Bulldogs in running for another title

The NCAA Track and Field Championships got under way Wednesday in Eugene, Ore., with the spotlight on Georgia’s top-ranked men’s team. The men’s title is expected to be a two-team battle between the Bulldogs and No. 2 Texas.

The women’s championship including the No. 22-ranked Lady Bulldogs starts today. The meet will alternate between the men’s and women’s competitions through Saturday’s finals.

Both Georgia teams are coached by Caryl Smith Gilbert. She has been to the mountaintop in this event before leaving Southern Cal last year to take over the

Bulldogs’ program.

“We’re excited,” Smith Gilbert said. “The key for us is reining in that excitement and transforming it into our best performances of the year. We are beyond fired up for the days to come.”

Georgia sprinter Matthew Boling is being counted on to pull a lot of points for the Bulldogs as he has qualified for three events — the 100meter dash, the 200 and the 4x400-relay.

Boling, a junior from Houston, finally ran down the first SEC championship of his career in the 200 meters last month. He edged defending NCAA champion Joseph Fahnbulleh of Florida in that race with a time of 20.01.Boling will also be looking to score in the 100 after twice posting sub-10:00 times this season, with a low of 9.97. He’ll be looking for redemption after finishing fourth at the SEC Championships, well behind winner Favour Ashe of Tennessee (10.04). Oregon’s Micah Williams, with a 9.86-second qualifying time, is the prohibitive favorite.

But Georgia’s strength in its overall depth. The Bulldogs have 11 entries spread across nine events in Eugene, seven of whom are ranked among the top five seasonal performers. The Bulldogs have two national leaders in collegiate record decathlete Kyle Garland and high jumper Darius Carbin, plus Elija Godwin in the 400 meters and 2019 NCAA champion Johannes Erm in the decathlon.

Georgia won its first men’s and women’s national championships in track and field in 2018 under former coach Petros Kyprianou. The men won the outdoor title that year while the women won the indoor championship.