Georgia’s Maicel Uibo First Dog To Be Named Bowerman Semifinalist

Release from Georgia Athletics:

Georgia junior Maicel Uibo has been named one of 10 semifinalists for The Bowerman Trophy, which is collegiate track and field’s highest individual honor.

Uibo, a native of Polva, Estonia, is one of four competitors from the Southeastern Conference on the list. He is the first member of the Georgia men’s team to be named a semifinalist for track and field’s version of the Heisman Trophy. Men’s finalists for The Bowerman Trophy will be announced on July 8.

Last year, true freshman Kendell Williams from the women’s team was included as a semifinalist.

Uibo defended his NCAA decathlon title last week to become only the fourth competitor in history to win two in a row in the event. He scored 10 of the Bulldogs’ 13 points en route to a 15th-place team finish. Uibo scored a school record 8,356 points, which makes him the No. 4 all-time collegiate performer with the No. 4 all-time NCAA performance.

Also in 2015, Uibo became only the third competitor in history to win his third consecutive SEC decathlon title after scoring a then school record and current meet record score of 8,326, which is the No. 5 all-time collegiate performance. He also set an SEC meet record with a clearance of 7 feet, 1 3/4 inches in the decathlon’s high jump.

In addition, Uibo shot to ninth on the Bulldogs’ all-time top-10 list after clearing 17-0.75 in the pole vault at both the SEC and NCAA Outdoor Championships and swept the decathlon high jump, discus and long jump competitions at the SEC and NCAA meets.

Indoors, Uibo scored his third-best career heptathlon score of 5,909 to take second at the SEC Championships, thanks in part to winning the high and long jumps and pole vault. He moved to No. 4 in Georgia’s indoor record books with a 17-2.75 clearance in the pole vault during the regular season. Uibo sustained an injury during the NCAA Indoor Championships that forced him to drop out.

For his work in the classroom, Uibo was named SEC Indoor Scholar Athlete of the Year and to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team.