Georgia sophomore Tommy Barrineau scored 3,725 points and is in fourth place following the first five events of the decathlon at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships in Auburn, Ala., on Thursday.

After the first three events of the heptathlon, freshman Shaquita Young was in 11th place with 2,740 points.

Despite a two-hour delay because of storms in the area, Barrineau led the way for Georgia, freshman Jerrod Richardson was in fifth place (3,696) and junior Cory Harris is holding down the 12th spot with 3,390 points. While Young had three personal-best efforts in the heptathlon, the Bulldog trio
combined for nine in the decathlon.

“The guys did a really great job today, especially Barrineau and Richardson,” said head coach Wayne Norton. “Both are right up there going into the second day and Harris is also in good shape with some of his
stronger events to come. I think they gave us a chance to score some points tomorrow and I don’t think we could be in any better shape after the first day. Coach (Shawn) Wilbourn has done a great job preparing these guys to peak in the postseason.”

Norton was also pleased with Young’s second career heptathlon.

“She is out there trying her best and I think she represents what our women’s team is going through right now which is a group of underclassmen trying to prove themselves for the future,” Norton said.

The trio of Bulldogs opened the meet with three career-best times. Richardson became the third Bulldog of the season to break the 11-second barrier after clocking a 10.95 for fourth place. Taking fifth in the opening event was Harris, who finished with a personal best of 11.05. Barrineau, who won the second heat, finished seventh with a time of 11.20.

All three also recorded the top marks of their career in the shot put. Barrineau led the way after finishing fifth with a mark of 43-7.25 as Harris was ninth after launching an effort of 40-6. Richardson, who improved after each throw, took 12th with a mark of 36-5.75.

Barrineau scored a personal-best and NCAA provisional qualifying 7,053 at the Spec Towns meet earlier this season to move to No. 4 in the record books. His point total following the first day at that meet was 3,628.

Young finished the first four events of her first SEC heptathlon with three personal bests. Young had a career-best time of 15.55 in the 100 hurdles to open the meet. She later followed with a shot put career best of 30-9 and one in the 200 (27.01) for 11th place.

The final three events of the heptathlon begin at 4 p.m. EDT on Friday and the decathlon’s final five events are scheduled to start at 3 p.m.. The first individual event is the women’s hammer at 3 p.m. and junior Josipa Jelicic and freshman Rachel Travis will be competing for the Georgia women.

Live results and a recap from the SEC Championships for the rest of the weekend will be located at georgiadogs.com.