Georgia got their split squad weekend started with a bang in Arkansas.

Senior Cory Holman led the charge, winning the heptathlon at the Razorback Invitational.

Holman had 3,316 points after his events Friday with three career-best performances.

This included a 14 foot 1 ¼ inch pole vault, the best of his career.

It did not matter where the team was playing, Georgia still put on strong performances in Arkansas and Nebraska. SEAN TAYLOR/Staff

Saturday Holman was back at it, adding 2,493 points to clinch the win and the first automatic NCAA qualifier for the Bulldogs.

He clocked a second career-best in the 60-meter hurdles with an 8.02, his fastest since 2010.

“That was really a nice performance by Cory. He improved quite a bit from his score last year,” Georgia head coach Wayne Norton said. “That kind of improvement is the icing on the cake for him, being able to get up in the national rankings. We’re all excited about it. It’s the kind of thing where you’re not really surprised, but it’s something he’s been waiting for.”

With a 5,809-point heptathlon total, the Ohio native topped Tommy Barrineau’s, 5,700 point total, the previous Bulldog record in the event.

For the women, junior Saniel Atkinson grabbed her first ‘W’ of the year in the high jump, clearing 5-9.75. She added a third place finish in the triple jump with a 39-9.35.

“One of our goals was for Saniel to win the high jump this weekend so we are pleased she got there,” Norton said. “She had some six-foot jumps today and although she skipped a height and probably through off her rhythm a little, I think she is making progress in getting to the level she wants to be.”

Senior Colleen Felix jumped out to 12.58 meters, placing fourth in the women’s triple jump. Freshman stand out Morgann Leleux added another top five finish to her résumé, as she finished fourth in the women’s pole vault with a 4.18 meter vault.

Adding to Holman’s performance on the men’s side, Aaron LaGarde made the podium with a third place finish in the triple jump after a 25.74 meter final jump. Freshman Garrett Scantling finished ninth in the heptathlon, and moved into fourth in the Georgia record books for the event.

The heptatheletes, pole-vaulters and triple jumpers will rejoin their Nebraska-bound members when the Bulldogs travel to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Elite meet next weekend.

Lawrence keeps up torrid pace 

A Bulldog contingent was in Lincoln, Nebraska for the Mark Colligan Invitational on Saturday.

Senior Torrin Lawrence was back at it again, this time winning the men’s 400-meter event clocking in at 46.89 seconds, the second-best time in the event this season.

Freshman Chris Norton rounded out the podium, finishing third in the 400, 1.71 seconds behind Lawrence.

The 4×400 relay team brought home its second victory in as many weeks with a time of 3:11.72. Lawrence and Norton were half of that squad along with freshman Drew Branch and Eric Mills.

“Torrin said ‘This isn’t where I want to be, but it’s a lot better than where I was,’ so his progress is not going unnoticed by us or him,” Norton said.

Justin Welch also brought home another victory, winning the men’s weight throw.

The Luckey, Ohio native launched a throw of 67-2.75, the second best throw of his career and his best this season.

The throw was also good enough to move him to No. 8 on this year’s national performance list.

“Welch did not throw what he wanted to throw, but this puts him up there on the national performance list,” said Norton.

For the Lady Bulldogs, sophomore Hilenn James brought home another Bulldog victory in the shot putt. The Trinidad and Tobago native threw a 50-6.25 beating out the runner up by four inches.

In the 800-meter event, sophomore Megan Malasarte placed second with a time 2:09.68, similar to her season opener with a 2:09.09. The Fayetteville native was followed by fellow teammates Carly Hamilton (fourth, 2:11.12), sophomore Stella Christoforou (seventh, 2:11.53), and freshman Brooke Koblitz (13th, 2:16.36).

Overall, the Georgia squad saw a lot of improvements upon past performances and Norton sees the team being “right where they need to be.”

“All these marks, they are good marks for the month for January,” he said.  ”The Nebraska meet was a good meet for us. We had a lot of good performances. That means we had some best marks of the year or best marks ever. Usually when you have standouts on a team, your better people are the ones who will do better things week-to-week for you and this week was no different.”

Next weekend the entire Bulldog squad will travel to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Elite meet.