University of Georgia Athletics
Oakley Seeing Her Work Pay Off
May 26, 2026 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
With an honest, astonished reaction to running the best in-competition 400 meters of her life, the fastest 400 in the world this outdoor season, and the second-fastest in collegiate history, Georgia's Dejanea Oakley went viral on social media during the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships earlier this month.
After crossing the finish line at Auburn's Hutsell-Rosen Track on May 17 to win her first individual SEC title, Oakley looked up at the time on the scoreboard, and her jaw dropped. She then put her hands on her head in the way people do when they can't quite believe what they're seeing.
The senior from Jamaica said she "got bombarded with messages, videos, everything. It was overwhelming."
Oakley was prepared to win the race, and she was prepared to run a sub-49-second time after doing so in practice, but she wasn't quite prepared for what followed her reaction to her 48.92 performance.
"I got turned into a meme! So now, every time someone says something shocking, my face is what they're using," said Oakley, who won the 400 at the NCAA Indoor Championships meet earlier this year.
The night before her final at the SEC meet, Oakley stood up during a team meeting, after being called on by Georgia Director of Track and Field Caryl Smith Gilbert, and told the room, "I'm going to win this."
Oakley was confident, but not cocky. She'd done the work in practice, she'd seen the numbers, and she knew that her best, or something close to it, was good enough to win. She also knew that there were several other very good 400 runners in the SEC. Arkansas' Kaylyn Brown placed second with a time of 49.54, which is the second-fastest in the world this year.
"Knowing that you're up against people who might be working just as hard as you, or even harder, and knowing that in practice you can make mistakes and get other reps to fix them, but in a track meet, it's just one go," Oakley said. "It's just everything has to be right, not perfect, in that moment, for you to get to what you want to get to."
Last Wednesday, Oakley joined teammate Adaejah Hodge on the watch list for the women's Bowerman Award, presented to the top athlete in collegiate track and field. The redshirt freshman Hodge, the 2026 SEC and NCAA indoor champion in the 200, has the fastest wind-legal 100 time in the world (10.77) and the fastest 200 time (21.92) in the country and fourth-fastest in the world. (Teammate Jonathan Simms' 44.02 is the third-fastest men's 400 in the world this year.)
There are some people who endure practice because they love the end product. There are others who love the grind of those practice sessions. Oakley knows which camp she belongs to.
"I like the results of practice; I don't like practice," she said with a big laugh. "No one likes practice. No, Adaejah loves practice. I've never heard of anyone who likes practice, and then there's Adaejah."
Before Oakley smashed Georgia's 400 record with her 48.92, former teammate Aaliyah Butler had the top mark. Butler, a 2024 Olympian who earned a gold medal as part of the U.S. 4x400 relay team, set the record at 49.26 when she won the NCAA Outdoor title last June. Butler, who turned pro last December, remains one of Oakley's closest friends and training partners.Â
"She was like, 'You couldn't even let my record stay for a year!" Oakley said of Butler's reaction. "She's so supportive. She saw when I hit that time in a practice session, and she was like, 'OK, now you've just got to go and do that on the track (in a meet). When I did it, she was one of the first ones to reach out."
Oakley started her collegiate career at Texas, where she was the 2024 Big 12 Indoor champion in the 400 and the Big 12 Outdoor champion in the 200. After transferring to Georgia, Oakley finished third in the 400 at the 2025 NCAA Indoor meet, placed fourth in the 400 at the 2025 SEC Outdoor meet, and then was runner-up to Butler in the 400 at the NCAA Outdoor meet last year with a time of 49.65.
At last year's SEC meet, Oakley ran the 400 in 51.27. At the NCAAs, she ran 49.65. Now, she's posted her first sub-49 time in a meet. Oakley is getting better and better, and she attributes her improvement to the thing she doesn't much enjoy, practice.
"Last year, the coaches were just understanding who I was, because I'd just come to the school. Now that they have understood who I am, they've been tweaking and individualizing workouts that work for me," she said. "Our 400 group has four or five different workouts based on how everyone is feeling that day, which ensures that I'm getting what I need to work on."
During a 400 race, Oakley is very confident in her final 100 meters, and she knows she's good at the 100 before that, but the start and first 200 meters haven't been her strength. She said she would be "scared" to go out too fast in the opening 200, which is why she always had a lot left in the tank at the end. But now, the coaches are helping her keep her fast finish while also improving everything that leads up to it.
"These workouts are working," she said, "and I'm loving it."
Up next for Oakley and the Bulldogs are this week's NCAA East Regionals at Kentucky. After that, there is the NCAA meet in Eugene, Ore., where Oakley will try to follow up Butler's 400 national championship with one of her own, as well as a third straight NCAA team title for the Georgia women, who won last year's Outdoor meet and the Indoor title in March.
Â
Staff Writer
With an honest, astonished reaction to running the best in-competition 400 meters of her life, the fastest 400 in the world this outdoor season, and the second-fastest in collegiate history, Georgia's Dejanea Oakley went viral on social media during the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships earlier this month.
After crossing the finish line at Auburn's Hutsell-Rosen Track on May 17 to win her first individual SEC title, Oakley looked up at the time on the scoreboard, and her jaw dropped. She then put her hands on her head in the way people do when they can't quite believe what they're seeing.
The senior from Jamaica said she "got bombarded with messages, videos, everything. It was overwhelming."
Oakley was prepared to win the race, and she was prepared to run a sub-49-second time after doing so in practice, but she wasn't quite prepared for what followed her reaction to her 48.92 performance.
"I got turned into a meme! So now, every time someone says something shocking, my face is what they're using," said Oakley, who won the 400 at the NCAA Indoor Championships meet earlier this year.
The night before her final at the SEC meet, Oakley stood up during a team meeting, after being called on by Georgia Director of Track and Field Caryl Smith Gilbert, and told the room, "I'm going to win this."
Oakley was confident, but not cocky. She'd done the work in practice, she'd seen the numbers, and she knew that her best, or something close to it, was good enough to win. She also knew that there were several other very good 400 runners in the SEC. Arkansas' Kaylyn Brown placed second with a time of 49.54, which is the second-fastest in the world this year.
"Knowing that you're up against people who might be working just as hard as you, or even harder, and knowing that in practice you can make mistakes and get other reps to fix them, but in a track meet, it's just one go," Oakley said. "It's just everything has to be right, not perfect, in that moment, for you to get to what you want to get to."
Last Wednesday, Oakley joined teammate Adaejah Hodge on the watch list for the women's Bowerman Award, presented to the top athlete in collegiate track and field. The redshirt freshman Hodge, the 2026 SEC and NCAA indoor champion in the 200, has the fastest wind-legal 100 time in the world (10.77) and the fastest 200 time (21.92) in the country and fourth-fastest in the world. (Teammate Jonathan Simms' 44.02 is the third-fastest men's 400 in the world this year.)
There are some people who endure practice because they love the end product. There are others who love the grind of those practice sessions. Oakley knows which camp she belongs to.
"I like the results of practice; I don't like practice," she said with a big laugh. "No one likes practice. No, Adaejah loves practice. I've never heard of anyone who likes practice, and then there's Adaejah."
Before Oakley smashed Georgia's 400 record with her 48.92, former teammate Aaliyah Butler had the top mark. Butler, a 2024 Olympian who earned a gold medal as part of the U.S. 4x400 relay team, set the record at 49.26 when she won the NCAA Outdoor title last June. Butler, who turned pro last December, remains one of Oakley's closest friends and training partners.Â
"She was like, 'You couldn't even let my record stay for a year!" Oakley said of Butler's reaction. "She's so supportive. She saw when I hit that time in a practice session, and she was like, 'OK, now you've just got to go and do that on the track (in a meet). When I did it, she was one of the first ones to reach out."
Oakley started her collegiate career at Texas, where she was the 2024 Big 12 Indoor champion in the 400 and the Big 12 Outdoor champion in the 200. After transferring to Georgia, Oakley finished third in the 400 at the 2025 NCAA Indoor meet, placed fourth in the 400 at the 2025 SEC Outdoor meet, and then was runner-up to Butler in the 400 at the NCAA Outdoor meet last year with a time of 49.65.
At last year's SEC meet, Oakley ran the 400 in 51.27. At the NCAAs, she ran 49.65. Now, she's posted her first sub-49 time in a meet. Oakley is getting better and better, and she attributes her improvement to the thing she doesn't much enjoy, practice.
"Last year, the coaches were just understanding who I was, because I'd just come to the school. Now that they have understood who I am, they've been tweaking and individualizing workouts that work for me," she said. "Our 400 group has four or five different workouts based on how everyone is feeling that day, which ensures that I'm getting what I need to work on."
During a 400 race, Oakley is very confident in her final 100 meters, and she knows she's good at the 100 before that, but the start and first 200 meters haven't been her strength. She said she would be "scared" to go out too fast in the opening 200, which is why she always had a lot left in the tank at the end. But now, the coaches are helping her keep her fast finish while also improving everything that leads up to it.
"These workouts are working," she said, "and I'm loving it."
Up next for Oakley and the Bulldogs are this week's NCAA East Regionals at Kentucky. After that, there is the NCAA meet in Eugene, Ore., where Oakley will try to follow up Butler's 400 national championship with one of her own, as well as a third straight NCAA team title for the Georgia women, who won last year's Outdoor meet and the Indoor title in March.
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Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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