Michael Norman won the men's 400m with a world-record time and was part of the winning world record-setting 4x400m relay,
Kendall Ellis won the women's 400m with a USA-record time and was part of the winning women's relay and
Randall Cunningham won the men's high jump by tying the school record at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Texas today (March 10). The USC men's team placed second with 37 points and the women's team took seventh with 28 points.
This was a very special meet for the men and women of Troy.
It was certainly up and down all weekend. My hat ?? goes off to
Randall Cunningham Jr. and Coach Blockburger for winning their 2nd NCAA title in the high jump nearly miss free and scoring 10 points. Unfortunately, he broke his tibia and fibula in doing so and we will lose him for the outdoor 2018 season. In the meantime, Mike and Zach obviously ran extremely well for us in the 400m. Coach Watts did a wonderful job of educating the 400m group on race strategy and execution. For Zach to score as a freshman,
PR twice in one weekend and handoff the baton in the 4x4 in first place is quite a feat! Mike's world record in only his 3rd indoor 400m of his life is amazing!!
Rai Benjamin gave us a preview of what's to come with a blazing time and 3rd place finish in the 200m. I don't care what anyone says USC owns the world record in the 4x400m relay. No four men in the history of the world have run faster indoors than the Trojans did tonight.
On the women's side we struggled this weekend and came out 7th due to some major blows on Friday night but definitely cannot overlook the phenomenal performances that were earned tonight.
Kendall Ellis broke every record in the US record book in the 400m and did so in demanding and decisive fashion.
Anna Cockrell was second by only two 1000ths of a second in the 60m hurdles. The women's 4x400m relay won with a statement to end the meet and it was great to finally see
Kaelin Roberts open us up in the lead on the first leg.
Overall, I am very proud of our team and I believe we have the best coaching staff in the country. We have quite a bit of work to do for the outdoor season but I think this weekend we decided to be excellent and we are excited about the outdoor season to come and we know what corrections and improvements we must make in order to be champions.
This was a very special meet for the men and women of Troy.
It was certainly up and down all weekend. My hat ?? goes off to
Randall Cunningham Jr. and Coach Blockburger for winning their 2nd NCAA title in the high jump nearly miss free and scoring 10 points. Unfortunately, he broke his tibia and fibula in doing so and we will lose him for the outdoor 2018 season. In the meantime, Mike and Zach obviously ran extremely well for us in the 400m. Coach Watts did a wonderful job of educating the 400m group on race strategy and execution. For Zach to score as a freshman,
PR twice in one weekend and handoff the baton in the 4x4 in first place is quite a feat! Mike's world record in only his 3rd indoor 400m of his life is amazing!!
Rai Benjamin gave us a preview of what's to come with a blazing time and 3rd place finish in the 200m. I don't care what anyone says USC owns the world record in the 4x400m relay. No four men in the history of the world have run faster indoors than the Trojans did tonight.
On the women's side we struggled this weekend and came out 7th due to some major blows on Friday night but definitely cannot overlook the phenomenal performances that were earned tonight.
Kendall Ellis broke every record in the US record book in the 400m and did so in demanding and decisive fashion.
Anna Cockrell was second by only two 1000ths of a second in the 60m hurdles. The women's 4x400m relay won with a statement to end the meet and it was great to finally see
Kaelin Roberts open us up in the lead on the first leg.
Overall, I am very proud of our team and I believe we have the best coaching staff in the country. We have quite a bit of work to do for the outdoor season but I think this weekend we decided to be excellent and we are excited about the outdoor season to come and we know what corrections and improvements we must make in order to be champions.
"This was a very special meet for the men and women of Troy," said USC Director of Track & Field
Caryl Smith Gilbert. "It was certainly up and down all weekend. My hat goes off to
Randall Cunningham Jr. and coach
Sheldon Blockburger for winning their 2nd NCAA title in the high jump nearly miss-free and scoring 10 points. Unfortunately, Randall broke his tibia and fibula in doing so and we will lose him for the outdoor 2018 season. In the meantime, Mike (Norman) and Zach (Shinnick) obviously ran extremely well for us in the 400m. Coach Watts did a wonderful job of educating the 400m group on race strategy and execution. For Zach to score as a freshman, to PR twice in one weekend and handoff the baton in the 4x4 in first place is quite a feat! Mike's world record in only his 3rd indoor 400m of his life is amazing!!
Rai Benjamin gave us a preview of what's to come with a blazing time and 3rd place finish in the 200m. I don't care what anyone says, USC owns the world record in the 4x400m relay. No four men in the history of the world have run faster indoors than the Trojans did tonight.
"On the women's side we struggled this weekend and came out 7th due to some major blows on Friday night, but definitely cannot overlook the phenomenal performances that were earned tonight.
Kendall Ellis broke every record in the US record book in the 400m and did so in demanding and decisive fashion.
Anna Cockrell was second by only two 1000ths of a second in the 60m hurdles. The women's 4x400m relay won with a statement to end the meet and it was great to finally see
Kaelin Roberts open us up in the lead on the first leg.
"Overall, I am very proud of our team and I believe we have the best coaching staff in the country. We have quite a bit of work to do for the outdoor season, but I think this weekend we decided to be excellen,t and we are excited about the outdoor season to come and we know what corrections and improvements we must make in order to be champions."
- Michael Norman won the men's 400m race with a USC, collegiate, USA and World record-time of 44.52. He broke the previous world record of 44.57 set by Kerron Clement of USA in 2005. Zach Shinnick had a PR and bettered his USC freshman record with a time of 45.81 to finish eighth. Norman (10) and Shinnick (1) earned USC 11 points in the team competition.
- Kendall Ellis then won the women's 400m race and was nearly as spectacular, setting the USC, collegiate and USA records with a winning time of 50.34. She broke the previous USA record of 50.46 set by Phyllis Francis in 2014. Ellis earned USC's women's team its first 10 points in the team competition.
- Randall Cunningham won the men's high jump by setting a PR and tying the school record with a clearance of 7-6.00/2.29m. He tied Jesse Williams' school indoor record set in 2006 and earned USC 10 points for the men's team. Cunningham was the only jumper clean through the first six heights, before suffering his leg injury at the final height. Cunningham and two other competitors went out at 7-7.25/2.32m.
- Anna Cockrell placed second in the women's 60m hurdles final with a PR of 7.93. Cockrell was edged out for the title by Payton Chadwick of Arkansas by .004 seconds (7.926 to 7.922). Cockrell moved from third to second on USC's all-time list and earned USC 8 more points.
- Rai Benjamin won his 200m finals section with a PR of 20.34 and finished third overall to earn USC six more points. Benjamin's time moved him from fourth to second on USC's all-time list.
- USC's 4x400m relay of Shinnick, Benjamin, Ricky Morgan Jr. and Norman shattered the world, collegiate and USC record with a winning time of 3:00.77. USC had originally claimed the record at the Tiger Paw Invitational earlier this season with a time of 3:01.98, but a team from Poland broke it with a time of 3:01.77 on March 4.
- USC's relay team of Kaelin Roberts, Anna Cockrell, Deanna Hill and Kendall Ellis won the women's 4x400m relay with the second-fastest time in school history of 3:27.45. It is also the fourth-fastest time ever by a collegiate women's quartet. USC holds the record of 3:27.03 set last year at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
