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USC Track & Field Wins 12 Events During Final Day Of Trojan Invitational

by usctrojans.com
Mar 19, 2022

The USC track and field team had a dominating performance, winning 12 events on the final day of the 2022 Trojan Invitational held at Loker Stadum today (March 19).  The Trojans also won three throwing events on Friday to give the team a total of 15 wins during the two days of the Trojan Invitational.  USC also posted 15 marks or times which rank in the top 10 among NCAA athletes currently.

"It was an exciting day to have our first outdoor meet and kickoff the outdoor season with the Trojan Invitational," said Quincy Watts, USC Director of Track & Field and Cross Country.  "We have a lot of new faces on the team and to see them all have the opportunity to compete outdoors was awesome.  I can say on behalf of my staff and all the coaches, all the event areas gave 100 percent, competed at a high level and we are so proud of them."

  • Celera Barnes, in her USC home debut, won the women's 100m dash with a personal-best, NCAA-leading and eighth-fastest time ever by a Trojan woman of 11.12 (+1.9).  Chioma Okonkwo took second with a time of 11.62 (+1.2).
  • Eric Allen Jr. won the men's 100m race with a PR of 10.31 (+0.9) which ranks eighth nationally.  Brendon Stewart took third with a time of 10.36 (+0.9). Curtis Johnson III was 11th with a time of 10.93 (+0.1).
  • Jalaysiya  Smith won the women's 100m hurdles in her first race at Loker Stadium with a personal-best time of 13.25 (+0.7).  That time is currently third among NCAA hurdlers this season.
  • Tade Ojora won the men's 110m hurdles with a time of 14.11 (-0.3). His time is seventh among hurdlers this season.
  • Bailey Lear won the women's 400m race with a strong early season time of 52.95 which ranks second nationally.  Alyssa Brewer had a time of 57.44 to finish third.
  • Nicholas Ramey won the men's 400m race with a time of 46.66.  His time currently ranks fourth nationally.
  • Samirah Moody won the women's 200m in her Trojan debut with a time of 23.43 (-0.8).  Her time ties her for fourth nationally.  Chioma Okonkwo had a PR of 23.80 (-0.8) to finish second and Jalaysiya Smith had a PR of 24.29 (+0.0) to take fourth.
  • Zach Shinnick with a PR of 20.53 (+0.8) and Johnnie Blockburger with a PR of 20.67 (+0.8) took first and second place in the men's 200m dash.  Their times rank fourth and fifth nationally.  Ashton Allen finished fourth with a time of 12.28 (+0.8). Johnson had a time of 22.20 (+0.6) to finish ninth.
  • Breanna Bernard-Joseph won the women's 400m hurdles with a time of 60.11.  Right behind her in second was Maci Simmons who ran a personal-best of 60.48.  The pair's times rank ninth and 11th nationally.
  • USC's women's 4x400m relay "A-Team" of Kaelin Roberts, Samirah Moody, Chioma Okonkwo and Bailey Lear won with a time of 3:38.22.  Okonkwo had a strong third lap to close the gap and Lear took the lead heading into the final stretch and pulled away.  USC's "B-Team" of Breanna Bernard-Joseph, Gigi Maccagnini, Janiah Brown and Alyssa Brewer took third with a time of 3:39.38.
  • The men's 4x400m relay team of Nicholas Ramey, Ashton Allen, Sam VanDorpe and Eric Allen Jr. closed out the meet by winning with a time of 3:07.24.
  • Dallas Wise, making his Loker Stadium debut, won the men's triple jump with a best leap of 48-10.25/14.89m (-1.8).
  • Wise also took second in the men's high jump with a best jump of 6-10.25 (2.10m).  That jump tied his personal-best and is tied for fourth nationally.
  • Temi Ojora took second in the women's high jump with a clearance of 5-8.75 (1.75m).  That height tied her for ninth nationally in the high jump in the early season.
  • Janiah Brown placed third in the women's 800m race with a PR of 2:06.91.  Her time ranks fourth nationally.
  • Jack Carter also took third in the men's 800m race with a time of 1:53.25.
  • Gigi Maccagnini placed third in the women's 1500m with a time of 4:28.29, best by a Trojan this season.  Ritika Singh had a PR of 4:55.27 to finish 10th.
  • Sam VanDorpe took fourth in the John L. West men's 1500m race with a slight PR of 3:51.23.  Morgan Fierro placed seventh with a PR of 2:56.37.
  • Giovanna Pisano placed third in the women's 3000m race with a time of 10:51.78 and Julia Bounds placed fourth with a PR of 11:08.84.
  • Dylan Lange had a personal-best javelin throw of 162-7 (49.56m).  His mark beat his previous career-best by nearly seven feet.
  • Annabel Doherty placed fifth in the women's javelin throw with a best mark of 114-6 (34.92m).
  • Both the USC men's 4x100m relay and women's 4x100m relays had troubles with an exchange and did not finish their races.

The Trojans' track and field team will be in action next at the Texas Relays from March 23-26 in Austin, Texas.
 
 

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