school record books with Saturday’s time. Senior Johannes Erm ran a 9.43 in the hurdles to start his second day, slipping to 13th overall.
Garland came in at 4.46m/16-7.25, passed at the next height in the pole vault and then cleared six more bars to finish with his second personal best of the day. He soared over 5.16m/16-11 on his last attempt to finish third in the event and extend his lead to 214 points going into the 1000m. Slowed by a minor injury sustained during Saturday’s warmup, Erm made an effort in the vault before retiring in the event to ready to help pace Garland for the 1000m.
In the 1000m, Erm did indeed set the pace for Garland as Garland managed yet another personal record of 2:41.36 to take fifth overall and clinch his crown. Erm, routinely checking his watch to make sure he and his teammate were on pace, shouted words of encouragement during the second to last lap before dropping off and letting Garland finish his race in record-breaking style.
Up Next: The Bulldogs start their outdoor season in a week at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Atlanta on March 17-18. Georgia will play host to one home meet later in the outdoor season: Spec Towns & Torrin Lawrence Invitational – April 6-8.
Where To Find Bulldog News: Results and recaps from the NCAA Indoor Championships will be found at georgiadogs.com. News and updates from Georgia’s track and field and cross country teams are always located on Twitter/Instagram at @UGATrack.
Day 2 Scorers
Name Event Finish (Mark/Time)
Kyle Garland Heptathlon 1st (+6,639 pts.)
Elija Godwin M. 400m 1st(*44.75)
Matthew Boling M. 200m 1st($20.12)
M. Boling M. 4x400m Relay 2nd (3:03.10)
C. Cavanaugh, C. Morales Williams, W. Sumner
Kaila Jackson W. 60m 2nd (7.08)
Elena Kulichenko W. High Jump 3rd (1.88m/6-2)
Autumn Wilson W. 200m 3rd(22.45)
Mikeisha Welcome W. Triple Jump 4th(*46-7.50)
Autumn Wilson W. 60m 4th(*7.12)
Will Sumner M. 800m 7th(1:51.46)
Kaila Jackson W. 200m 8th(22.84)
Heptathlon Day 1 Scores
Name 60m LJ SP HJ Day 1
Kyle Garland 6.87 (5th) *26-1.50 (2nd) +53-11.75 (1st) 6-11.50 (1st) !3,773 pts. (1st)
60mH PV 1000m TOTAL
*7.74 (1st) *16-11 (1st) *2:41.36 #6,639 pts. – 1st
60m LJ SP HJ Day 1
Johannes Erm *6.96 (10th) +24-9 (9th) *49-4.25 (6th) +6-4.25 (7th). *3,383 pts. (7th)
60mH PV 1000m TOTAL
9.43 (13th) ~NH (13th) DNF 4,037 pts. – 13th
$school record ; +season best
^standing reflects position after each event; !No. 2 day one hep score in world history (top by a collegian); Garland’s long jump & shot put were meet records; ~Erm sustained a minor injury during Saturday’s warm-up that affected all three of his events; #collegiate/school record, No. 2 in world history
