This weekend Georgia’s men’s and women’s indoor track and field squads travel to Blacksburg, Va. for the Virginia Tech Elite Meet.

This is Georgia’s fourth meet of the indoor season and first in the month of February.

Things will get going Friday at 5 p.m. with the women’s long jump and go through the men’s 200m dash at 8:30 p.m.

On Saturday the events will get underway 11 a.m. with the women’s high jump and pole vault.

WAYNE NORTON

The meet will close out that afternoon with the men’s 4×400 relay at 3:20 p.m.

“This weekend is usually one of the most important during the indoor season historically because we are three weeks away from the SEC, so we need to demonstrate that we are on track to be ready for the conference meet,” Georgia head coach Wayne Norton said.

The 38 Blacksburg-bound Bulldogs will look to build upon past performances as they get into the core stretch of their season in preparation of the 2012 Outdoor Track and Field SEC championships, which will have the Bulldogs returning to Lexington, Ky. the weekend of Feb. 24-26.

For the men, seniors Torrin Lawrence and Cory Holman and sophomore Justin Welch will look to continue their recent successes and improve upon past performances.

Lawrence holds the sixth-fastest 400-meter time this season and has anchored the 4×400 team to wins the past two weekends.

Holman, who broke the school’s heptathlon record last week at the Razorback Invitational, currently stands fourth in the country on the performance list.

Welch will look to win the men’s weight throw for the third straight week and improve upon the nation’s ninth-longest throw of 67-2.75, which he achieved at last week’s Mark Colligan Invitational in Nebraska.

For the Lady Bulldogs, senior Colleen Felix and freshman Morgann Leleux are trying to continue their impressive starts to the spring.

Last week, Felix finished fourth in the triple jump and will look to improve upon her runner-up finish at last year’s Virginia Tech Elite meet.

Leleux has placed in the top five in each of her collegiate contests.

Last week she placed fourth in the pole vault, and the Louisiana native also owns the best vault of any freshman in the country this season at 13 feet, 8.5 inches.

“Our SEC results have been directly related to our February performances over the last several years,” Norton said. “The better we are the first two weekends in the month, the better we are at the end of the month.”

Bulldogs receive first commitment for 2012 class

As many knew, Feb. 1 was a busy one at the Butts-Mehre Building, as it marked National Signing Day.

This was the first day eligible student-athletes could sign and send in their letter-of-intent to their school for the fall school year.

Many Bulldog fans often are following the new football signings and commitments that day, but it was also the first day to learn what Bulldogs will be on the track and field teams down the road.

“Our signing starts [Feb. 1], but it goes all the way until August,” Norton said. “It starts today, but we’ll get [signees] the next 3-5 weeks.”

The Bulldogs’ first signee was sprinter Shanae Miller.

The Bahama native is a world junior champion as well as an Olympic champion in the 400-meter sprint.

“She could have gone anywhere, not just in the country, but in the world,” Norton said. “She is the best sprinter under the age of 18.”

Teams stay in top 25

Heading into the Virginia Tech Elite Meet, both the women’s and men’s teams remain in the top 25 of the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association. The women dropped six spots from last week  and are ranked No. 19, while the men moved up a spot, sitting at No. 22.