University Southern California Trojans
Trojans Set To Compete At Northridge Invitational This Weekend
March 14, 2012 | Track & Field
March 14, 2012
The USC Trojans men's and women's track and field team will be competing this week at the Northridge Invitational in Northridge, Calif. The hammer throw competition will be held on Friday, March 16 beginning at noon and the rest of the meet will be held on Saturday, March 17 starting at 8 a.m.
BOYD PLACES 10TH IN LJ INDOORS - Junior Allita Boyd earned second team All-America status by placing second in the long jump at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships held in Nampa, Id. on March 9-10. Boyd had a jump of 20-3.50, missing the finals by one centimeter. What made it especially impressive is that Boyd has been battling injuries since early February which have kept her from training, first injuring her hip at an indoor meet on Feb. 4 and then straining her knee at the Rossi Relays on Feb. 25. Boyd had a best indoor jump this season of 20-9.25 (6.33m).
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS - USC's 2012 track and field team features 13 athletes which have earned first team All-America status in their careers. Those athletes are, Men: Joey Hughes (400m, 4x400m), Josh Mance (400m), Bryshon Nellum (4x400m), Duane Walker (4x400m), Reggie Wyatt (400m IH, 4x400m) and Women: Kristine Busa (Javelin), Jessica Davis (200m, 4x100m), Zsofia Erdelyi (3000m SC), Loudia Laarman (4x100m), Dalilah Muhammad (400m IH, 4x400m), Jenny Ozorai (hammer throw), Aareon Payne (200m, 4x100m) and Jenna Puterbaugh (4x100m).
USC CONTINUES TO BRING THE HAMMER - The USC women's hammer throwers captured the top five spots in both of their first two competitions and then five of the top seven at the Ben Brown Invitational on March 9. In that meet, Jenny Ozorai won with a PR and the second-farthest throw in school history of 223-4. Also setting top 10 marks all-time by a Trojan were Marissa Minderler (212-8, 4th) and Jade Niemeyer (201-2, 9th). In addition, Tamara Baumann set a PR with a throw of 184-11. USC's current women's hammer throws group has four of the top 10 marks all-time by Trojans, which also includes Lauren Chambers at sixth (206-5).
COLLATZ SETS USC FRESHMAN RECORD IN FIRST MEET - Discus thrower Alexandra Collatz wasted no time in putting her name in the USC record books as she broke the USC freshman discus throw record with a mark of 176-5 (53.78m) in her first collegiate meet, the Rossi Relays on Feb. 25. Her throw broke the previous record of 169-4 set by Claudia Paris in 1986 and is the fourth-farthest throw all-time by a Trojan female.
DONT' MISS THE TROJAN INVITATIONAL ON MARCH 23-24 - USC is hosting only one track meet this season, but it is a doozy, featuring defending NCAA men's and women's champion Texas A&M, defending Pac-10 men's and women's champion Oregon, conference rivals Washington and Washington State, Big Ten power Michigan and the always tough BYU. In addition, the traditional high school relay championships will be held throughout the day on Saturday, March 24. The hammer throw competition will be held on Friday, March 23 beginning at 2 p.m. at West L.A. College, while the javelin throw event will be contested starting at 6 p.m. Friday at Loker Stadium. A Distance Carnival of the 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m races will be held at Loker Stadium Friday beginning at 6:30 p.m. The remainder of the meet will at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. A complete listing of the schedule of events can be found at USCTrojans.com under the schedule page for track and field.
MUHAMMAD PROVIDES STEADY LEADERSHIP - Senior co-captain Dalilah Muhammad earned her third All-America honors by placing sixth in the 400m IH at the 2011 NCAA Championships with a time of 57.88. She set a PR with a time of 56.04 in the semifinals to better her third-place standing on USC's all-time 400m IH list. Muhammad also placed second at the 2011 Pac-10 Championships with a time of 56.80. Muhammad scored at the 2009 NCAA Championships in the 400m IH (3rd) and 4x400m (6th). Muhammad was part of a 4x400m relay which ran the sixth-fastest time in USC history of 3:31.57 at the NCAAs on June 11, 2009. Muhammad has been running 100m HH races in the early season and set a PR with a time of 13.39 in winning at the Rossi Relays on Feb. 25, just .04 seconds outside of the USC all-time top 10 in the event. Muhammad also has the top high jump mark by a current Trojan of 5-9.
