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Top Row Dawg · (This post was last modified: Yesterday, 02:27 AM by Top Row Dawg.)

With Love for Uncle John Always!

Woof™ For 16th Best Season in History of UGA Football #6 Final AP Poll (SEC Champs)

EUGENE, Ore. --- Georgia's Stephanie Ratcliffe won the second hammer throw title of her career and three other teammates posted top four finishes during the second day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships Thursday. In addition to Ratcliffe, freshman Manuela Rotundo and senior Lianna Davidson collected second and fourth-place finishes, respectively, in the javelin and senior Kelsie Murrell-Ross lengthened her throws as her shot put series continued to take sixth.

Ratcliffe a fifth-year graduate transfer who is a native of Melbourne, Australia, lifted her fourth attempt a national leading distance of 71.37 meters/234 feet, 2 inches to edge the nearest competitor by just over a foot. This is Ratcliffe's second national championship in the event after she won the 2023 crown at Harvard.

Rotundo, a native of Paysandu, Uruguay, answered an opening foul in the javelin with a second attempt of 60.35m/198-0.  This mark gave the true freshman an early lead and then helped her hold on to the silver medal when all six rounds were complete.

Davidson, a native of Sydney, Australia, also reached her top distance of 59.03m/193-8 on her second try and this performance secured her fourth place when the final throw was in the ground.  A Texas A&M transfer, Davidson has now scored at the last three NCAA meets after taking second in 2023 and 2024.

In her first season with the Bulldogs last year, Murrell-Ross, a native of St. David's, Grenada, took 19th.  This time around, the 6-foot-8 shot putter sent the ball 17.80m/58-4.75 on her fifth attempt to lock down sixth place after steadily improving throughout her series.

Georgia also finished with four qualifiers during the first day of the women's competition.  Junior Aaliyah Butler was the first Bulldog to advance to Saturday's final in the 400m.  Training partner Dejanea Oakley joined her teammate in the 400m final two heats later.  A third leg of the 4x400m relay, freshman Michelle Smith, won her heat in the 400m hurdles and punched a ticket to the final.  Finally, Smith, Butler, sophomore Sydney Harris and Oakley combined to complete four laps in the 4x400m relay semifinal as the second-fastest qualifier.

Team Scores: The Georgia women have the lead with 26 points while Illinois (16.5), Washington (16), Louisville (15), Colorado State (10), Missouri (10) and New Mexico (10) make up the rest of the top five.

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