Bulldogs build lead thanks to historic long jump sweep

Hall, Orji become first female teammates to take top two spots; Llano provides significant support with third-place finish in hammer throw to give Georgia early edge on Oregon

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

When it comes to women's jumping events at the NCAA Division 1 Championships, Georgia has set an incredibly high standard, capturing long jump, triple jump and high jump titles at both the indoor and outdoor finals in the past decade.

In their pursuit for the program's first women's team title, the Bulldogs soared to new heights Thursday with a historic performance at Hayward Field.

Kate Hall and Keturah Orji became the first female teammates to place first and second in the long jump, helping Georgia secure the lead after the first day of women's competition with 24.2 points.

Hall had a leap of 22 feet, 1 inch (6.73m) in the first round and Orji elevated to second with a fourth-round leap of 22-0.25 (6.71m) to produce 18 points, matching the success Wednesday of Florida's KeAndre Bates and Grant Holloway, who became the first male teammates since 1987 to achieve the feat in the long jump at the national outdoor final.

"Our coach's goal was to get 14 points, so we're like, 'We need to do that.' But then before our last jumps, we were like, 'We can get more than 14 points. We've got this, we can go 1-2.' It's really exciting," Hall said. "It feels amazing. I've wanted this for so long. It's been a dream. I knew I needed to get a really good jump from the start."

Orji, seeking a third consecutive triple jump title Saturday, earned her third All-America honor in the long jump. She and Chanice Porter placed seventh and eighth in 2015, before Porter won the title last year and Orji finished sixth.

"I'm really happy for (Kate) because she broke the national record in high school and I used to see her all the time in high school and now she's beating me," Orji said. "We're very consistent in all of our field events and we go out there and we're ready to compete all the time. We hope that the points will come together and we can do what we're supposed to do here."

Hall, who set the national high school long jump record of 22-5 (6.83m) in 2015, hadn't surpassed 22 feet in four outdoor competitions this year entering Thursday's final. It was the sixth time since the women's outdoor finals were first contested in 1982 that there were multiple 22-foot jumps at the championship meet, but the first time two teammates accomplished the feat.

"I thought it was possible, it's been my goal all season," Hall said. "Even during the times when my approach wasn't consistent and I was always behind the board, this was still my all-time goal and I'm very happy and very thankful."

Hall and Orji matched the success of Georgia high jumpers Madeline Fagan and Tatiana Gusin, who became the first female teammates to sweep the top two spots in the high jump at the indoor final in March in College Station, Texas.

"Watching our high jumpers, they're very emotional and they're very inspirational, so we aspire to be like them," Orji said. "Coach said, 'This is it, this is our time.' When I moved up to second, he was really excited."

Including Beatrice Llano placing third in the hammer throw at 221-2 (67.42m) and Kayla Smith tying for eighth in the pole vault at 13-7.25 (4.15m), Georgia had every field event athlete score Thursday.

The Bulldogs have two-time heptathlon champion Kendell Williams and Louisa Grauvogel competing Friday, with high jumpers Fagan and Gusin, along with Orji and Aliyah Johnson in the triple jump on deck Saturday.

"I reminded them to put it together and don't care about everybody else, so to finish 1-2 is huge," Georgia coach Petros Kyprianou said. "When I recruit these kind of athletes, I am looking to put together a world-class band. They are a bunch of great individuals, but when they all play together like they did (Thursday), they make beautiful music."

Although Oregon qualified the athletes it needed to in order to contend for the team title Saturday, Georgia closed the gap signifcantly on the host Ducks and can continue to apply pressure with its talented jumpers and multi-event athletes.

"We still have a lot of work to do (Friday and Saturday), but it gives us a good shot," Kyprianou said.