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Thursday   10/29/2009 04:25:32
Dalhgren's Title Leads Georgia At NCAA Championships
by UGA Sports Communications
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  PDF:   Day 3 Results (.pdf)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. --- Senior Jennifer Dahlgren won her second straight national hammer throw title and Georgia tallied two additional All-American certificates at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Friday.

While junior Levern Spencer managed a third-place finish in the high jump, sophomore Nate Rolfe took eighth place in the men's hammer to give Georgia another pair of All-Americans with one more day of action to go.

The Lady Bulldogs have scored 17 points and are tied for sixth place with Texas and the Georgia men, thanks to Rolfe's finish, have tallied a point and are going into the final day of competition tied for 51st.

"This was a good day for us, but not a spectacular one," said head coach Wayne Norton. "The day started great with Jenny (Dahlgren) defending her title in the hammer and Nate (Rolfe) earning All-American honors and scoring. I am especially excited for Jenny since this was her last meet and since she bounced back from being defeated at the Drake Relays and indoors in the weight. The men are where they should be and could make up some ground in the hurdles and relay (on Friday). The women only have two events left, but will be in position to score in the top 10 if the javelin and 1500-meter run work out for us."

Dahlgren clinched the title when Southern Illinois junior Brittany Riley, who had a top mark of 227 feet, 4 inches during the meet, failed to top Dahlgren's opening throw of 228-2 in the finals. Following Riley's last attempt after the title was assured, Dahlgren, a Buenos Aires, Argentina, native, unleashed an NCAA meet and stadium record throw of 232 to highlight her final collegiate meet.

The previous meet record was 228-11, set by Florida's Candice Scott in 2004. Dahlgren's NCAA crown is the 10th outdoor national championship for the Lady Bulldogs and 21st overall in the program's history.

"I was shaking during all of my throws today and telling myself, 'Don't be a wimp.' This has been such an up and down year with some minor injuries so it is satisfying to end on a high note," said Dahlgren. "The crowd, especially our crew from Georgia, was great today and I am really, really thrilled to win an NCAA title and break the meet record during my last collegiate meet."

Dahlgren completes her career with Georgia as an eight-time All-American and with three NCAA individual titles. In addition to her pair of collegiate hammer throw championships, Dahlgren, a four-time Southeastern Conference champion, won the 2006 NCAA indoor title in the weight throw. Dahlgren's personal-best mark in the hammer throw (239-4), which she registered at this season's Spec Towns Invitational in Athens, is a school, collegiate and South American record and she also the school record holder in the weight throw (78-10.50).

The Lady Bulldogs benefited from 6 more points from Spencer in the high jump. Coming in as the No. 2 seed, Spencer reached a height of 6 feet after passing on her the first three bars and took third. After finishing tied for the eighth spot at the 2006 NCAA outdoor meet and runner-up at both the 2007 and 2006 indoor meets, Spencer is now a four-time All-American for Georgia.

Spencer, who is the outdoor school record holder in the event (6-3.50), cleared 5-10.75 at last year's national meet in Sacramento.

In the men's hammer, sophomore Nate Rolfe let go of a 213-foot throw on his third attempt to lock down eighth place and earn All-American honors during his first NCAA outdoor meet for the Bulldogs. Rolfe, who transferred from California, fouled on four of his throws, but was still able to score the Georgia men their first point of the meet.

Rolfe's All-American certificate is the 14th by a Georgia hammer thrower in the program's history. The Kenmore, Wash., native completed his season at the No. 8 spot in the Georgia record books.

On the track, sophomore Justin Gaymon, who will also be battling in the 4x400 relay finals on Saturday, advanced to the 400 hurdle finals for the first time in his career. Gaymon, who leads the nation in the event (49.25), clocked a 49.85 to finish second in his heat and third overall. His semifinal time was almost exactly a second faster than his 2006 NCAA semifinal time (50.86).

After already winning a Southeastern Conference title in the event, Gaymon will be gunning for an NCAA title at 1:05 p.m. EDT on Saturday.

Senior Sarah Gretzmacher wrapped up her career in red and black by scoring the second-most points in the heptathlon (5,306) during her career for 18th place. Trimming almost 5 seconds off of her 800 time from the 2006 NCAA meet, Gretzmacher, who sits at the No. 5 spot on Georgia's all-time list after tallying 5,350 points at this season's SEC meet, clocked a season-best 2:22.85 to finish 17th in the heptathlon's final event.

Gretzmacher began the day with the long jump, which is the heptathlon's fifth event. Despite a pair of fouls to end the event, Gretzmacher logged a jump of 17-11.50 on her opening attempt to finish 21st overall. In the javelin, Gretzmacher had her best throw of the day on her third attempt (119-8) to take 14th and score 600 more points.

In one of the final events of the day, senior David Dickens, who will be joining Gaymon in the 4x400 relay finals, crossed the finish line in 46.85 to take seventh in the second heat and finish 15th overall. Dickens wraps up his career in the 400 fourth in the Bulldog record books after his time of 45.91 at this season's SEC meet.

The final day of the NCAA Championships begins for Georgia with senior Krista Woodward, who was third at the 2006 national meet and has been named an All-American three times, competing in the javelin finals at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

A recap and live results from the NCAA Championships can be found at georgiadogs.com.

Team Standings
WOMEN MEN
1.Arizona State - 38 pts. 1.Florida State - 34 pts.
2.USC - 27 2.Auburn - 32
3.LSU - 26 3.LSU - 31
4.Texas Tech - 23 4.North Carolina - 26
5.Michigan - 22 5.Wisconsin - 22
6.Georgia - 17 6.Oregon - 20
6.Texas - 17 7.Arizona - 18
8.California - 16 8.Mississipppi - 18
9.UCLA - 15 9.Tennessee - 17
10.Texas A&M- 14 10.Kansas State, Kansas - 10

Georgia's results on Friday
$Jennifer Dahlgren (hammer throw - 1st) - *232 feet
$Nate Rolfe (hammer - 8th) - 213 feet
Sarah Gretzmacher (heptathlon - 18th: long jump - 17-11.50, javelin - 119-8, 800 - 2:22.85) - 5,306 pts.
$Levern Spencer (high jump - 3rd) - 6 feet
David Dickens (400 semifinals - 15th) - 46.85
^Justin Gaymon (400 hurdle semifinals - 3rd) - 49.85
$ - All-American
* - meet record
^ - advanced to event finals

Georgia's 2007 NCAA outdoor All-Americans
Jill Steffens - 10,000 (eighth place)
Jennifer Dahlgren - Hammer (first place)
Nate Rolfe - Hammer (first place)
Levern Spencer - High jump (third place)

Georgia's schedule for Saturday
Name (Event - all finals) Time (EDT)
Krista Woodward (javelin) 1 p.m.
Justin Gaymon (400 hurdles) 1:05 p.m.
Natalie Picchetti (1500) 2:20 p.m.
J. Gaymon, D. Dickens M. Proctor, B. Etelman (4x400 ) 2:35 p.m.



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