University of Georgia Women's Track & Field

Caryl Smith Gilbert earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Women’s Coach of the Year honors after the Georgia wo...

A “Double Dawg” graduate from the University of Georgia and an Athens native, Adam Tribble was added as the program’s head cross country coach and assistant coach for distance in June of 2024. Tribble’s corps posted six improvements to the indoor and outdoor all-time top 10 lists during his first track seasons back in Athens. Sophomore Ryan Olree highlighted the improvements with a school record (28:38.98) in the 10,000 meters while also clocking UGA’s fourth-best 5000m (13:59.88) to take 11th at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships. In addition, Olree had the fifth-fastest outdoor 5000m (13:57.74, ninth at SECs) and the fifth-fastest indoor 3000m (8:05.93) in school history. While fellow sophomore Conner Rutherford posted a fresh No. 5 time in the indoor 5000m at the 2025 Music City Challenge under Tribble’s tutelage, freshman Izzy Yonas was 13th in the 10,000m at the conference meet and clocked a 34:56.17 at her first Raleigh Relays. In his first cross country season with the Bulldogs, Tribble guided Olree to a 19th-place finish (30:34.9) and All-Region honors at the NCAA South Regional. Olree led his teammates in all five races in 2024. For the women, Tribble began the development of Yonas, an in-state product who scored at all five meets and was UGA’s top finisher in three of them. In addition, a pair of underclassmen in Rutherford and Kate Robinson strengthened the case for future optimism in Tribble’s distance program. Rutherford was the second Bulldog acros

Darryl Shaw was added to the Bulldog staff as an assistant coach and Director of Creative Operations & Recruiting in July 2023. A native of Fayetteville, N.C., Shaw arrived in Athens after spending a year and half as the Assistant Director of Graphic Design at Duke. He designed graphics for print and social media for all 27 of Duke’s varsity sports. Shaw was the lead on the artistic front on the campaign for head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final game at Duke, including billboards and on court branding. Shaw worked closely and traveled with the Blue Devil track and field and cross country seasons throughout the year. Shaw was a graduate transfer at Southern California where he earned All-PAC 12 Honors in the triple jump and graduated with a Master’s degree in Digital Social Media. Between undergraduate and graduate school, Shaw interned at Turner Sports (TNT) where he sat in on shows such as the NBA on TNT and Inside the NBA and helped produced content for NBA.com and WNBA.com. Shaw was a triple jumper and a captain at UNC-Chapel Hill from 2015-2019. He earned First-Team All-ACC Honors in the triple jump along with multiple Second Team All-ACC Honors and was a member of the UNC Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Shaw is in the top six in UNC history in both the indoor and outdoor triple jump. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Media & Journalism and a second degree in Communications.

Email Coach Babbit With the arrival of his 29th year in red and black and in his 41st year overall coaching, Don Babbitt has transformed the Georgia throws program into arguably the most continually talented group in the country. And along a total of 31 NCAA champions and 153 All-Americans, the dean of SEC throws coaches is perhaps the most accomplished throwing coach in the world. Babbitt was promoted to Associate Head Coach in June 2015 and since his promotion, the Bulldogs have finished in the top six nationally 18 times, including two national team titles and a trio of runner-up finishes. Under Babbitt’s guidance since 1996, Georgia’s throwers have reached a continued high level of success. The Bulldog throwers have captured 16 NCAA titles, earned 118 All-American certificates and won 65 SEC titles since Babbitt arrived in Athens. Thanks to the performances listed above and others, Babbitt has garnered the following honors while coaching at Georgia: 2003 USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year 2007 USTFCCCA East Region Women’s Throws Coach of the Year 2009 USTFCCCA East Region Men’s Throws Coach of the Year Babbitt has also had mammoth success at the international level, including have four current or former Bulldog in the 2024 Olympics (Stephanie Ratcliffe, Ana da Silva, Denzel Comenentia, Marie-Therese Obst): 58 athletes who have competed at the Olympic Games/World Championships His throwers have captured 26 medals in international competition His throwers have wo

Karim Abdel Wahab, who is a native of Egypt, joined Georgia’s staff guiding the sprinters and hurdlers in July 2023 after serving in a similar role for the University South Carolina team during the 2019-23 seasons and has made a mammoth impact in Athens. Abdel Wahab was elevated to Associate Head Coach prior to the 2025-26 academic year in Athens. Most recently, Abdel Wahab’s sprinters and hurdlers played pivotal roles in the Bulldogs collecting their first NCAA women’s outdoor team crown and the men and women each taking second at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships. Abdel Wahab’s work did not go unnoticed as he was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Outdoor National Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year as well as the South Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year both indoors and outdoors. Outdoors, his women’s competitors exploded for 34 points as Georgia ran away from the nearest competition for the national championship. Junior Aaliyah Butler became the No. 5 all-time collegiate performer by winning the NCAA 400-meter dash with a school record 49.26. Also clocking a 49.44 during the regular season, Butler captured the Southeastern Conference 400m crown as well. She combined with Michelle Smith, Dejanea Oakley and Sydney Harris in the 4x400m relay at Nationals to put an exclamation on the team victory with a gold medal performance (school record, 3:23.62, No. 8 all-time). Butler’s scorching anchor leg of 48.79 ranks as the third

Kyle Stevenson was added as an assistant for sprints at the University of Georgia in July 2025 after serving as Mississippi State’s Director of Track & Field...

Maggie Davis joined the Bulldog program during the 2025 summer as a distance assistant and an assistant meet director. Davis arrived in Athens after coaching at Black Hill State University in South Dakota for two years. Davis brought in the top freshman distance class in Yellow Jacket School history for the 2024 fall cross country season. The BHSU men also posted their best finish in school history at the 2018 NCAA Division II South Central Regional, taking sixth and having an All-Region performer. The Mount Vernon, Iowa, native led the 400 meters/400m hurdles/800m groups, coaching them to multiple top 10 all-time marks in those events and in the 4x400m relay. Under Davis’ tutelage, Braden Anderson (men’s 800m) was a three-time bronze medal finish at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Championships, set indoor and outdoor school records in the 800m and qualified for the 2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships. Prior to her days at BHSU, Davis was a volunteer cross and track assistant coach at her alma mater, Iowa State, from July 2022 to July 2023. In addition, she is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). Davis graduated from ISU in the spring 2022 with a bachelor's and master's degree in Dietetics & Exercise Science where she was a middle-distance runner for the Cyclones. During her five years, she was named Academic All-Big 12 First Team five times and was nine times named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Davis also served as a strength an

Melia Cox was hired as an assistant coach for sprints and hurdles and the Bulldogs’ Director of External Operations during the 2025 summer. A Long Beach, Calif., native, Cox spent the 2024-25 academic year at Cal State Fullerton where she also coached the sprinters and hurdlers. Under her tutelage, the Titans went 1-2-3 in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2025 Big West Championships. Cox guided Abel Jordan (native of Spain) to under-23 records in both the 60m (6.54) and 60m hurdles (7.53). Jordan advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 60mH, making him the first Cal State Fullerton hurdler to accomplish the feat. In addition, Cox coached Joshua Hornsby to a trip to the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 110m hurdles, also a first for the Titans. Cox, who was a 2016 Olympic Trials competitor, competed for USC’s track and field teams from 2011-15 where she competed at three separate NCAA Championships, earning All-American honors in the triple jump, 100m hurdles and 4x100m relay. Caryl Smith Gilbert coached Cox from 2013-16 in L.A. The 11-time Pac-12/MPSF scorer also captured the 2014 Pac-12 outdoor triple jump crown.

Ryan Baily began coaching Georgia’s multi-event athletes, pole vaulters and jumpers in December 2023 at Georgia after serving in the same role at Colorado State. Most recently, Baily’s group played a key role in clinching the program’s first NCAA women’s outdoor title. Elena Kulichenko posted a season best of 1.96 meters/6 feet, 5 inches to win her first outright high jump crown in her final collegiate competition. First-year triple jumper Skylynn Townsend surprised the field by taking sixth with the seventh-best mark in school history (13.52m/44-4.25) to help the Bulldogs leave the competition behind by 26 points at the meet’s conclusion. Kulichenko tied for the 2025 NCAA indoor title thanks to a clearance of 1.94m/6-4.25. This performance came two weeks after Kulichenko became the No. 12 all-time collegiate performer with a school record mark of 1.95m/6-4.75 that earned her runner-up honors at the Southeastern Conference Championships. While Townsend locked down the eighth-best indoor triple jump in UGA history (13.36m/43-10), Ella Rush was an NCAA indoor qualifier after scoring 4,217 points in the pentathlon and was third in the heptathlon at the SEC Outdoor Championships. The men also generated three SEC crowns and four First Team All-America certificates in 2015. Riyon Rankin built on his runner-up performance at the NCAA Indoor Championships to win the SEC outdoor championship with a personal best showing of 2.29m/7-6, which ranked tops in the nation and No. 3 in UGA hi