FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Anchored by three qualifiers in the men’s hammer, Georgia’s track and field teams had five individuals either advance to the finals or the semifinals during the opening day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., on Wednesday.

In addition to the trio of hammer throwers, senior Justin Gaymon advanced to the semifinals in the 400-meter hurdles for the fourth year in a row and junior Chris Hill made the first step towards defending his NCAA title in the javelin by advancing to the finals.

The Bulldogs got an early boost during the meet’s opening event as all three hammer throwers qualified for the finals. Senior Nate Rolfe jumpstarted the success by unleashing the third-longest mark of his career (216 feet, 5 inches) to finish sixth after fouling on his first two throws. Rolfe, who was the runner-up at the NCAA East Regional, finished eighth at the 2007 national meet but did not qualify for the NCAAs last season.

Junior John Freeman earned his first trip to the hammer finals at an NCAA meet with a career-best effort, also on his third attempt. Freeman, who was 17th in the qualifying round last year, launched an effort of 215-1 to take seventh place overall. His former personal-best throw was 211-5, which gave him fourth place at the 2009 Southeastern Conference Championships.

Georgia’s third qualifier for the hammer finals was junior Branislav Danis. Danis had a top throw of 211-4 on his opening attempt to be the ninth of 12 qualifiers. While this is Danis’ first time competing at the Division I national meet, the Central Arizona transfer was a two-time NJCAA champion in the hammer in 2006 and 2007.

The Bulldogs have never had three All-Americans in one event during the same season. However, Georgia has had a pair of competitors earn All-American honors in the men’s hammer in 2003 (Lucais MacKay, Panagiotis Mavraganis), 2002 (Mavraganis, Andras Haklits) and 1992 (Jan Bielecki, Boris Stoikos).

Hill needed just one throw to lock down his invitation to the javelin finals following a lengthy rain delay. Coming into the meet with the third-longest throw in the nation (265-10), Hill opened with a throw of 234-4 before passing on his final two attempts. His effort was the second longest of the day behind USC’s Corey White (254-10).

Hill became Georgia’s first national champion in the men’s javelin in 2008 and is attempting to win the first back-to-back NCAA crowns for the Bulldogs since Andras Haklits accomplished the feat in the hammer (2001-02).

On the track, senior Justin Gaymon won his heat in the 400 hurdles with second-fastest time of the day to advance to his fourth straight NCAA semifinals in the event. Gaymon, who has the second-fastest time in the country this year (48.86), crossed the finish line in 50.07 to automatically qualify for Thursday’s semifinal round.

Gaymon was an All-American in the event in 2007 and 2008, although he was disqualified in the finals last year for a trail-leg violation.

Attempting to corral his first All-America certificate since 2006, senior Adam Sarafian cleared a season-best mark in the pole vault of 17-2.75 on his third attempt. But Sarafian finished in a four-way tie for 15th place since he and the other three tied at 15th missed their first two attempts at 17-2.75. Fourteen competitors who cleared the height on either their first or second attempt advanced to the finals.

Sarafian, whose career-best mark is 17-5.50 set in 2006, completed his career with the Bulldogs on Thursday after graduating from UGA in May.

Competing at her first Division I NCAA Championships, junior Michelle Thompson came into the women’s javelin with the seventh-best mark (177-10) in the nation, but fell short in qualifying for the finals. Thompson opened with a throw of 144 feet before tallying a foul on her second attempt. Her third and final throw traveled 156-8 in the rain, which was around two and a half feet and two spots out of advancing.

Sophomore Georgina Nembhard, who is competing in both the 100 and 200 at the meet, clocked her third-fastest time of the year (11.59) in the opening round of the 100 to take 23rd. Nembhard finished five spots away from advancing to the semifinal round and will now prepare for the first found of the 200 on Thursday.

In the long jump, senior Kevin Dickson recorded two fair attempts out of three to finish with a top mark of 24-1.75. Dickson, who was making his first appearance at an NCAA meet, finished 26th in the event’s prelims. He clinched his spot at the meet by winning the NCAA East Regional with a personal-best mark of 24-9.

Junior Israel Machovec kicks off the day for Georgia on Thursday in the qualifying round of the discus at 2 p.m. EDT. Nembhard is scheduled to compete in the opening round of the 200 at 7:10 p.m. to begin the action on the track.

Live results and recaps during the next three days of the NCAA Championships will be located at georgiadogs.com.

Friday’s Results
Name Event Mark / Place
Nate Rolfe* Hammer throw 216 feet, 5 inches / 6th
Branislav Danis* Hammer throw 211-8 / 9th
John Freeman* Hammer throw +215-1 / 7th
Kevin Dickson Long jump 24-1.75 / 26th
Adam Sarafian Pole vault 17-2.75 / T15th
Michelle Thompson Javelin 156-8 / 14th
Chris Hill* Javelin 234-4 / 2nd
Georgina Nembhard 100-meter dash 11.59 / 23rd
Justin Gaymon^ 400m hurdles 50.07 / 2nd
* – qualified for event’s finals, ^ – qualified for event’s semifinals. + – personal-best mark

- Georgia Sports Communications