USC To Host Pac-12 Track & Field Championships On May 14-16

The No. 5-ranked USC women's team and the No. 4-ranked Trojan men's team will be hosting the 2021 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships at Katherine B. Loker Track Stadium from May 14-16.  For the first time the multi-events championships are being held on the same weekend, making the event a three-day meet.  The first action of the weekend will be the men's hammer throw which will be at 10 a.m. on Friday at UCLA's Drake Stadium, followed by the women's hammer throw.  The remainder of the meet will take place at Loker Stadium.

HOSTING THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS - USC is hosting the Pac-12 Track & Field Championships for the first time since hosting the conference meet in 2013. The Pac-12 Championships schedule is listed on the USC track schedule page on USCTrojans.com.  USC has hosted six times since 1960, winning three of those meets.  At the 2013 Pac-12 Championships, USC's men placed second and the women took six.  Bryshon Nellum was named the Men's Athlete of the Meet as he won the 200m and 400m dashes with stadium-record times.

USC AT THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS -- The USC women's team won the 2019 Pac-12 team title, their second consecutive and third in program history (also in 1996). USC's women have finished first or second in each of the last six conference meets.  The USC men placed fifth at the 2019 Pac-12 T&F Championships.  USC's men's team has finished in the top three in eight of the last 11 conference meets. The last USC men's team title came in 2006, but USC has scored 99 or more points in 18 of the last 23 seasons. The USC women's team has finished fourth or higher in 28 of the 33 seasons of the women's meet and has scored 99 or more points in 20 of the last 24 meets. 

RETURNING PAC-12 CHAMPIONS -- USC has seven athletes that are defending individual event champions from the 2019 Pac-12 Championships held in Tucson, Ariz.: Angie Annelus (W-200m), Anna Cockrell (W-400m H), Isaiah Jewett (M-800m), Kaelin Roberts (W-400m), Cameron Samuel (M-400m H), Earnest Sears III (M-HJ), TeeTee Terry (W-100m).

GRADUATION BEGINS -- USC will host commencement ceremonies to confer graduates' degrees for the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Socially distanced ceremonies will take place in a limited capacity. The ceremonies will occur twice a day from May 14 through May 20. 

TRACK BUILDING --  USC will officially open its new track and field building in June, as the project is in its final phase.  Part of the renovation is the brand new scoreboard in the southeast corner of the track. The new building will house a team meeting room, a Hall of Fame, academic study rooms, coaches offices and a track viewing balcony.  The first phase of the project was the transformation of the old office space and locker rooms into enlarged and modern locker rooms and lounge area for the athletes.

TROJANS READY FOR BATTLE - Members of USC's 2021 track and field team schedule to compete this weekend are:  

Women: Angie Annelus, Breanna Bernard-Joseph, Alyssa Brewer, Anna Cockrell, Kyra Constantine, Jennifer Daly, Jan'Taijah Ford, Karlee Freeman, Kimberly Harris, Jasmine Jones, Bailey Lear, Joy McArthur, Mecca McGlaston, Temi Ojora, Kaelin Roberts, Jemima Russell, Rae-Anne Serville, Morgan Smalls, TeeTee Terry, Lanae-Tava Thomas, Nicole Yeargin

Men: Eric Allen Jr., Alexander Barnum, Nathan Bultman, Davonte Burnett, Jack Carter, Kenan Christon, George Gleason, Brian Herron, Jalyn Jackson, Isaiah Jewett, Christian Johnson, McKay Johnson, Matthew Katnik, Trey Knight, Josh Ligas, Tade Ojora, Nicholas Ramey, Daniel Robinson, Cameron Samuel, Jordan Scott, Earnest Sears III, Darryl Shaw, Brendon Stewart, Sam VanDorpe

TROJANS LEADING THE WAY -  The Trojans enter this week's action with four NCAA leading mark or times: Anna Cockrell (W-400m H, 55.65), Kaelin Roberts (W-400m, 51.23),  Isaiah Jewett (M-800m, 1:45.80) and the women's 4x100m relay (42.63).  Also, the Trojans currently have 34 times or marks within the top 25 on the NCAA descending order lists: Angie Annelus (T-21st - W-100m), Breanna Bernard-Joseph (21st - W-400m H),  Nathan Bultman (10th - M-HT), Davonte Burnett (T-22nd - M-100m), Anna Cockrell (1st - W-400mH, 4th - W-100m H), Kyra Constantine (8th - W-400m), Brian Herron (22nd - M-400m), Isaiah Jewett (1st - M-800m), McKay Johnson (6th - M-SP), Jasmine Jones (10th - W-100mH), Matthew Katnik (2nd - M-SP), Trey Knight (16th - M-HT),  Bailey Lear (7th - W-400m), Joy McArthur (20th - W-HT), Mecca McGlaston (T-25th - W-100m H),  Tade Ojora (23rd - M-110m H), Temi Ojora (T-20th - W-TJ, T-19th - W-HJ), Kaelin Roberts (1st - W-400m, 15th - W-200m), Cameron Samuel (4th - M-400m H), Jordan Scott (2nd - M-TJ), Earnest Sears III (T-8th - HJ), Morgan Smalls (T-19th - W-HJ, T-23rd - W-LJ), TeeTee Terry (T-4th - W-100m), Lanae-Tava Thomas (11th - W-100m, T-21st - W-200m), Nicole Yeargin (18th - W-400m), W-4x100m (1st, 5th, 23rd), M-4x100m (16th), M-4x400m (10th), W-4x400m (8th, 11th).

WHAT'S NEXT FOR BULTMAN -- USC hammer thrower Nathan Bultman has established a new personal best in each of his last three meets.  He began the season in 10th place on USC's all-time hammer throw list with a mark of 220-2 (67.12m) set in 2018. He then bettered his his standing with a throw of 220-9 (67.28m) at the Cal Dual Meet on Aprl 10, then to 221-6 (67.51) at the Beach Invitational on April 16 and then established his current PR of 231-1 (70.44m) at the USC-UCLA Dual Meet on May 2.  That moved him into sixth on USC's all-time list and to 10th on the 2021 NCAA descending order list.

DYNAMIC FRESHMEN DUO --  USC's dynamic freshman jumping duo of Morgan Smalls and Temi Ojora are perhaps the best tandem on a Trojan roster since Wendy Brown and Yvette Bates set the USC long jump and triple jump records in the late 1980s.  Already Smalls ranks tied for fifth on USC's all-time list in the long jump (21-0.75/6.42m), 10th in the triple jump (42-8.00/13.00m) and tied for 10th in the high jump at 5-10.75 (1.80m).  Meanwhile, Ojora ranks fifth in the triple jump (43-3.75/13.20m) and tied for 10th in the high jump (5-10.75/1.80m).  Ojora also in her only long jump competition of the season has jumped 19-8.25.

NEXT MEET: NCAA WEST PRELIMS - USC will next be in action when it competes at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in College Station, Texas from May 26-29.