Top-10 finish, semifinal bid highlights day for UGA
TOKYO, Japan --- Former Lady Bulldog Shaunae Miller-Uibo advanced to the 200-meter dash semifinal and Georgia legend Keturah Orji posted a top-10 finish in the triple jump final on the third day of the track and field action in Tokyo, Japan, at the Olympics in Olympic Stadium on Sunday.
This was the third of 10 days of track and field events as the Games continue.
Miller-Uibo had the fastest reaction time off the line (.137) and qualified automatically to the 200m semifinal thanks to her second-place finish in the heat. Miller-Uibo ran a 22.40 and will now advance to the next round arriving on Monday.
A native of Nassau, Bahamas, Miller-Uibo is the defending Olympic champion in the 400m after her lunge for the line in Rio. She ran a 50.88 to win the 2013 NCAA indoor 400m title for the Lady Bulldogs and remains No. 12 on the all-time collegiate performer list. Miller-Uibo is second on both the school's all-time indoor list (50.88) and outdoor list (50.70). This marks her third Olympics.
Qualifying 11th out of 12 competitors, Orji started the triple jump final with the longest mark of her competition at 14.59 meters (47 feet, 10 ½ inches). This effort gave her a seventh-place finish in the final.
A native of Mount Olive, N.J., Orji was three centimeters short of the bronze medal in the triple jump at the 2016 Olympics after her fourth-place showing was the best for an American woman in the event in history. Awarded The Bowerman in 2018 for being the top collegiate track and field athlete, the NCAA Woman of the Year was a 15-time All-American and eight-time NCAA individual champion who helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to the 2018 national team title. Orji set school, collegiate and American records in her featured event during her legendary career in Athens.
The Olympic track and field competition continues Monday morning as former Lady Bulldog Morgann Leleux will pole vault in the qualifying round at 6:20 a.m. ET. Miller-Uibo is scheduled to line up in the semifinals of the 200m at 6:25 a.m. Later that day (occurring on Tuesday morning in Tokyo), former Bulldog Charles Grethen will race in round one of the 1500m at 8:05 p.m. and Miller-Uibo will line up in the 200m final at 8:50 p.m. if she gets out of the semifinal.
Results and recaps from the Olympics will be found at georgiadogs.com. News and updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams are always located on Twitter/Instagram at @UGATrack.