University Southern California Trojans
USC Track And Field Sprints Toward NCAAs
May 29, 2000 | Track & Field
May 29, 2000
THE 2000 NCAA TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sixteen members of the USC men's track and field team and 11 members of the Women of Troy squad meet the rest of the nation's best in Durham, N.C., at the 2000 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 31-June 3 (Wednesday-Saturday) at Duke University. Competition in the field begins at 11 a.m. on May 31 at Wallace Wade Stadium, while events on the track start at 2 p.m. The final events of the meet on June 3 will be the 4 X 400m relays (women's at 9:15 p.m. and men's at 9:30). The No. 11-ranked USC men's team is fresh off its third Pacific-10 Conference Championship in the last four years and 32nd overall. The No. 2-ranked Women of Troy squad finished second at the recent Pac-10 meet (May 20-21). Both Trojan squads are guided by USC director of track and field Ron Allice, who was recently named USTCA West Region Coach of the Year for the second straight year. At last year's NCAA meet in Boise, Id., the USC men finished fifth and the Women of Troy squad were third. Scoring for the meet is 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
ON TELEVISION
CBS will televise the NCAA Championships nationally on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, June 4, at 1 p.m.
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. The Women of Troy have had nine individual collegiate champions, including defending 100m champ Angela Williams, and seven Top 10 NCAA team finishes in school history, including last season's third-place showing at the 1999 meet in Boise, Idaho.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The USC men's team is currently ranked at No. 11 by Trackwire (May 24), while the Women of Troy are No. 2. According to the latest NCAA form chart put out by Track and Field News, the Women of Troy are picked to finish second with 61 points, while the men are tabbed at the seventh spot with 24 points.
NCAA OUTDOOR LEADERS
USC is home to several athletes who have clocked NCAA leading times so far this season. Senior Felix Sanchez owns the nation's top time in the 400m IH at 48.86 (April 16) and is the two-time Pac-10 champion in that event. On the women's side sophomore Angela Williams has the nation's top 100m time at 11.01w (May 21), sophomore Kinshasa Davis has the top 200m time at 22.69 (April 16) and junior Brigita Langerholc has the best 800m time at 2:02.01 (April 16). Williams and Davis make up one half of USC's 400m relay team which clocked a nation-leading 43.27 back on April 1. Langerholc and Davis also run legs on the Women of Troy's 1600m relay squad which is second in the nation with a time of 3:31.31.
The USC TROJANS
USC, celebrating its centennial season, owns an unprecedented 26 NCAA Outdoor Championships (plus two indoor titles). Leading the way for the 2000 men's team is 1999 NCAA hammer runner up and 2000 Pac-10 champ Norbert Horvath, 2000 Pac-10 400m IH champion Felix Sanchez, and 1999 All-American and school-record pole vaulter, Dennis Kholev. The USC women's team is led by four school record holders: 1999 NCAA 100m champion Angela Williams (11.04), 2000 Pac-10 800m champion Brigita Langerholc (1:59.87), 2000 Pac-10 400m IH champion Natasha Danvers (55.69) and 1999 hammer All-American Jennifer Vail (204-3).
THE CHAMP
The aforementioned Angela Williams is the defending NCAA 100m champion and the USC 100m record-holder at 11.04--and she's only a sophomore! She was ranked ninth in the world and ran the fastest junior time in the world in 1999. Williams finished third in the 100m at the U.S. championships and has a good chance at competing in Sydney for the U.S. Olympic team. The 5-2 Williams recently won the Pac-10 100m (nation-leading 11.01w) and 200m (PR 22.78w) titles and ran the first leg on USC's Pac-10 champion 400m relay.
POLE POSITION
Junior pole vaulter Denis Kholev broke Dave Kenworthy's school record on April 1 when he vaulted 18-3 [5.56] to finish second at the Centennial Invitational. Kholev, who finished seventh at the NCAAs in 1999, is a native of the Ukraine who later served three years in the Israeli Defense Forces. At the 2000 Pac-10s, he finished second with a height of 18-1.
MAMBO NUMBER TWO
Junior triple jumper Djeke Mambo (whose older brother Kedjeloba is also a jumper for Troy) jumped a career-best 53-10 3/4 at the Trojan Invitational to automatically qualify for the NCAAs. It was also the second best triple jump in USC history (behind Tom Cochee's 54-4 1/2). At the 2000 Pac-10s, Mambo finished fourth in the long jump, sixth in the triple jump and fifth in the 110m HH.
HAMMER TIME
USC sends three hammer throwers to the NCAAs. Junior Norbert Horvath leads the way. The 1999 NCAA runner-up, Horvath threw a season best 230-4 (fifth-best in the nation this year) to win his second straight Pac-10 title on May 21. Junior Szabolcs Maroti finished third at the Pac-10s and has the sixth-best mark in the nation at 225-9. Senior Dagan Massey has a best of 209-3 (he was the Pac-10 runner-up).
DYNAMIC DUO
The Women of Troy send a pair of throwers who are currently in three of the all-time USC top-10 charts: junior hammer All-American Jennifer Vail and sophomore Cynthia Ademiluyi. Vail finished seventh at the NCAA meet in 1999 and is the Women of Troy record-holder in the hammer (204-3). She finished third at this year's Pac-10 meet. Ademiluyi finished third in the shot (50-8 3/4) and fourth in the discus (167-2). She'll compete in both events at the NCAAs.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
USC has two of the finest 400m hurdlers around in senior team captain Felix Sanchez and senior Natasha Danvers. Sanchez is second on the all-time Trojan list with a PR of 48.60. So far he has the best time in the nation this season (48.86). Sanchez has dual citizenship (U.S.-Dominican Republic) and will be competing for the Dominican Republic in the 2000 Olympics. He is the two-time Pac-10 400m IH champ. Danvers is perhaps the best athlete on the USC squad. The London native is the Woman of Troy record-holder in the 400m IH at 55.69 and has the fourth-best mark in the nation this season at 56.46, which recently won her the Pac-10 400m IH title for the third straight year. At last year's NCAAs, Danvers finished fourth. Sanchez and Danvers are also vital parts of the Trojans' 1600m relay squad.
THE INCREDIBLE LANGERHOLC
Junior Brigita Langerholc tops the Women of Troy in two events this season. Already the school-record holder in the 800m (1:59.87), she has a nation-leading 2:02.01 so far this season and will be one of the favorites in her event at the NCAAs. Langerholc, who hails from Slovenia, also ran USC's best 400m time this year at the USTCA Invitational (52.93-NCAA Provisional) and is a member of USC's school-record 1600m relay team. She recently won her second straight Pac-10 800m title in a time of 2:03.82.
KINSHASA RISING
Sophomore Kinshasa Davis came to USC as one of the most celebrated female athletes in prep history. Slowed by injuries her first two years (she redshirted her first season), Davis is back on track for greatness. She owns the fastest 200m time in the nation this season at 22.69--second fastest all-time on the Women of Troy and Pac-10 charts. Davis also is the anchor for USC's school-record 400m and 1600m relays. At the 1999 NCAA Championships in Boise, she ran the anchor leg on USC's 1,600m squad that overtook UCLA in dramatic fashion to deny the Bruins a share of the national title. At the recent Pac-10 Championships, Davis finished second in the 200m (22.82w) and fourth in the 100m (11.42w).
RON ALLICE
Under the guidance of Director of Track and Field Ron Allice, the Trojan men are on a run of six consective top 10 finishes - a feat last accomplished during the 1970s under Verne Wolfe. Meanwhile, the Women of Troy have finished in the top 10 three of the last four years - a level of success not seen since the late 1980s. Last year the men's track team won its second Pac-10 title in three years under Allice. Then, at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships, he led the USC men's team to fifth place and the Women of Troy to third. It was the women's best showing since 1987. As a combined men's and women's program, that performance was the best in school history. In fact, USC was the only school in the country in 1999 that finished in the top five in both men's and women's track and field. In 1998, the Trojan men's team finished in seventh place while the women's team finished in fifth place. In 1997, Allice directed the Trojan men's team to its first Pacific-10 Conference 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. At last year's NCAA Outdoor Championship Allice is well known for his ability to win. His overall dual meet coaching mark is 192-36-1 in 33 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 31 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 403-109-4 (.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 27 individual Olympic titles and shared in 13 relay wins. The NCAA has used many scoring systems over the years, but E. Garry Hill, the editor of Track and Field News has gone back to 1921 and rescored all the meets using a 10-8-6-4-2-1 system. Over the years the Trojans have scored nearly as many points as the second and third place teams combined.
Team Points 1. USC 2598 2. UCLA 1543 3. Oregon 1289 4. Illinois 1038 5. Stanford 961 6. Wash. St. 950 7. Michigan 950 8. Cal 913 9. UTEP 884 10. Kansas 815
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Kinshasa Davis was selected the Pac-10 Women's Track Athlete of the Week on April 17 for her nation-leading 22.69 200m time at the Mt. Sac Relays. Freshman Ryan Wilson of Gahanna, Oh., was selected for the same honor on April 24 for finishing third in the 110m HH at the USTCA Invitational with a time of 13.79 (+4.5). In the semi-finals he also had an NCAA provisional time of 13.90 (+2.5).
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.
RESULTS
Results for the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships can be found on the internet at www.flashresults.com, or at www.usctrojans.com. Just click on the link. Results will be updated after each event.
COMBINED EXCELLENCE
USC was the only school in the nation in 1999 to place both its men's and women's programs in the top five at the NCAA Championships.
USC ENTRIES
USC Men (16) 100m - Sultan McCullough (Season: 10.22, Career: 10.17) 110m HH - Ryan Wilson (Season/Career: 13.83w) 400m IH - Felix Sanchez (Season: 48.86, Career: 48.60) 400m Relay - Darrell Rideaux, Sultan McCullough, Vince Williams, Andre Ammons, Miguel Fletcher* (39.47) 1,600m Relay - Leroy Jordan, Vince Williams, Andre Ammons, Felix Sanchez (3:04.10) Decathlon - Daniel Haag (Season: 7,234, Career: 7,623) Pole Vault - Denis Kholev (Season/Career: 18-3) Triple Jump - Djeke Mambo (Season/Career: 53-10 3/4) Kedjeloba Mambo (Season: 52-10 3/4, Career: 54-1 1/4) Shot Put - Van Mounts (Season/Career: 62-6) Hammer - Norbert Horvath (Season: 230-4, Career: 241-11) Szabolcs Maroti (Season/Career: 225-9) Dagan Massey (Season/Career: 209-3)
USC Women (11) 100m - Angela Williams (Season: 11.01w, Career: 11.04) 200m - Kinshasa Davis (Season/Career: 22.69) 400m - Malika Edmonson (Season: 53.05, Career: 52.95) 800m - Brigita Langerholc (Season: 202.01, Career: 1:59.87) 1,500m - Anna Lopaciuch (Season: 4,19.44, Career: 4:16.49) 400m IH - Natasha Danvers (Season: 56.46, Career, 55.69) 400m Relay - Angela Williams, Candace Young, Malika Edmonson, Kinshasa Davis (43.27) 1,600m Relay - Brigita Langerholc, Natasha Danvers, Malika Edmonson, Kinshasa Davis, Carla Estes* (3:31.31) Triple Jump - Tatyana Obukhova (Season/Career: 43-9 1/4w) Hammer - Jennifer Vail (Season/Career: 204-3) Shot Put - Cynthia Ademiluyi (Season: 50-8, Career: 52-10 1/2) Discus - Cynthia Ademiluyi (Season/Career: 172-4)
