USC's Earnest Sears III Wins Elite High Jump; Davonte Burnett Takes Collegiate 100m Title At Mt. SAC Relays

Earnest Sears III won the Invitational Elite high jump competition with the second-best clearance in USC history and Davonte Burnett won the men's 100m dash title to move into a second-place tie on the school's all-time list to highlight the Trojans efforts at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. today (April 16). 

At Mt. SAC Relays:

• Sears III won the men's Invitational Elite high jump title with a personal-best clearance of 7-6.50 (2.30m).  That moves him from tied for third to second on USC's all-time list.  After winning the event he attempted to tie the school record of 7-7.25 (2.32m) set by Jesse Williams in 2006, but he missed on all three attempts.  Sears III clearance also ties for the collegiate leader.
• Burnett blazed to victory in the men's Collegiate/Open 100m dash with a personal-best time of 9.99 (+0.3).  His time moves him to tied for second on USC's all-time list, is the collegiate wind-legal leader and currently ranks tied for third in the world.  Burnett used a great start to get the lead and he never was challenged, winning by 0.27 seconds.  The rest of the men's 100m final were separated by a total of 0.18 seconds.
• Celera Barnes took fourth in the women's Collegiate/Open 100m dash final with a time of 11.13 (+1.7). 
• Trey Knight finished fourth in the Collegiate/Open men's hammer throw finals, first among the college athletes, with a best mark of 228-10 (69.76m).  Christian Johnson placed sixth with a PR of 218-1 (66.48m).  It was his third PR over the weekend and he had his four best career throws in the two-day competition.
• Joy McArthur placed seventh in the women's Collegiate/Open hammer throw final with a best mark of 207-10 (63.35m) to get the day started for the Trojans.
• Temi Ojora placed seventh in the women's Invitational Elite triple jump with a best leap of 42-11.00/13.08 (+2.8w).  Her best wind-legal jump on the day was 42-4.25/12.92 (+1.6).
• Jalyn Jackson finished eighth in the men's Invitational Elite triple jump with a best mark of 50-4.75/15.36m (+3.5w). His best wind-legal jump was 49-2.50/15.00 (+1.1).
• The men's 4x100m relay team of Burnett, Brendon Stewart, Zach Shinnick and Johnnie Blockburger finished ninth in the Invitational Elite section with a time of 41.49. The Trojans were right there with the leaders until Shinnick had to pull up and limp to the final handoff.

Alumni at Mt. SAC:

• TeeTee Terry won the women's Invitational Elite 100m title with a time of 10.77 (+3.3w). Angie Annelus finished 11th overall with a time of 11.09 (+3.0w).
• Jaide Stepter Baynes won the women's Invitational Elite 400m title with a time of 51.43.  Nicole Yeargin was third with a time of 51.81 and Dalilah Muhammad was fifth with a time of 52.60.
• The USATF women's 4x400m relay team which included Allyson Felix and Muhammad won with a time of 3:25.35.  The USATF "B" team which included Anna Cockrell and Stepter Baynes took second with a time of 3:27.90.
• Michael Norman took second in the men's Invitational Elite 200m dash with a time of 19.83 (+1.6), second in the world to the winner Fred Kerley (19.80).  Rai Benjamin was third with the third-fastest time in the world of 20.01.
• USC graduate student Gianna Woodruff finished second in the women's Invitational Elite 400m hurdles race with a time of 54.60.
• Nick Ponzio finished fifth in the men's Invitational Elite shot put competition with a best mark of 69-0.50 (21.04m).
• Tynia Gaither placed sixth in the women's Invitational Elite 200m final with a time of 22.72.
• Aaron Brown placed seventh in the men's Invitational Elite 100m dash final with a time of 10.14.
• Cockrell placed ninth in the women's Invitational Elite 100m hurdles final with a time of 12.92.

At the Beach Invitational:

• USC just had a few athletes compete in the women's and men's 1500m races.  The Trojans' top finisher was Mihajla Milovanovic who placed 17th out of 62 in the women's race with a time of 4:43.43.

The Trojans' track and field team will next be competing at the Chris Rinne Twilight meet on April 22, which was recently added to the team's schedule.

 
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