Bulldog sprinter wins NCAA title

Bulldog sophomore sprinter Christopher Morales Williams ran the fifth-fastest collegiate time in history to capture his first 400-meter dash title on the final day of the NCAA Indoor Championships at The Track at New Balance in Boston Saturday.

In the team race, the Georgia women scored 32 points and finished third.  Arkansas (65) and Florida (50) made up the top three.  The Lady Bulldogs have finished in the top five at the NCAA Indoor Championships for three out of the last four completed seasons.

Morales Williams, a native of Vaughn, Ontario, sped to the second-fastest time of his life (44.67) to win the Bulldogs’ their second straight crown in the event (Elija Godwin, 2023) and third overall for Georgia (Torrin Lawrence, 2010).  Morales Williams’ time was the fourth fastest in NCAA meet history.

The Bulldog men tied with Ole Miss and Florida State for 15th place with 14 points on the men’s ide while Texas Tech (50.5), Arkansas (41) and Florida (39) made up the top three.

In addition to Morales Williams, Georgia had xxx more scoring All-Americans on the meet’s second and final day.

• Sophomore Kaila Jackson copied her 2023 finish to the hundredth of a second to lock down another silver in the 60m final.  Minutes later, Jackson returned in the 200m final and a career best 22.63 gave her fourth place a year after she was eighth as a true freshman.
• For the second year in a row, junior Elena Kulichenko scored six points for the Lady Bulldogs with a third-place finish in the high jump.  She equaled her exact performance from two weeks ago with a bronze medal at the height of 1.91 meters/6 feet, 3 ¼ inches.
• Senior Mikeisha Welcome steadily improved in her triple jump series before traveling a season-best distance to retake the bronze medal spot on her final try a year after finishing fourth.
• Sophomore Aaliyah Butler made her debut as an individual at the NCAA indoor meet and left with a fourth-place finish in the 400m final.  This is the best finish for a Lady Bulldog since Olympian Lynna Irby earned the bronze medal at the 2018 meet en route to the Georgia women winning their first team national championship.
• On the men’s side, true freshman Riyon Rankin made his first appearance at NCAAs and scored two points with a seventh-place finish after flying over the high jump bar at higher than seven feet for the fourth time this season.  Rankin is the first Bulldog to score in the men’s high jump since 2019 (Keenon Laine).
• Alex Kolesnikoff had his top mark on his third throw of his shot put series and managed a seventh-place.  This marks the Harvard graduate transfer’s first First Team All-American showing at Nationals.  Kolesnikoff is the first Bulldog putter to finish in the top eight in doors since Denzel Comenentia earned bronze in 2019.
• The Lady Bulldogs concluded the meet with a seventh-place finish in the 4x400m relay to help assure their team third-place finish.  This marked the best showing for Georgia in the event since taking fourth in 2019.

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