USC is set for the Pac-12 T&F Championships in Boulder this weekend

The Trojan track and field team will compete in the 2024 Pac-12 Track and Field Championships hosted by Colorado at Potts Field in Boulder, Colorado, May 10-12.

TROJAN HORSES AT PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS – The USC men’s and women’s teams both placed second at the 2023 Pac-12 Track and Field Championships held in Walnut, California. The USC women’s team has now finished in the top four in 31 of the 36 seasons of women’s competition and has won the title four times. The USC men have now finished in the top three in 11 of the last 14 Pac-12 Championship meetings. The USC men have won the conference title 16 times, most recently during the 2006 season. USC men have scored at least 99 points in 23 of the last 27 meetings. The USC men’s (277) and USC women’s (164) teams lead the conference in all-time event titles at the Pac-12 Championships. Johnny Brackins Jr. was named Pac-12 Male Athlete of the 2023 Competition as he totaled 22.0 points (win in LJ and 4×100, 2nd in 110m H, 3rd in 4x400m).

400 METERS FROM THE GLORY OF TROJA – USC’s William Jones won the 2023 Pac-12 men’s 400m title by edging teammate Johnnie Blockburger, who had won the previous two titles. Jan’Taijah Jones won the 2023 women’s 400m title, her second consecutive conference title in the 400m and the sixth in a row by a Trojan. Jan’Taijah Jones seeks to become the third conference woman to win three consecutive Pac-12 titles in the 400 (Keshia Baker and Phyllis Francis). USC’s Kendall Ellis holds the women’s 400m record with a time of 49.99 set in 2018.

MONITORING TROJAN HORSES ON TV –The 2024 Pac-12 T&F Championships will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network on Sunday, May 12 beginning at noon. On May 10, coverage will be the women’s javelin at 10 a.m., the men’s javelin at 1 p.m. and the men’s and women’s 10k races starting at 4:50 p.m. Coverage in select areas on Saturday, May 11 will be the men’s hammer throw at 12:30 p.m. and men’s and women’s obstacle races from 4:20 p.m.

RETURN OF THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONS – USC has five athletes competing on its current roster who are the reigning champions in the individual event or relay at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships hosted at Mt. SAC: Johnnie Blockburger (M-4x100m), Johnny Brackins Jr. (M-LJ, M -4x100m), Elias Gerald (M-HJ), Yemi John (W-4x400m), Jan’Taijah Jones (W-400m, W -4x400m)), William Jones (M-400m).

THE GREEK HAMMER – Junior hammer thrower Nikolaos Polychroniou of Athens, Greece, posted a PR of 246-10 (75.24 m) to win the USC-UCLA Dual Meet hammer throw competition on April 27. His throw moved him from sixth to third all-time for USC. list and it currently ranks fourth in the country. Polychroniou finished second in the hammer throw at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships and finished fifth at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors.

JONES CROSSED ALL OBSTACLES – Jasmine Jones, 2022 Pac-12 100m hurdles champion and 2022 NCAA 100m hurdles runner-up, is back in action after struggling with injuries since then. She was able to run the first three 400m hurdles of her career last season, before having to call it quits for the season. This winter, Jones won the NCAA 60m hurdles title in a school record time of 7.77. She was unable to complete her first outdoor race, the 100m hurdles at the Florida Relays on March 30. She didn’t see action again until running the 400m hurdles at the USC-UCLA Dual Meet on April 28, winning with a time of 56.24, the ninth-fastest time by a middle school student this season. She then ran a 100m hurdles race at the Oxy Invitational on May 4 and posted a time of 12.86 (-0.4), which ranked her 10th nationally. She is now one of two collegiate women to place in the top 10 in both events this season.

OJORA EXPECTS TO NEW HEIGHTS – USC senior jumper Temi Ojora currently ranks second among NCAA athletes with a slightly wind-assisted triple jump of 45-4.25/13.82 m (+2.2 w). She also has a legal windward record this season of 44-11.50/13.70. She won all four of her TJ competitions this season. Ojora also had a career best of 5-10.75 (1.80 m) in the high jump and has a season best in long jump of 20-7.75/6.29 m (+1.4 ). She won all three events in the annual USC-UCLA dual meet on April 28 to lead USC to victory, its 10th in a row against the Bruins.

SULLIVAN IS HEARD – Graduate transfer Marne Sullivan had an impressive freshman season at USC. She set the USC indoor 800 m record with a time of 2:04.19 and ran the eighth-fastest outdoor 800 m race in 2:04.59. She was born deaf and received a cochlear implant at the age of 3 and a half. She said she always felt behind her peers because of the time she had to spend on speech therapy, multiple appointments with an audiologist, and working with speech specialists. learning. She learned to adapt and fit in well in her familiar surroundings, but she really felt out of place when she moved to Boston College and had to interact with new people and unfamiliar surroundings. . She realized there was a lack of understanding and decided to use her situation to become a leader in deaf awareness and began using her platform as an athlete to share her story and educate others. Through social media, she has helped become a source of inspiration for other hearing impaired people. and other disabilities. She founded and led the Non-Visible/Visible Disabilities Subcommittee through Eagles for Equality, a DEI student-athlete organization on BC’s campus. She continued her efforts at USC by partnering with brands for Deaf Awareness Month and more. . In March, Sullivan was named the winner of the CalHope Courage Award, which recognizes two California college and university student-athletes each month for overcoming the stress, anxiety and mental trauma associated with personal difficulties and adversity.

BRODERICK MAKES AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT – Freshman Racqul Broderick set the USC freshman discus throw record in his very first meet with a throw of 204-6 (62.34 m) to win the Beach Opener on 2 March. His throwing also moved him to second on USC’s all-time throwing list. , a foot and a half behind the school record of 206-0 (62.78 m) set by Gary Carlsen in 1967. Broderick won four of the five discus throw competitions he entered this season.

STEVENSON RELEASES USC’S TOP 5 INDOOR AND OUTDOOR LONG JUMP MARKS — Sophomroe JC Stevenson had the fifth-farthest long jump ever by a Trojan this season. Her indoor jump was 26-1.00 (7.95 m) to win at the Spokane Sports Showcase on January 12 and her best outdoor jump was 26-5.00 (8.05 m) to win at the Mt Relays . SAC on April 20.

BRACKINS JR IS A TRIPLE THREAT — Junior Johnny Brackins Jr. has made a name for himself this season as a jumper, hurdler and sprinter. During the indoor season, Brackins Jr. set the USC indoor record in the long jump with a leap of 27-0.00 (8.23 m), breaking Detmer Haaf’s school record of 26 -11.25 (8.21 m) which existed since 1990. Brackins Jr.. During the outdoor season, he ran 13.51 in the 110m hurdles, which is just outside USC’s all-time top 10. He also ran the 400m hurdles for the first time at the USC-UCLA Dual Meet on April 28 and in his second race. ran 50.84 at the Oxy Invitational on May 4, which ranks tied for 30th nationally. Brackins Jr. also ran the second leg of USC’s 4×400 relay that won the USC-UCLA Dual Meet in a season-best time of 3:05.26.

TOP 30 TROJAN HORSES — The following athletes are currently ranked in the top 30 among NCAA events participating in this week’s action:

Men: 200m – Blockburger (6), Thomas (T-16); 400m – Blockburger (T-3), 110m H – Brackins Jr (10); 400m H – Brackins Jr. (T30), 4x100m – (5), 4x400m – (18); LJ-Stevenson (2); TJ – Champion (15); DT – Broderick (5); HT – Polychroniou (4); JT-Nelson (18).

Women: 100m – Carter (20); 200m – Carter (25); 400m – Jones (T-13), John (16), Whyte (18); 100m H – J. Jones (10), Smith (28); 400m H – J.Jones (9), Serville (27); 4x100m (10); 4x400m – (15); HJ-Ojora (T-22); TJ-Ojora (2); JT – Zabarino (24).

YOU MIGHT NEED A PROGRAM — USC has added 30 new athletes to its athletics program since the end of the 2023 season. In fact, 39.0 percent of the roster is new compared to last season, with 19 of the 43 women and 11 of the 34 men on the roster participating in their first seasons as a Trojan.

NEXT MEETING — USC’s next competition will be the NCAA West preliminary rounds held at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark., May 22-25.