Georgia women’s track and field secured its first indoor national title since 2018, and coach Caryl Smith Gilbert secured the first indoor title of her illustrious career at the NCAA Indoor Championship in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The national title comes at a particularly impressive time for Georgia, as just this past offseason it saw substantial roster turnover. With the new group of freshmen and transfers, Smith Gilbert has led her new squad to the ultimate goal, and with a new state-of-the-art track facility recently unveiled in Athens, the championship represents a major shift towards Georgia becoming a potential powerhouse in the sport. 

The meet opened with qualifier races, with the top eight overall athletes for an event advancing for a chance at a title. Even in the preliminary races, several Georgia women added to their athletic career resumes, improving personal bests and even contesting school records as they vied for a coveted finals spot.

Adaejah Hodge posted a season-best 22.28 preliminary time to earn a day two spot, moving up to being the fourth all-time collegiate performer and shattering the 200-meter school record. Adding to the books, Hodge also tied the second-fastest 60-meter split in school history with 7.12, being the only freshman to advance to the final. 

Kaila Jackson made her fourth consecutive career finals bid in the 60-meter, with her time of 7.20 netting a seventh overall. The senior already boasts a triad of career top 3 finishes in the NCAA final. Her freshman teammate Maddi Cooper soared to a fourth-place overall mark (8.04) in just her first 60-meter hurdles appearance at Nationals.

In 400-meter prelims, Shaquena Foote and Dejanea Oakley finished within .007 seconds of each other in their separate preliminary sections to take the last two spots in the final. Oakley advanced to the third final of her career, and Foote set her second-fastest career mark.

With the stage set with the women’s team qualifiers, Saturday brought the finals, where the women competed for crucial team points and a shot at a top-three placement. The result was nothing short of a dominant performance by the team.

Hodge added to her historic redshirt-freshman season in the 200-meter, winning her debut national title and Georgia’s first since Debbie Ferguson in 1996. Her mark of 22.22 broke the Georgia, facility and British Virgin Island records and is fourth all-time in NCAA history. In the 60-meter final, Hodge finished as the runner-up by .004 seconds, and Kaila Jackson took sixth in her fourth career scoring finish. Cooper also scored with her sixth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles.

Continuing Georgia’s title run, Oakley took the national title in the 400-meter with a career-best 50.47, claiming the second fastest time in school history. Foote also added to the scorecard with a fifth-place performance. 

For field events, Nina Ndubuisi earned a third-place finish in the shot put. Ndubuisi’s best throw of 18.16 meters set a new school record. Also adding to the team’s total was Skylynn Townsend, coming in eighth in the triple jump final. 

Rounding off a day of top performances, a 4×400-meter team consisting of Foote, Oakley, Skylar Brazzell and Vimbayi Maisvorewa reset the school record in 3:24.48, good for the runner-up placement in the event and the fourth fastest split in collegiate history. 

The Georgia women combined for 53 points, with nine points being between them and second-place Oregon. A combination of record-setting efforts and high-placing performances garnered Georgia women’s track and field its first NCAA indoor title in eight years.

With the indoor season over, Georgia will take to Georgia Tech for the Yellow Jacket Invitational Friday, March 20, to kick off the outdoor season and its potential repeat campaign.