LEXINGTON, Ky. — The 12th-ranked Georgia track and field team is in eighth place with,11 points at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships following Saturday’s action.

The Lady Bulldogs scored two points on Saturday and were in 11th place headed into the final day of competition. On the men’s side, Arkansas (37) is leading while the Lady Razorbacks (45) are also in first place in the women’s competition.

Georgia also had four team members qualify in five events for Sunday’s finals.

“I thought we had a couple bright spots today and did a good job of getting our top people qualified for (Sunday),” said head coach Wayne Norton. “I was proud of the efforts of our four guys who scored. With some of the other performances like Ross Ridgewell’s in the 800, who was competing for the first time this year, I believe we still have a shot at getting into the top half of the conference finishers.”

Tommy Barrineau repeated his 2008 performance by taking fifth in the heptathlon with 5,278 points. Barrineau had a personal-best time of 8.58 in the 60-meter hurdles to help lock down his four points.

Also scoring in the heptathlon was Cory Harris. Harris wrapped up his competition by registering a career-best 1000 time of 2:50.86 as he scored 5,120 points to improve his No. 2 spot in the Bulldog record books.

After finishing fourth in the high jump in 2008, senior Kevin Dickson took sixth after equaling his personal-best mark (6 feet, 9 inches). This was Dickson’s first high jump attempt of the season after battling a string of injuries. Dickson’s three points were Georgia’s first points of the meet. Later in the day, he also finished 10th in the long jump with a top effort of 22-11.75.

Junior Daniel Averso finished 11th in the high jump after earning runner-up honors at last year’s meet.

Fellow junior Israel Machovec came into the meet ranked ninth in the conference and was able to improve one spot to score for the Bulldogs. Machovec recorded a pair of personal-best marks with the longest being a throw of 56-11.50 on his fourth attempt. Also in the shot, junior Geno Atkins had a season-best effort of 55-7 to finish 10th.

Senior Sarah Madebach scored the only points of the day for the Lady Bulldogs after taking seventh in the 3000. Madebach led eventual winner Sarah Bowman (Tennessee) and the rest of the field for almost half of the race before being the seventh runner across the finish line (9:41.64). This more than likely marked the final collegiate race for Madebach, who has one SEC cross country title and two conference steeplechase crowns on her resume.

Norton was also optimistic with the crew who advanced to the finals in their respective events. In the men’s 200, freshman Torrin Lawrence, who is No. 2 in the NCAA with a time of 20.77, won the prelims with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 20.90. Lawrence, who will be running on the 4×400 relay Sunday, is attempting to become Georgia’s first SEC indoor 200 champion.

Senior Justin Gaymon won his heat in the 400 with a time of 47.29 to advance to Sunday’s finals and give himself a shot at defending his conference crown in the event. Gaymon, who was fourth overall in the prelims, had the third-fastest time in the league coming into the meet (46.63) behind Lawrence (46.18), who did not run in the 400.

Gaymon, who stands at the No. 2 spot in the school record books in the 60 hurdles (7.86), also advanced to finals in the event after grabbing the ninth and final spot. Gaymon was fourth in his heat after clocking a 7.97, which was only .01 ahead of South Carolina’s Charlton Rolle for the final spot.

Ridgewell made his first race of the 2009 season a memorable one after advancing to the finals in the 800. Ridgewell finished second in his heat and fifth overall with a provisional qualifying time of 1:49.82. The Australian native finished fifth at last year’s SEC meet and third at the NCAA Championships to become an All-American.

Also of note, senior Kris Ward finished with a career-best 800 time of 1:52.64 to take 13th and move to the ninth spot in Georgia’s indoor all-time list.

After 2006 SEC mile champion Natalie Picchetti was the runner-up in the event for the Lady Bulldogs during the past two years, freshman Kristie Krueger made her first step towards scoring in the mile by qualifying for the finals. Krueger finished eighth in the prelims with a time of 4:54.05.

Junior Taylor Adams shot to the No. 7 spot in the record books in the women’s 800 after crossing the finish line in 2:11.62. Adams finished 11th overall, which was two spots and just more than a second from qualifying from the finals.

Although she missed the 60 final by three spots, sophomore Georgina Nembhard improved her spot in the school record books with a personal-best time of 7.51. Nembhard switched places with sophomore teammate Odeika Bent on the all-time list, taking over the No. 8 spot.

Nembhard also clocked a personal-best time of 24.36 to finish 14th in the 200. Her time moved her to the ninth spot on the school’s all-time list.

In the women’s pole vault, senior Julianne Toto tied her career-best mark after clearing 12-9.50, but finished out of the top eighth in 11th.

- Georgia Sports Communications