University Southern California Trojans
USC To Compete At 3 Meets This Weekend
March 23, 2011 | Track & Field
March 23, 2011
THIS WEEK - The USC Trojans men's and women's track and field team will have limited numbers of competitors at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. on March 25-26, the Cal-Nevada Championships in Claremont, Calif. on March 26-27 and at the Titan Twilight Open in Fullerton, Calif. on March 25. A good portion of the team will train through this week and comeback next week for the Trojan Tri-Meet vs. BYU and CS Northridge on April 2 at Loker Stadium (hammer throw on April 1 at Mt. SAC).
USC HOSTS SUCCESSFULL TROJAN INVITATIONAL - The Trojans won 15 different events at the 2011 Trojan Invitational held at Loker Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. on March 19, with the hammer throw contested on March 18 at Mt. SAC in Walnut, Calif. Among the Trojans posting the best collegiate time or mark in events were Jessica Davis (100m), Aareon Payne (200m), Zsofia Erdelyi (3000m), Lauren Blackburn (100m HH), Alitta Boyd (long jump), women's 4x100m, men's 4x100m, Brendan Ames (110m HH), Josh Mance (400m), Reggie Wyatt (400m IH), men's 4x400m, Anthony Burnett (triple jump), Cooper Thompson (javelin), in addition to Marissa Minderler and Trey Henderson winning the hammer throw competitions on March 18 at Mt. SAC.
HENDERSON KEEPS WINNING - Senior Trey Henderson is 3-for-3 in the hammer throw this season, winning all three meets in which he has competed. He set a PR in winning the hammer throw at the Ben Brown Invitational on March 3. He also bettered his 7th-place standing on USC's all-time list with a winning throw of 224-8 (68.49m) which is tops in the country this season. His previous best throw had been 221-10 set last season at the USC-UCLA Dual Meet. Henderson also won the hammer throw at the CS Northridge Invitational with a mark of 211-3 and again at the Trojan Invitational on March 18 (223-4).
EXPECT MORE FROM MINDERLER - Marissa Minderler became an invaluable member of the USC track and field team last season, posting all-time top 10 marks at the school in the hammer, javelin and shot put and that looks like it was just the beginning of what she plans to accomplish at USC. In the USC-UCLA Dual Meet last year she outscored the entire UCLA men's and women's throws team 14-13. In her first meet this season, she set a new PR in the hammer of 199-10 at the Ben Brown Invitational on March 3 to better her eighth-place standing on the USC's all-time list in the implement. She then jumped to fifth on USC's all-time list by winning the hammer throw at the Trojan Invitational on March 18 with a mark of 205-4 (62.60). Minderler also moved from ninth to sixth on the shot put list with a mark of 50-2 at the CS Northridge Invitational on March 12.
A MANCE AMONG BOYS - Freshman Josh Mance won the 400m dash in his first collegiate 400m race at the Trojan Invitational with the best time of 46.18. His time was the fastest in the country so far. Mance has a PR of 45.90 set last season as a high school senior at Don Lugo High in Chino, Calif. That time won him the California state title and was the fastest by a high schooler in 2010. Mance went on to run the leadoff leg for the U.S.'s 4x400m relay team which won a gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada.
JESSICA THE JET - Freshman Jessica Davis is off to a fast start on her USC career, winning the 100m dash and placing second in the 200m dash at the Trojan Invitational on March 19. Her time in the 100m dash of 11.49 was a legal PR and ranks third nationally and her time of 23.58 in the 200m race ranks seventh nationally. She also anchored USC's 4x100m relay team which ran 44.19 on March 19, good for second in the country.
WOMEN'S 4 X 100M RELAY POSTS IMPRESSIVE TIME - USC's women's 4x100m relay team of freshman Loudia Laarman, junior Aareon Payne, freshman Jenna Puterbaugh and freshman Jessica Davis had a season-best time of 44.19 at the Trojan Invitational on March 19. That time currently ranks second best in the country.
PROVIDING INSTEAD OF FEELING THE PAYNE - Junior sprinter Aareon Payne who struggled with hamstring injuries her sophomore season, came out of the blocks strong at the Trojan invitational with a legal PR of 23.44 in winning the 200m dash and running an 11.70 100m dash. As a freshman, Payne proved to be one of the top sprinters on the West coast, scoring at the Pac-10 Championships in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m. In 2010 she reached the Pac-10 200m finals, but had to withdraw from the finals due to injury, but managed to run a leg in USC's second-place 4x100m relay effort.
WYATT HURDLES INTO USC TOP 10 - Sophomore Reggie Wyatt had an outstanding first campaign at USC earning All-America honors as a freshman in the 400m IH and as a member of the 4x400m relay team. Wyatt finished third in the 400m IH at the 2010 Pac-10 Championships and set the USC freshman record with a time of 49.97 in the preliminaries. His time of 49.97 also ranks eighth all-time by a Trojan. Wyatt also anchored the 4x400m relay team which posted the sixth and ninth fastest times in school history. Wyatt opened the 2011 season with a time of 50.53 in the 400m IH at the Trojan Invitational on March 19, 3rd best in the country.
NEXT WEEK - The Trojans' track and field team will host BYU and CS Northridge in the Trojan Tri-Meet held on April 2 (hammer contested at Mt. SAC on April 1).
