Written by Grace DeWitt, USC blog contributor
The second day of competition at the 2015 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships last weekend featured an epic battle between USC and Oregon. As the day wore on, both teams pulled far ahead of their conference competitors and exchanged the overall lead with each other again and again. Although the Ducks edged the Trojans in the end, USC Director of Track & Field Caryl Smith Gilbert was proud that her team won 13 event titles and nearly dethroned the now seven-time defending champs.
"I think they know we're here," she said of Oregon's program. "We're not going anywhere."
The Trojan men started the day 27 points behind the Ducks, while the women trailed by 56. The deficit wouldn't last long, as the Women of Troy mounted an epic comeback that brought the meet down to the final event. The men closed the gap as well, ultimately falling to second behind Oregon, 152-121, the most points scored by a second place team since 2010. Despite winning the 4x400m relay, the USC women were edged by Oregon as well, 185-182, after the Ducks placed second in the event. The Trojan women's point total is the highest ever by a second place team.
For a complete recap of last weekend's Pac-12 Track & Field Championships, click here.
With the majority of field events taking place on Saturday, six Trojans had top eight finishes to score points heading into the final day of competition. Redshirt senior Conor McCullough won the men's hammer with a throw of 236-10 (72.2m); junior Alexis Faulknor won the women's long jump with a leap of 21-0.75; and freshman Adoree' Jackson took home the men's long jump title with a season-best mark of 25-3.5.
"I think they know we're here," she said of Oregon's program. "We're not going anywhere."
The Trojan men started the day 27 points behind the Ducks, while the women trailed by 56. The deficit wouldn't last long, as the Women of Troy mounted an epic comeback that brought the meet down to the final event. The men closed the gap as well, ultimately falling to second behind Oregon, 152-121, the most points scored by a second place team since 2010. Despite winning the 4x400m relay, the USC women were edged by Oregon as well, 185-182, after the Ducks placed second in the event. The Trojan women's point total is the highest ever by a second place team.
For a complete recap of last weekend's Pac-12 Track & Field Championships, click here.
With the majority of field events taking place on Saturday, six Trojans had top eight finishes to score points heading into the final day of competition. Redshirt senior Conor McCullough won the men's hammer with a throw of 236-10 (72.2m); junior Alexis Faulknor won the women's long jump with a leap of 21-0.75; and freshman Adoree' Jackson took home the men's long jump title with a season-best mark of 25-3.5.
On Sunday, it was the sprinters turn. Senior Vanessa Jones got things started early for the Trojans, winning the 400m title in the time of 51.50. She also placed fifth in the 200m dash at 23.46. Her teammates Tynia Gaither, Alexis Faulknor and Deanna Hill placed first through third in the same event, running 22.97, 23.08, and 23.14 respectively.
As a senior, the weekend's events held special significance for Jones. "It's your last Pac-12's. It's the last time you can run for your team, besides regionals and nationals," she remarked. "Why not go out with a bang?" she added with a smile.
The women weren't the only ones to sweep the podium for the 200m event. Junior Andre De Grasse clinched the men's dash in 20.05, followed by teammates BeeJay Lee at 20.46 and Just'N Thymes at 20.75.
De Grasse (photo right with Smith Gilbert by Kirby Lee), who was favored to win the event, said the biggest challenge of Sunday's competition was seeing if his body could handle finishing the race in 20 seconds after running Saturday's preliminary in an even faster 20.03.
His time nearly broke the conference record held by Ato Boldon of UCLA, who completed the event in 20 seconds flat in 1996. While it may not have happened just yet, Smith Gilbert is confident De Grasse can beat the record. "He can go 19.00, it's just a matter of how low under 19.00," she said.
That isn't to say De Grasse's performance wasn't record-breaking. He wowed spectators with a remarkable 9.97 finish in the 100m dash, shattering the previous meet record of 10.03 (also set by Boldon in 1996) and the USC school record of 10.02, set by James Sanford in 1980. De Grasse called it the biggest accomplishment of his day, as it was only the third time in history that a Canadian completed the 100m in under 10 seconds.
The Women of Troy's sprinters dominated the competition as well. Freshman Deanna Hill finished fifth in the 100m dash (11.45) behind teammates Gaither (11.27), Ky Westbrook (11.36) and Faulknor (11.36), who placed second through fourth respectively. The four partnered together to win the 4x100 relay title, breaking the meet record for the event for the second year in a row, running a 43.10 to beating the second place Ducks by over half a second. Hill also placed third behind Gaither (22.97) and Faulknor (23.08) in the 200m.
In addition to Westbrook and Hill, it was an impressive weekend for many of the team's youngest competitors. USC freshmen Dior Hall and Marquis Morris took first place in the women's 100m hurdles and men's 110m hurdles. Hall snagged first with a time of 12.99, leaning in for an exciting finish and beating the second place finisher's time by .01. Morris finished his event in 13.95 ahead of a fifth-year senior from Oregon. Freshman high jumper Randall Cunningham, took second in his event with a height of 7-1.0 (2.16m).
Check out Andre De Grasse's blazing fast 100m victory. The junior finished in 9.97.
