University Southern California Trojans
Trojans Sprint Toward Cal Poly SLO
June 21, 1999 | Track & Field
March 17, 1999
CAL POLY SLO FOUR-WAY MEET
The USC mens and womens track and field teams will travel up the coast to
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for a four-way meet, which features Brigham Young
and Utah State in addition to the Trojans and the host Mustangs. The meet,
which is part of the U.S. Collegiate Track & Field Series, is scheduled to
begin at 8 a.m. in the field (hammer) and 11:15 a.m. on the track (womens
5,000m). The meet will only be scored as a four-way competition.
THE USC TROJANS
USC, the most successful mens 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 mens 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 mens team is defending NCAA 400m champion Jerome Davis. The USC
womens 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 mens side,
Sultan McCullough has already 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). Sports Illustrated calls Edwards and Williams "the countrys best
sprint tandem."
SO FAR THIS SEASON
The USC mens and womens teams are both 4-0 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 McCulloughs 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. After only a month of limited involvement in a handful
of meets this season, USC already has 31 athletes qualified for the Pac-10
Championships (May 21-22 in Tempe). The Women of Troy have 18 including
four NCAA automatic qualifiers (Brigita Langerholc and Grazyna Penc in the
800m, Jennifer Vail in the hammer and the 400m relay team) and six
provisional qualifiers. The USC mens team has 13 athletes with Pac-10
marks, including three NCAA automatics (Sultan McCullough in the 100m,
Felix Sanchez in the 400m IH and Norbert Horvath in the hammer) and two
provisionals.
NEXT HOME MEET
The Trojans will host UCLA for the annual dual meet between the crosstown
rivals on May 1 at Cromwell Track & Field Stadium.
NEW STADIUM
USCs 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 tracks 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.
LAST YEAR
The USC mens team finished seventh at last seasons 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.
USCS NCAA TITLE HISTORY
The Trojan mens program has won an unprecedented 26 NCAA outdoor national
titles (including nine straight in 1935-43), plus two NCAA indoor crowns.
USCs men also have had 105 individual champions over the years, including
the 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 seasons fifth-place showing at the 1998 meet in
Buffalo, N.Y. This years 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).
1998 PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS
The USC mens 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 USCs 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 Troys 121 points all by herself on the final day of the competition.
RON ALLICE
Following in the footsteps of USCs 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 years NCAA Outdoor Championships, he
led the USC mens team to seventh place and the Women of Troy to fifth (as
a combined mens and womens 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 mens team to its first Pac-10 title since
1977 (and 30th overall) before finishing third at the NCAAs. In 1996,
Allice guided the USC womens team to its first-ever Pac-10 title and
directed the mens squad to a 10th-place finish at the NCAAs. And in his
first year at USC in 1995, he led the mens 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. Allices 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 Troys 26 NCAA outdoor titles (including nine straight,
1935-43), two indoor NCAA titles and 30 conference crowns, the USC mens
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
womens program has developed into one of the nations 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
schools first-ever Pac-10 womens team title on May 19, 1996.
