University Southern California Trojans
Thompson Advances To NCAA Championships; Nellum Injured
May 26, 2011 | Track & Field
May 26, 2011
Complete Results in PDF Format 
Cooper Thompson advanced to the NCAA Championships in the men's javelin and eight Trojans advanced to quarterfinals on the first day of the NCAA Track & Field Preliminary Rounds held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. during a constant light rain. Not everything on the day was rosy for the Trojans, though, as Bryshon Nellum had to pull up in the men's 400m race with what is initially being diagnosed as a left groin strain.
The junior Thompson was the last Trojan competing on the day, but the first to punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships as he finished in seventh place in the men's javelin competition. He was in the final flight and his first throw of 220-7 moved into fifth place. He followed that throw with a mark of 233-0 (71.02m) to move him into fourth place. He had a throw of 230-9 (70.33m) in his third attempt to sit comfortably in sixth entering the final three rounds. He fouled in his fourth and fifth attempts and passed on his sixth to finish in seventh and onto the NCAA Championships to be held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Ia. June 8-11. Redshirt freshman Jeffery Churchman had a throw of 167-4 (51.00m) in his first attempt in the men's javelin competition, but then fouls in his next two efforts to finish 47th.
Senior Brendan Ames got the day started for USC as he competed in the final flight of the men's long jump. Ames ran through his first attempt for a foul. His second jump was 23-11.50 (7.30m). He has been nursing a sore left hamstring and with it bothering him, he passed on his final attempt and did not advance to the finals, finishing in 20th place. Ames came into the competition ranked No. 12 in the West Region so it figured to be close for him to advance out of the Preliminary Rounds and on to the NCAA Championships as only the top 12 from the Regional advance. Ames said that he does expect to be able to compete tomorrow in the men's 110m high hurdles.
The first Trojan on the track was junior Dalilah Muhammad who needed to finish in the top three of her heat or be one of the next best six times in the women's 400m IH to advance to tomorrow's quarterfinal round. She took care of business by cruising in for second in her heat with a time of 58.51 and onto the quarterfinals. She had the seventh-best qualifying time as 10 of the 24 women to advance were from the Pac-10.
Sophomore Reggie Wyatt was next in the men's 400m IH with the same qualifying standards. He made quick work of the field and eased into the finish with a winning heat time of 50.76. He finished with the fourth-fastest time on the day in into tomorrow's NCAA quarterfinals.
Junior Blake Shaw then ran a strong race to finish fourth in his 1500m heat with a time of 3:45.26 to automatically advance to Saturday's quarterfinals as the top five from each heat plus the four next best times advanced. Shaw was in eighth place entering the final lap and in sixth with about 20 meters to go but was coming hard down the stretch and found a hole to sneak into fourth place at the wire.
The women's 100m dash was next with runners needing to finish in the top three of their heat or have one of the next six best times. Freshman Loudia Laarman was the first Trojan, running in the fifth heat and taking third place with a wind-legal PR of 11.62 to automatically advance. Fellow freshman Jessica Davis won the final heat with a time of 11.32, the third-fastest time on the day. Both Davis and Laarman will compete in tomorrow's 100m quarterfinals.
Also advancing to the quarterfinals tomorrow was freshman Aaron Brown in the men's 100m dash. He placed third in his heat with a time of 10.42 to automatically advance. Brown's time was the 11th fastest on the day.
Sophomore Alitta Boyd fouled in her first two attempt in the women's long jump, but had a clutch jump of 19-9.50 (6.03m) to move into second place after three rounds. With the final flight containing the top 12 entrants, she was assured of at least advancing to the final round of 16 which would advance to earn three more jumps. The top 12 finishers would move on to the NCAA Championships. After everybody had three attempts Boyd stood in 11th place. She did not have a better jump in her fourth attempt and held the 12th spot following four rounds. Her fifth attempt was 19-6.25 (5.95m) and she slipped to 13th place, needing a big final effort. Her final attempt was 19-2.50 (5.85m) which meant she finished 13th, the first spot out of advancing to the NCAA semifinals in the long jump. Redshirt senior Shana Woods had a best jump of 19-0.50 (5.80m) and finished the competition in 28th place.
The final event on the track for USC on Thursday was the men's 400m dash and it was a key one with freshman Josh Mance, junior Joey Hughes and the redshirt junior Nellum all in the field. To advance they would have to finish top three in their heats or have one of the next six best times. Mance was first and he automatically advanced as he eased in at the line in second in his heat with a time of 45.84. Hughes and Nellum were in the second heat and Hughes advanced by winning with a time of 46.67. The heart-breaking result for the Trojans, though, was Nellum having to pull up at about the 150m mark with a groin injury. Mance had the third and Hughes the 11th best qualifying times.
Trojans scheduled to compete tomorrow are: Nia Ali (100m HH), Brendan Ames (110m HH), Lauren Blackburn (100m HH), Alitta Boyd (triple jump), Aaron Brown (100m), Jessica Davis (100m, 200m), Viktor Fajoyomi (high jump), Trey Henderson (hammer), Joey Hughes (400m), Loudia Laarman (100m), Josh Mance (400m), Marissa Minderler (hammer), Dalilah Muhammad (400m IH), Jenny Ozorai (hammer), Jenna Puterbaugh (200m), Tyler Ruiz (high jump), Oscar Spurlock (110m HH) and Reggie Wyatt (400m IH).
Players Mentioned
