USC T&F On To NCAA Preliminary Rounds
May 23, 2011 | Track & Field
May 23, 2011
THIS WEEK - The USC track and field team will be at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary Rounds hosted by Oregon at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. on May 26-28. The top 48 declared athletes in descending order in the region will be competing, with the top 12 finishers advancing to the NCAA Championships to be held Jun 8-11 in Des Moines, Ia. Oregon will provide a free webcast of the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds on its website, www.goducks.com. The webcast will commence at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.
TROJANS COMPETING AT THE REGIONAL - USC will bring 27 athletes which will compete in 19 events at the NCAA Preliminary Rounds. The women athletes (11) looking to punch their tickets to the NCAA Track & Field Championships are: Nia Ali (100m HH, HJ), Lauren Blackburn (100m HH), Alitta Boyd (TJ, LJ), Jessica Davis (100m, 200m, 4x100m), Loudia Laarman (100m, 4x100m), Marissa Minderler (Hammer), Dalilah Muhammad (400m IH), Jenny Ozorai (Hammer), Aareon Payne (200m, 4x100m), Jenna Puterbaugh (200m, 4x100m) and Shana Woods (LJ). USC men (16) looking to advance to the championships are: Brendan Ames (110m HH), Aaron Brown (100m), Tony Burnett (TJ), Jeffrey Churchman (Javelin), Viktor Fajoyomi (HJ, TJ), Trey Henderson (Hammer), Joey Hughes (400m, 4x400m), Josh Mance (400m, 4x400m), Bryshon Nellum (400m, 4x400m), Tyler Ruiz (HJ), Blake Shaw (1500m), Oscar Spurlock (110m HH), Cooper Thompson (Javelin) and Reggie Wyatt (400m IH, 4x400m). In addition, Scott DeYoung and Duane Walker will be along as alternates for the men's 4x400m relay team.
YEAR TWO OF NCAA PRELIMINARY ROUNDS FORMAT - For the second year there will be two NCAA Preliminary Rounds taking place simultaneously (East Preliminary Rounds are in Bloomington, Ind.) which will virtually serve as the first and second rounds of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
USC AT THE PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS - The USC men tied for third and the women placed fourth at the Pac-10 Championships on May 13-14 in Tucson, Ariz. USC's men won four titles and had eight first or second-place finishes, more than any other team. The USC women tied Oregon with four first-place finishes and Oregon and Arizona with eight first or second-place finishes. Winning individual events for USC were Nia Ali (100m HH), Brendan Ames (long jump), Jessica Davis (200m), Trey Henderson (hammer throw), Marissa Minderler (hammer throw), Cooper Thompson (javelin throw), the women's 4x100m relay and the men's 4x400m relay. Ali had the second-fastest hurdles time (12.77) and high jump (6-1.25) in USC history. Ames had the fourth-fastest 110m hurdles times in USC history and set the Pac-10 meet record with a time of 13.39 in the semifinals. Lauren Blackburn set the USC freshman 100m hurdles record with a time of 13.06 to place second, passing Virginia Powell's (Crawford) freshman time of 13.07.
4x400m RELAY POSTS SECOND USC TOP-10 TIME - Redshirt junior Bryshon Nellum, sophomore Reggie Wyatt, freshman Josh Mance and junior Joey Hughes won the Pac-10 4x400m relay title with a time of 3:03.38, the 10th-fastest 1,600m relay time in USC history. At the Texas Relays in April, Hughes, Mance, junior Duane Walker and Wyatt ran a 3:02.87 4x400m relay race to place fourth in the event and fourth all-time by a Trojan quartet. Texas A&M, Baylor, LSU and USC, the top 4 finishers in that race are still the top 4 ranking teams in the country.
SPURLOCK AND AMES FORM DAUNTING DUO - Seniors Oscar Spurlock and Brendan Ames will be providing a real hurdle for anyone seeking the NCAA men's 110m hurdles title this season. The pair currently ranks third and fourth nationally, with Spurlock posting a 13.33 time to win at Mt. SAC on April 16 and Ames a 13.39 result in the semifinals at the Pac-10 Championships on May 13. Spurlock's 13.33 tied the USC school record of Mark Crear and Ames' 13.39 at the Pac-10 Championships broke the meet record of 13.43 set by Greg Foster in 1980. Ames was a 2011 NCAA Indoor All-American in the hurdles in February. Spurlock placed fourth at the 2010 NCAA outdoor championships to earn All-America honors.
DAVIS DOES IT AGAIN - Freshman Jessica Davis is off to a fast start on her USC career...literally. She ran a PR of 11.19 to finish second in the 100m dash at the Pac-10 Championships and move to sixth on USC's all-time list. She then bettered her USC freshman record in winning the 200m dash at the Pac-10s with a PR of 22.84, tying Torri Edwards for sixth on USC's all-time list and setting the Roy P. Drachman Stadium record. She originally set the USC freshman record with a time of 22.98 in the 200m dash at Mt. SAC on April 16, breaking the record of 23.22 set by Angela Williams in 1999. Davis also runs the anchor on USC's 4x100m relay which won the Pac-10 title with a season-best time of 43.84, 0.14 seconds outside the Trojan top 10 and ninth in the country.
NOTHING IS EASY... - Despite having three of the top 17 400m runners in the country in Joey Hughes (5th), Bryshon Nellum (11th) and Josh Mance (17th), it will be a difficult road for all three to advance to the NCAA Championships. Unfortunately for USC, 13 of the top 17 400m runners in the country are located in the West Region and 14 runners have posted a sub-46 second time.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS ON DECK - The Trojans will be competing at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Ia.
Players Mentioned
