Kate Hall

Kate Hall of Casco didn’t waste any time making a statement at her new college — the University of Georgia.

A sophomore, Kate opened the indoor track & field season for the Bulldogs last Saturday at the Orange and Purple Classic in Clemson, S.C. Kate competed in the 60-meter dash and long jump.

Kate finished third in the 60M dash with a time of 7.45 after running a 7.35 in the prelims. This time is the second fastest in history for the Lady Bulldogs and best since Olympic medalist Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie set the school record of 7.24 at the 1999 NCAA Indoor Championships. Her time places Kate eighth in the NCAA.

In the long jump, Kate finished second with a jump of 21-3.25 — first place went to teammate junior Keturah Orji, who reached 21-4.25 for the third time in her career. Her jump places Kate sixth all-time at UGA and currently ranks third in the NCAA. It will qualify Kate for the national meet in Texas in March.

Georgia tallied 13 collegiate victories in their 2017 indoor season opener and established nine improvements to the school’s all-time top-10 lists in its first of four regular season indoor meets.

“Kate is very happy with the coaching, training and overall team atmosphere at UGA,” reported her dad, Eric. “We expect Kate to continually improve with each upcoming meet with a focus on a peak performance for the national meet in March. The UGA team is saturated with world-class athletes. Kate trains everyday with the American record holder in the triple jump, who finished fourth in the 2016 Olympics.”

Her other training partner is a former NCAA long jump champion, who now jumps professionally for Asics.

“Training with athletes of this caliber provides a tremendous opportunity for Kate to achieve her lofty goals,” Eric Hall said.

Kate transferred from Iowa State to UGA.