University Southern California Trojans
Track Sprints Toward Pac-10 Championships
June 21, 1999 | Track & Field
May 18, 1999
NEXT WEEK
The USC men's and women's track and field teams join the rest of the
league's elite at the 1999 Pacific-10 Conference Championships on May 21-22
(Friday-Saturday), which will be held at Arizona State's Sun Angel
Stadium/Joe Sellah Track in Tempe, Ariz. Competition begins on May 21 at
2:30 p.m. with the women's hammer (running events will begin at 5 p.m.).
The first day concludes with the men's 10,000m at 10:10 p.m. Competition
begins on May 22 at 2:30 p.m. with the men's hammer (running events will
begin at 6:30 p.m.). The awards ceremony, which concludes the meet, is
scheduled for 9:50 p.m. (shortly after the 4x400m relays). Tickets are
currently available through the Sun Devil ticket office (480) 965-2381.
Single session tickets are $9 for adults, $5 for students. Two-day passes
are $15 for adults, $9 for students and $7 for groups of 20 or more.
ON TELEVISION
The 1999 Pacific-10 Conference Championships will be televised in the Los
Angeles area five times on a delayed basis by FOX Sports West and FOX
Sports West 2. The FOX Sports West telecasts are on: May 30 at 3 p.m., May
31 at 1 p.m. and June 1 at 3 a.m. The FOX Sports West 2 telecasts are on:
May 27 at 1 and 6 p.m. Barry Tomkins, Tom Feuer and Dan O'Brien will call
all the action.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The USC men's team is currently ranked at No. 2 according to Trackwire (May
13). The Trojans trail No. 1 Arkansas by 26 points. Stanford's men's
squad is close behind at No. 3. The Women of Troy are ranked at No. 4,
behind top-ranked Texas, and LSU and UCLA, which are tied at No. 2. In the
USTCA Power Rankings (dual meet comparisons), the USC men's team is ranked
at No. 4 with 328.44 points (behind Tennessee, BYU and Texas). On the
women's side, UCLA is the top-ranked team with 343.21 points, while the
Women of Troy are at No. 10 (307.18). Pac-10 members Washington State (No.
4) and Arizona (No. 9) are also in the Top 10.
NCAA OUTDOOR LEADERS
USC is home to several athletes who have clocked NCAA leading times so far
this season. Senior Jerome Davis owns the nation's top time in the 400m at
45.25 (April 18) and is the defending NCAA champion in that event. Davis
also anchored USC's 4x400m relay team which clocked a leading 3:02.89 on
April 3 (the other members of the team were Charles Lee, Vince Williams and
Felix Sanchez). On the women's side, freshman sprint sensation Angela
Williams' 10.96w (April 3) in the 100m is the nation's best. She has also
run a 11.01w and a 11.08w, which are the second- and third-fastest times
clocked so far this year (teammate Torri Edwards isn't far behind in sixth
at 11.17w).
PAC-10 COMBINED EVENT CHAMPIONSHIPS
At last weekend's 1999 Pac-10 Combined Event Championships (May 14-15) at
Sun Angel Stadium, USC's men's and women's teams picked up several key
points. In the decathlon, Casey Thompson (6,772) and Russell Silvers
(6,629) finished third and fifth, respectively (California's Bevan Hart won
the event with 7,662 points). In the hepthatlon, Lydia Rolle (4,021) and
Disia Page (3,876) finished seventh and eighth, respectively (Stanford's
Tracye Lawyer won the event with 5,794 points).
PAC-10 PROMINENCE
The Pacific-10 Conference has lived up to its nickname as "The Conference
of Champions" in the sport of track and field. On the men's side, 43
Pac-10 teams have won NCAA Championships and, since 1960, 182 individuals
and 22 relay squads have captured national titles. The NCAA began
sponsoring NCAA Championships for women in 1987 and since then the Pac-10
has collected three team titles, 44 individual crowns and three relay
championships.
LAST YEAR'S PAC-10 MEET
UCLA swept the men's and women's team titles at the 1998 Pac-10
Championships, hosted by Stanford. It was the sixth Pac-10 men's title for
the Bruins in the last seven years and their fifth women's title in six
years. Washington's JaWarren Hooker was named Pac-10 Men's Track and Field
Athlete of the Year after capturing both the 100m and 200m conference
titles. UCLA coach Bob Larsen took home the Men's Coach of the Year honors
for the ninth time. Arizona's Amy Skieresz became the third female to be
named the Pac-10 Women's Track and Field Athlete of the Year for two
consecutive seasons. UCLA's Jeannette Bolden was named the Women's Coach of
the Year for the fourth time in five years.
USC AT THE 1998 PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS
The USC men's team finished second at the 1998 Pacific-10 Conference
Championships at Stanford (May 23-24), while the Women of Troy finished
third. The Trojan men won two individual events (400m - Jerome Davis; 110m
HH - William Erese). The Women of Troy took home five individual
championships (200m - Torri Edwards; 800m - Anna Lopaciuch; 1,500m -
Grazyna Penc; 400m IH - Natasha Danvers; 1,600m relay - Danvers, Carla
Estes, Kristie Johnston, Brigita Langerholc). Natasha Danvers, a sophomore
>from London, was USC's star of the meet, winning the 400m IH in 58.01,
anchoring the winning 1,600m relay and finishing second in both the high
jump (5-10 1/2) and 100m HH (13.32). She accounted for 28 1/2 of the Women
of Troy's 121 points all by herself on the final day of the competition.
THE 1999 USC TROJANS
USC, the most successful men's track and field program in collegiate
history, owns an unprecedented 26 NCAA Outdoor Championships (and two
indoor titles). According to Track & Field News, the 1999 USC men's team
might add to that championship total this year as the magazine tabbed the
Trojans as the title favorite in its NCAA Preview. Leading the way for the
1999 USC men's team is defending NCAA 400m champion Jerome Davis. The USC
women's team, picked to finish third at the NCAAs by Track & Field News, is
led by senior sprinter Torri Edwards, who clocked an 11.11 last year to tie
Olympian Inger Miller's 100m school record. Also in the mix for the
Trojans are a pair of freshman sprint sensations. On the men's side,
Sultan McCullough qualified for the NCAA Championships with a 10.17
clocking in the 100m. At the same time, the Women of Troy have Angela
Williams, the owner of the all-time national high school 100m record
(11.11), who has already run 10.96w. Sports Illustrated calls Edwards and
Williams ,the country's best sprint tandem.0/00
SO FAR THIS SEASON
The USC men's and women's teams are both 4-2 in dual meet competition this
season. Both squads swept past California, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal
State Fullerton and Cal Poly Pomona at the Trojan Invitational on March 6
at Cromwell Track & Field Stadium. That meet was highlighted by freshman
Sultan McCullough's blazing time of 10.17 in the 100m (fifth fastest in
Trojan history, new freshman record and new Cromwell Field record) in his
collegiate debut. On March 27, both USC teams lost dual meets at Louisiana
State. LSU beat the Trojan men, 77-71, while the Women of Troy fell,
78-62. On May 1, both USC teams lost dual meets to crosstown rival UCLA.
The Bruins beat the Trojan men, 82-81, while the Women of Troy fell, 91-63.
Individually, USC already has 40 athletes qualified (automatic or
provisional) for the NCAA Championships (17 on the men's side and 23 on the
women's).
USC-UCLA DUAL MEET
The UCLA men's and women's teams defeated USC in dual meet action before a
capacity crowd of 3,291 at Cromwell Field on May 1. The Bruin men's team
beat the Trojans in a nail-biter, 82-81, recording their 21st consecutive
victory over the Trojans. The margin of victory was the smallest in the
66-meet history of the crosstown rivalry. UCLA trimmed USC's lead in the
overall series to 38-28. The last time the Trojans defeated UCLA was in
1977 (91-63) before a record crowd of 15,514 at Drake Stadium in Westwood.
The Bruin women downed the Women of Troy, 91-63, and now lead the series
13-3. The last time the USC women got by the Bruins in a dual meet was in
1992 (80-30), which also marked UCLA's last dual meet defeat on the women's
side (the Bruins are 61-0 since that set-back). USC captain Jerome Davis
led the Trojans, winning two individual events -- 200m (20.70) and 400m
(45.61) -- and ran legs on both of Troy's relay victories. There was also
a USC double winners on the women's side as Grazyna Penc won the 800m
(2:04.24) and 1,500m (4:23.51). The Women of Troy's 4x100m relay set a new
national dual meet record with a blazing 43.35, which is also a new USC
school record and Pacific-10 Conference record. The USC runners were
Angela Williams, Torri Edwards, Malika Edmonson and Candace Young.
Williams also won the 100m in 11.01w and now has the three fastest times in
the nation under any conditions (10.96w, 11.01w and 11.08) and Edwards took
the 200m in 23.33.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
USC intermediate hurdler Felix Sanchez was selected as the Trackwire
National Athlete of the Week for the competitive weekend of April 30-May 2.
At the USC-UCLA dual meet on May 2, Sanchez knocked over half a second off
of his 400m hurdles PR while blowing away the field in 49.49, which remains
the nation's top time this season.
PAC-10 ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
USC has been honored with four Pacific-10 Conference Athlete of the Week
selections so far this season. Senior Jerome Davis was named the Pac-10
Athlete of the Week for the week of April 19. He ran a season-best 45.25
in the 400 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 18, posting the nation's
fastest time this year. Women of Troy freshman Angela Williams was named
the Pac-10 Athlete of the Week for the week of April 19. She ran the 100
meters in 11.08w at the Mt. SAC Relays and ran the opening leg of USC's
4x100-meter relay, which clocked a blazing 43.40. Angela, a freshman from
Chino, Calif., was also named the Pac-10 Athlete of the Week for the week
of May 3, when she won the 100m at the USC-UCLA dual meet in 11.01w and ran
the opening leg of USC's 4x100m relay, which clocked a 43.35 to set a new
national dual meet record, USC school record and Pac-10 record. Women of
Troy sophomore Jennifer Vail was named the Pac-10 Athlete of the Week for
the week of April 12. She won the women's hammer throw at the USTCA
Regional Track & Field Invitational on April 10 at UNC-Chapel Hill with an
NCAA qualifying distance of 191-6 (58.38). This was also a personal-best
for Jennifer and the second-best hammer mark in Women of Troy history. She
also finished second in the discus (152-8) and third in the shot put (42-6
3/4).
HOOPS HOPS
One of the highlights of the USC-UCLA dual meet for the Trojans was the
debut performance of men's basketballer Jeff Trepagnier in the high jump.
Competing in his first-ever track and field meet at any level, Trepagnier
won high jump at 6-9 3/4 and narrowly missed on three attempts to clear
7-0. Known as one of the best leapers in college basketball, Trepagnier (a
6-foot-3, 185-pound forward) averaged 11.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game
last season as a sophomore for head coach Henry Bibby's squad.
USC'S NCAA TITLE HISTORY
The Trojan men's program has won an unprecedented 26 NCAA outdoor national
titles (including nine straight in 1935-43), plus two NCAA indoor crowns.
USC's men also have had 105 individual champions over the years, including
defending 400m champion Jerome Davis. The Women of Troy have had eight
individual collegiate champions and six Top 10 NCAA team finishes in school
history, including last season's fifth-place showing at the 1998 meet in
Buffalo, N.Y. This year's NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field
Championships will be held in Boise, Idaho, on June 2-5. CBS will televise
the meet nationally on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, June 6, at 9 a.m. (PT).
LAST YEAR IN THE POST-SEASON
The USC men's team finished seventh at last season's NCAA Championships and
second at the 1998 Pac-10 meet. The Women of Troy squad finished fifth at
the 1998 NCAA Championships and third at the Pac-10s.
RON ALLICE
Following in the footsteps of USC's legendary track coaches, Ron Allice has
made quite an impression during his first four seasons in Troy as the
Director of Track and Field. At last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships, he
led the USC men's team to seventh place and the Women of Troy to fifth (as
a combined men's and women's program, that performance ranked USC behind
only two schools at the 1998 NCAAs and was the best in school history). In
1997, Allice directed the Trojan men's team to its first Pac-10 title since
1977 (and 30th overall) before finishing third at the NCAAs. In 1996,
Allice guided the USC women's team to its first-ever Pac-10 title and
directed the men's squad to a 10th-place finish at the NCAAs. And in his
first year at USC in 1995, he led the men's team to a fourth-place finish
at the NCAAs. Allice is well known for his ability to win. His overall
dual meet coaching mark is 179-29-1 in 32 years at five schools, including
11 state championships in 16 years at Long Beach City College, his previous
stop before landing at Troy. Allice's programs have produced more than 200
All-Americans, plus 16 Olympians, four world record holders and seven
American record holders. He has coached at his high school, junior college
and college alma maters on the way to compiling his outstanding coaching
statistics.
USC TRACK & FIELD HISTORY
In addition to Troy's 26 NCAA outdoor titles (including nine straight,
1935-43), two indoor NCAA titles and 30 conference crowns, the USC men's
program has had 38 unbeaten and untied seasons, including a string of 16 in
a row (1946-61). Since starting the track and field program in 1900, the
Trojan men have compiled a dual-meet record of 394-106-4 (.786). Since
1912, 61 USC trackmen have equalled or bettered world records, and there
have been 105 NCAA individual or relay winners from Troy. Seventy-four
Trojan men and 13 Women of Troy have won 117 places on national Olympic
teams over the years. Trojans have won 25 individual Olympic titles and
shared in nine relay wins. Gold medal winners include long jumper Randy
Williams, pole vaulter Bob Seagren, sprinter Charles Paddock, quartermiler
Quincy Watts and hammer thrower Balazs Kiss. USC has also been associated
with 14 members of the U.S. National Track and Field Hall of Fame. The USC
women's program has developed into one of the nation's finest. The Women
of Troy have had eight individual collegiate champions and six Top 10 NCAA
team finishes in school history (including fifth in 1998), and won the
school's first-ever Pac-10 women's team title on May 19, 1996.
NEW STADIUM
USC's Cromwell Track & Field, which is named after legendary Trojan coach
Dean Cromwell who led USC track teams to 12 NCAA Championships, will soon
be expanded to include a new 3,000-seat stadium (complete with offices and
locker rooms), which will be named after Katherine B. Loker, who made the
project possible through a generous gift to the University. Construction
is expected to begin this June. Cromwell Track & Field was used as a
training and warm-up facility during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The track's Rekortan surface, the same one that was installed for the
Olympic competition at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, has eight 42-inch
lanes. Cromwell Track & Field Stadium was the site of the first USC-UCLA
Dual Meet held on the USC campus in 1995. The meet was also held there in
1997 and the Trojans and Bruins will meet at Cromwell again this season on
May 1.
USC Track & Field NCAA Outdoor Qualifiers
MEN (17)
Sultan McCullough 100m 10.17 (A) Charles Lee 100m 10.23w (P) Charles Lee 200m 20.53 (P) Jerome Davis 200m 20.70 (P) Jerome Davis 400m 45.25 (A) William Erese 110m HH 13.75 (P) Felix Sanchez 400m IH 49.49 (A) Djeke Mambo Triple Jump 52-10 3/4 (P) Kedjeloba Mambo Triple Jump 52-4w (P) Gordon Hovey Discus 188-2 (P) Norbert Horvath Hammer 227-7 (A) Szabolcs Maroti Hammer 210-10 (P) Dagan Massey Hammer 199-1 (P) David Spitz Hammer 198-3 (P) Dennis Kholev Pole Vault 17-8 1/4 (P) Charles Lee, Jerome Davis, Vince Williams, Sultan McCullough 4x100m Relay 38.94 (A) Charles Lee, Vince Williams, Felix Sanchez, Jerome Davis 4x400m Relay 3:02.89 (A)(A) - Automatic qualifying mark - currently 6 (P) - Provisional qualifying mark - currently 11
WOMEN (23)
Angela Williams 100m 10.96w (A) Torri Edwards 100m 11.17w (A) Malika Edmonson 100m 11.33w (P) Candace Young 100m 11.36w (P) Esi Benyarku 100m 11.37w (P) Angela Williams 200m 23.22 (P) Torri Edwards 200m 23.27 (P) Kinshasa Davis 200m 23.48 (P) Kinshasa Davis 400m 53.22 (P) Brigita Langerholc 800m 2:03.53 (A) Grazyna Penc 800m 2:03.93 (A) Grazyna Penc 1,500m 4:16.82 (P) Anna Lopaciuch 1,500m 4:19.38 (P) Natasha Danvers 100m HH 13.41 (P) Myriam Tschomba 100m HH 13.56 (P) Natasha Danvers 400m IH 56.03 (A) Pamela Simpson Long Jump 21-2w (P) Cynthia Ademiluyi Shot Put 51-0 (P) Cynthia Ademiluyi Discus 168-3 (P) Jennifer Vail Hammer 191-6 (A) Cynthia Ademiluyi Hammer 182-3 (P) Angela Williams, Torri Edwards, Malika Edmonson, Candace Young 4x100m 43.35 (A) Malika Edmonson, Carla Estes, Kinshasa Davis, Brigita Langerholc 4x400m 3:36.52 (P)(A) - Automatic qualifying mark - currently 7 (P) - Provisional qualifying mark - currently 16
USC MEN'S TRACK & FIELD CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
YEAR COACH CAPTAIN W L T + * 1936 Dean Cromwell Foy Draper 4 0 1 1 1 1937 Dean Cromwell Bill Sefton 4 1 0 1 1 1938 Dean Cromwell Adrian Talley, Hal Smallwood 4 0 0 1 1 1939 Dean Cromwell Payton Jordan, Bud Day 4 0 0 1 1 1940 Dean Cromwell Mickey Anderson, Louis Zamperini 5 0 0 1 1 1941 Dean Cromwell Howard Upton, Johnny Wilson 4 0 0 1 1 1942 Dean Cromwell Leroy Weed, Mel Bleeker 5 0 0 1 1 1948 Dean Cromwell Roland Sink, John Sanders 6 0 0 2 1 1949 Jess Hill Mel Patton, Bill Bayless 7 0 1 1 1 1950 Jess Hill Bob Chambers, Henry Aihara 5 0 0 1 1 1951 Jess Mortensen Art Barnard, Jack Rowan 6 0 0 1 1 1952 Jess Mortensen Art Garcia, Frank Flores 6 0 0 1 1 1953 Jess Mortensen Jack Davis, Sim Iness 6 0 0 1 1 1954 Jess Mortensen Jim Lea, Will Wright 5 0 0 1 1 1955 Jess Mortensen Des Koch, Howard Bugbee 5 0 0 1 1 1957 Jess Mortensen Ron Morris, Doug Maijala 6 0 0 - 1 1958 Jess Mortensen Rink Babka, Max Truex 6 0 0 1 1 1959 Jess Mortensen Tom Anderson, Bob Shankland 7 0 0 - 1 1960 Jess Mortensen Charlie Dumas, Ted Smith 5 0 0 2 1 1961 Jess Mortensen Bob Avant, Bobby Staten 7 0 0 1 1 1962 Jess Hill Bruce Munn, Dallas Long 9 1 0 3 1 1963 Vern Wolfe Rex Cawley, Kevin Hogan, Julio Marin 11 0 0 1 1 1964 Vern Wolfe Larry Stuart 10 0 0 3 1 1968 Vern Wolfe Earl McCullouch, Chuck Schultz 7 0 0 1 1 1972 Vern Wolfe Doug Lane 4 1 0 2 **1 1974 Vern Wolfe No Captain 4 1 0 7 1 1975 Vern Wolfe Randy Williams 4 1 0 3 1 1976 Vern Wolfe Ken Randle 7 0 0 1 1 1977 Vern Wolfe Tom Andrews, Ralph Fruguglietti 6 0 0 3 1 1997 Ron Allice B. Johansson, I. Turner, J. Shelton 8 2 0 3 1||+ Finish in NCAA Outdoor meet * Finish in conference meet (conference finish is PCC record from 1936 through 1958 and Pac-8/Pac-10 from 1960 to present.) ** Finished first in NCAA Indoor meet
