ALL SPRING LONG, the Georgia women under Caryl Smith Gilbert looked like they were going to be awfully tough to beat. On the track, there was the long sprint and hurdle power led by Aaliyah Butler, Michelle Smith and Dejanea Oakley. On the field, there was the long throws trio of javelinists Lianna Davidson and Manuela Rotundo, plus hammer thrower Stephanie Ratcliffe. Finally, high jumper Elena Kulichenko figured to score high.
It all added up to a projected 64 points, 27 more than what top contenders like Texas A&M and USC figured to muster. In reality, the Bulldogs were able rack up even more points — 6 more, to be exact. That made for a weekend-long domination (73 total) ahead of the Trojans (47) and Aggies (43). Those “big 3” were able to amass 163 points among them, compared to an anticipated 138.
In all but one event, UGA met or exceeded expectations and they got another half-dozen points in events where they weren’t expected to score. It all added up to the first women’s NCAA outdoor team trophy that will take up its home in Athens, surpassing previous best runner-up finishes in ’17 and ’18 (missing winning those two by a total of just 3.2 points).
Thanks to that long throw prowess, the Dawgs scored 26 points on Day 1 and went into the second and final day with a 9½-point lead over Illinois. Ratcliffe, the ’23 champ while at Harvard with her PR of 241-7 (73.63), came in a slight underdog to Texas State’s collegiate-leading Lara Roberts. The Georgia senior, however, was motivated by a no-mark in ’24 after fouling three times. She hit 234-2 (71.37) in the fourth round and that held up for the win.
Meanwhile, the projected 1-2 for UGA in the jav didn’t hold up as Rotundo and Davidson had to settle for 2nd and 4th behind the stunning upset win by Missouri’s Valentina Barrios (the World U20 runner-up back in ’22). Still, Georgia tallied 13 useful points in the event. When senior Kelsie Murrell-Ross took 6th in the shot, 3 unexpected points got added to the ledger.
The final day featured a plethora of magnificent highlights for the Dawgs. In the high jump, Kulichenko blasted through five bars without a miss, including her winning 6-5 (1.96). The senior had won twice before, tying for titles outdoors last year and indoors this year, but this was her first time atop the podium alone.
“She taught me a lot,” said Smith Gilbert as she was considering and appreciating some of her biggest contributors. “We’re really going to miss her a lot. She’s brought a competitive, fierce, fire-like attitude to our team.”
Then in the 400, Butler showed the expected mastery of the event she’s been displaying all spring, pulling away to a 49.26 triumph, but was delighted to be joined by Oakley — who went under 50 for the first time at 49.65, finishing runner-up against a projected 5th. Then when super frosh Michelle Smith finished her anticipated 3rd in the 400H — and frosh Skylynn Townsend got a PR 44-4¾ (13.52) in the triple jump for 3 more bonus markers — the Dawgs already had 63 points and the trophy in hand.
But in the meet’s final event, Oakley, Smith, Sydney Harris and Butler made sure UGA finished with a flourish — leading for most of the 4×4, yielding momentarily to Arkansas on the final leg, then sprinting to a 3:23.62 school-record victory.
Smith Gilbert won women’s NCAA titles with USC in ’18 and ’21; four years later, she’s made history at Georgia. In the interview zone, she noted having “the greatest coaching staff on the planet” and how she’s learned that you have to have a “full team” when trying to overcome stiff SEC competition. Smith Gilbert added that she’s come to appreciate even more the “field” in track & field. But not everything is different.
“It means the same thing [as previous titles], that we worked really, really, really hard,” she said. “And we have a team that’s starting to form into something that’s going to be a great program.”
WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES
(8 places scored 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1)
1. Georgia 73;
2. USC 47;
3. Texas A&M 43;
4. Washington 31;
5. Illinois 29½;
6. Stanford 29;
7. South Carolina 28;
8. Arkansas 26;
9. New Mexico 25;
10. tie, Oregon & Texas 23;
12. Texas Tech 22; 13. LSU 20; 14. Oklahoma 19; 15. tie, Florida & NC State 18; 17. Louisville 17; 18. BYU 16; 19. Alabama 14; 20. tie, Missouri & TCU 13; 22. tie, Notre Dame & Ohio State 12; 24. tie, Fresno State & West Virginia 11; 26. tie, Colorado State, Nebraska, Florida State, Michigan & Virginia 10; 31. tie, Cal, Clemson & Howard 9; 34. tie, Northern Arizona, San José State, Auburn, Boston U, Duke, North Carolina & Rutgers 8;
41. tie, Baylor & South Dakota 6½; 43. tie, Texas State, UCLA & Miami 6; 46. tie, Oklahoma State & Harvard 5; 48. Kansas 4½ ; 49. tie, Cincinnati & Georgetown 4; 51. tie, Iowa State, Iowa, Michigan State, North Florida, Providence & Virginia Commonwealth 3; 57. tie, Gonzaga, North Dakota, Portland, Rice, Utah State & Virginia Tech 2; 63. tie, Tarleton State, Utah Valley, Wisconsin, Florida International, Indiana & Vanderbilt 1.
