USC men's track and field needed only one event to crown a national champion at the NCAA Championships in Eugene. Conor McCullough set the tone for the Trojans by not only winning the hammer title, becoming the third male Trojan ever to do so, but doing it in dominant fashion, besting the field by 17-feet 7-inches with his personal best throw of 252-4 (76.91m).
"It's been a long journey," said McCullough. "I've had a lot of support from the staff at USC, Coach Caryl (Smith Gilbert) and Coach Dan (Lange); and I'm glad it worked out. This was definitely the goal. You never know what's going to happen."
Click here for the complete recap of Day 1.
From there, the runners and jumpers sprung into action. The amazing Adoree' Jackson followed up his Freshman All-American football season by garnering All-American status in the long jump, launching himself 25-11.50/7.91m (+1.9) to finish fifth overall. He now sits eighth on USC's all-time list and is the first football letterman to earn track All-America honors in an individual event since Sultan McCullough in 2000 and the first to do it in a field event since long jumper Luther Hayes in 1961.
While the sprinters have to wait until Friday's finals to collect their points, Pac-12 champion Andre De Grasse set the stage for another memorable meet. He won his 200m semifinal heat in 20.09 and qualified easily in the 100m dash in 9.98. De Grasse also joined BeeJay Lee, Just N' Thymes and Bryan Mercado on the 4x100m relay, recording the fifth best time as a team to advance to the final.
Bookending the strong start, freshman shot putter Nick Ponzio collected another point for the team by finishing eighth with a PR of 64-1 (19.53m) in his final throw. The All-American is the first Trojan to score in the event since Noah Bryant won the title in 2007.
The Women of Troy hit the track today. Follow @usc_track_field for updates or watch live on ESPNU.
Here are the John McGillen photos from Day 1 at historic Hayward Field:
University Southern California Trojans
Tuesday, June 23
Monday, June 22
Monday, June 22
Monday, June 22
