University Southern California Trojans
USC
MPSF Championships
USC Men Win MPSF Title, Women Take Third
February 27, 2016 | Track & Field
Ricky Morgan Jr., Robert Ford, Eric Sloan and the 4x400m relay team won event titles to lead USC men's team to the team championship and Kendall Ellis won the women's 400m race to lead the women's team to a third-place finish at the 2016 MPSF Championships held at Dempsey Indoor in Seattle, Wash. today (Feb. 27). USC's men began the day in sixth place and the women's team had a one-point lead. USC was the only school to have both the men's and women's teams finish in the top three of the standings.
"We had a weekend of excitement! Although our main goal was to put everyone in a position to qualify for NCAA's or train through NCAA's, it was great to win the men's meet and come out with 8 MPSF champions which speaks to the direction the program is headed," said USC Director of Track & Field Caryl Smith Gilbert. "Indoors has been up and down this season with nagging injuries so to come to a high caliber meet such as this with a fairly young team and win a team title is impressive!"
"I am very proud of each event group for performing all weekend with just about everyone earning a personal best or season best! Our coaching staff is arguably the best in the nation and they showed out this weekend! We are looking forward to the national championship meet in Birmingham. After that we will head into the outdoor season injury free and ready to roll," added Smith Gilbert.
The sophomore Morgan won the men's 400m race by setting a new PR and school record of 46.45. He was the winner of the first heat and teammate Zyaire Clemes won the second heat and finished second overall with a USC freshman record of 46.74. Together the pair earned USC 18 points in the team competition.
Ford, another sophomore, won the men's 800m title with a PR and school-record time of 1:47.88. Sophomore Jordon Wallin finished 25th overall in the 800m race with a PR of 1:55.76.
The junior Sloan, who won the long jump yesterday, made it a two titles by taking the men's triple jump with a best leap of 53-6.25 (16.31m). He needed just two attempts to put away the competition and earn 10 points. Sophomore Dominic Smallwood chipped in with a big PR of 49-4.25 (15.04m) in his final attempt to finish sixth and gain three more valuable points. Their 13 points put the Trojans in the lead.
The final scored event was the men's shot put and the Trojans saved their best marks for their final attempts, which clinched the meet. Sophomore Nick Ponzio had a best mark of 63-4.00 (19.30m) to grab third place and earn six points. Freshman Matthew Katnik had a PR and USC freshman record shot put of 61-4.75 (18.71m) to take fifth and earn four points. Freshman Nathan Bultman had a best mark of 56-6.75 (17.24m) to place 15th.
Prior to that the men's 4x400m relay team of Clemes, senior Just'N Thymes, sophomore Adoree' Jackson and Morgan set the school record with a time of 3:07.32 to win the event and earn 10 points. Jackson also took fourth in the men's 60m final with a time of 6.77, while freshman Dominic Davis was eighth with a time of 6.85. Together Jackson and Davis earned USC six points in the team competition. Sophomore Marquís Morris placed fourth in the men's 60m HH final with a time of 7.94. His efforts earned the Trojans five more points.
Sophomore Randall Cunningham tied for eighth in the men's high jump to earn a half of a point in the team competition with a clearance of 6-10.75 (2.10m). He cleared his first height of 6-8.75 in his first attempt, but took all three jumps to get over the bar at 6-10.75, and then missed on three attempts at 7-0.50 (2.15m). For Cunningham it tied his lowest clearance of the indoor season, both on the Dempsey Indoor track.
The women's team was a little undermanned due to injuries, but still was able to finish in third place. The only Trojan running in the women's 400m race was the sophomore Ellis and she won the event with a time of 53.11. She took the first heat and had to wait through 12 sections to confirm her title and 10 points for the Trojans.
USC's women combined to earn nine points in the 60m dash. Sophomore Deanna Hill placed fourth in the 60m final with a time of 7.39 to earn five points, junior Destinee Brown was sixth with a time of 7.43 to earn three points and sophomore Gabriella Cantrell was eighth with a time of 7.50 to earn a point.
Brown, Cantrell, redshirt sophomore Rebekah Ent and freshman Mikaela Smith teamed up to take seventh in the women's 4x400m final with a time of 3:45.95. They earned USC two points in the team competition.
In the women's 800m race, Ent had a PR of 2:11.90 to place 18th and Smith had a time of 2:12.65 to finish 19th.
Earlier in the day freshman Jasmyne Graham took fifth in the women's 60m HH final with a time of 8.36. Graham earned USC four points in the team competition.
USC's women earned their final point in the women's shot put competition, as senior Tera Novy had a PR of 50-6.75 (15.41m) to finish eighth. Junior Tanya Sapa had a best mark of 48-1.75 (14.67m) to finish 10th in the shot put.
Senior Katerina Berdousi began the day by taking 20th in the women's one-mile race with a time of 4:58.05. She came back later to finish 29th in the women's 3000m race with a time of 9:52.61. Senior Jenna Tong also ran in the 3000m race and had a PR of 10:02.63 to finish 38th.
Top Team Scores: Men: 1.) USC -- 90.50, 2.) BYU -- 82, 3.) UCLA -- 73
Women: 1.) Oregon -- 108, 2.) Stanford -- 73.75, 3.) USC -- 59
