March 8, 2018
#TGW: Up with the White and Gold
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech will have to Yellow Jackets representing at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Texas on March 9-10 as juniors Avery Bartlett and Jeanine Williams will compete in the 800 meters and 60m hurdles, respectively.
Bartlett qualified in the 800 meters where he’s run well all year. He’s placed in the top five times this year, including two first-place finishes at the Bob Pollock Invitational and Charlie Thomas Invitational. Against an ultra-competitive field, consisting of many of the opponents he’ll see at NCAAs, at the Iowa State Classic, Bartlett finished seventh.
Currently the holder of Georgia Tech’s indoor school record in the 800 (1:47.32 – 2017 ACC Championships), Bartlett was just 0.26 shy of that mark at this year’s ACC Championships, where he finished fifth overall.
While currently ranking ninth in the country, he’ll enter the as the seventh-best time in the as two other student-athletes are competing in another event. Bartlett has faced Bryce Hoppel (Kansas) and Isaiah Harris (Penn State) earlier this season at the Iowa State Classic as they sit second and sixth in the race, respectively. He’ll also face Robert Heppenson (Wake Forest – fourth) and John Lewis (Clemson – third) just two weeks after the conference meet.
Williams qualified in the 60m hurdles, where she’s led the ACC all season. Ranking first in conference, fourth in the country and 22nd in the world, Williams set a career-best mark of 8.02 at the Clemson Invitational to finish second overall – just 0.04 off the 11-year-old school record. She finished first or second in every competition this season except her final regular-season meet at Tiger Paw, but immediately rebounded to win her first conference title.
The two-time ACC Performer of the Week was also selected to represent Jamaica at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in England after being the highest-ranking Jamaican in the 60m hurdles this year, but chose to participate in the NCAAs after winning the at ACCs.
The Kingston, Jamaica native has also already seen most of the few names above her. USC’s Anna Cockrell and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Kentucky were both at the Tiger Paw Invitational where they placed second and third, respectively, in the heat. Williams has not faced USC’s Dior Hall, who has only competed in three meets this season.
The NCAA Indoor Championships will take place in College Station, Texas at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on March 9-10. Prelims are on March 9, with the 60m hurdles being scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET and the 800 being slated for 8:15 p.m. ET. Their March 10’s finals are currently back-to-back with hurdles at 6:20 p.m. and men’s 800 at 6:30 p.m.
The championships will be broadcast live on ESPN3, WatchESPN and the ESPN app, with coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET on March 9 and starting at 5 p.m. ET on March 10. A re-air of the championship will take place starting at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 11 on ESPN2.
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