Wednesday, May 22
Fayetteville, Ark.
All Day
USC
vs
NCAA West Preliminary Rounds
Players Mentioned
Sprints
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Hurdles
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Hurdles
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Sprints
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/ Track & Field
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/ Track & Field
Throws
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Throws
/ Track & Field
Throws
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Hurdles & Jumps
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Distances
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Throws
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Throws
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Throws
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Distances
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Distances
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
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Throws
/ Track & Field
Photo by: Kirby Lee-Image of Sport
USC Track & Field Heads To NCAA West Prelims In Arkansas
May 20, 2024 | Track & Field
Weekley Release (PDF)Live StatsMay 22 Live Stream (4-8 p.m. PT)May 23 Live Stream (4-8 p.m. PT)May 24 Live Stream (3-7 p.m. PT)May 25 Live Stream (3-7 p.m. PT)
Trojan men ranked No. 9, women ranked No. 13
The Trojan track and field team will be competing at the 2024 NCAA West Preliminary Rounds hosted by Arkansas at John McDonnel Field in Fayetteville, Ark. from May 22-25. The top 48 declared athletes in each individual event and the top 24 relays in each region will be competing with the top 12 in each event area and relays advancing to the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships to be held in Eugene, Ore. from June 5-8. Â
USC AT THE 2024 WEST PRELIMINARY ROUNDS --Â USC has 40 athletes which have qualified individually for the 2024 NCAA West Preliminary rounds, 25 women and 15 men.Â
WOMEN: Simone Ballard (100m H), Jassani Carter (100m, 200m),Takiya Cenci (400m), Leah Disher (800m), Kamryn Elgersma (JT), Jada Foreman (TJ), Alyssa Hope (LJ), Yemi John (400m), Jan'Taijah Jones (400m), Jasmine Jones (100m H, 400m H), Jenna Gallaway (HT), Reese Garland (DT), Gigi Maccagnini (800m), Christine M. Mallard (100m, 200m), Samirah Moody (100m), Temi Ojora (TJ), Lauren Reed (TJ), Rae-Anne Serville (400m H), Jalaysiya Smith (100m H), Marne Sullivan (800m), Tracy Towns (800m), Nonah Waldron (100m H), Madison Whyte (200m), Sara Zabarino (JT).Â
MEN: Jacob Andrews (400m), Di'Niko Bates (110m H), Johnnie Blockburger (400m), Johnny Brackins Jr. (110m H, LJ), Racquil Broderick (DT), Gavin Champ (TJ), Elias Gerald (HJ), William Jones (400m), , Matteo Mitchell (HT), Tamaal Myers (400m H), Leif Nelson (JT), Nikolaos Polychroniou (HT), JC Stevenson (LJ), Max Thomas (100m, 200m), Travis Williams (100m),Â
USC MEN & WOMEN PLACE 2ND AT THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS -- The USC men's and women's teams both placed second at the 2024 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships hosted by Colorado on May 10-12. Jasmine Jones won the 100m and 400m hurdles titles, including setting the meet record in the 400m hurdles. Johnnie Blockburger won the men's 200m and 400m and ran on the winning USC 4x100m relay, making it nine career Pac-12 titles for Blockburger. Blockburger was named the 2024 Pac-12 Men's Athlete of the Meet. The USC men's team (141 points) and women's team (136 points) combined for 277 points, 44 points more than the next closest program (Oregon).
400 METERS TO PAC-12 GLORY -- USC's Johnnie Blockburger won the 2024 Pac-12 men's 400m title and Jan'Taijah Jones won the 2024 Pac-12 women's 400m title. Blockburger won the title for the third time in four seasons, only placing second to teammate William Jones last season. Jones is the third conference woman to win three consecutive Pac-12 400m titles (Keshia Baker and Phyllis Francis). USC's Kendall Ellis holds the women's 400m meet record with a time of 49.99 set in 2018. Â
THE GREEK HAMMER - Junior hammer thrower Nikolaos Polychroniou from Athens, Greece, had a PR of 246-10 (75.24m) to win the USC-UCLA Dual Meet hammer throw competition on April 27. His throw moved him from sixth to third on USC's all-time list and he currently ranks fourth in the country. Polychroniou placed second in the hammer throw at the 2024 Pac-12 Championships, his second consecutive runner-up finish. Last year he went on to finish fifth at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors.
JONES CLEARING ALL HURDLES - 2022 Pac-12 100m hurdles champion and 2022 NCAA 100m hurdles runner-up Jasmine Jones is back in action after battling injuries since then. First she won the 2024 NCAA indoor 60m hurdles title with a school-record time of 7.77. Then, she won the Pac-12 100m and 400m hurdles titles, the latter with a meet-record time of 53.87. Jones has the top NCAA 400m hurdles time and the 10th-fastest 100m hurdles time, the only NCAA woman to rank in the top 10 in both events this season. Â
OJORA SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS - USC senior jumper Temi Ojora currently ranks third among NCAA athletes with a wind-aided triple jump best of 45-4.25/13.82m (+3.2w). She also has a wind-legal best this season of 44-11.50/13.70. She has won all five of her triple jump competitions this season, including winning the Pac-12 title with a jump of 44-5.25/13.54m (-1.2) on May 12. Ojora also has cleared a career-best 5-10.75 (1.80m) in the high jump and has a long jump best this season of 20-7.75/6.29m (+1.4). She won all three events at the annual USC-UCLA Dual Meet on April 28 to lead USC to victory, its 10th consecutive over the Bruins.
FOUR TROJANS EARN PAC-12 YEARLY HONORS --Â USC's Johnnie Blockburger and Jasmine Jones were named 2024 Pac-12 Track Athletes of the Year and Racquil Broderick and Madison Whyte were named 2024 Pac-12 Track and Field Freshmen of the Year it was announced by the Conference on May 17.
BRODERICK MAKING AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT -- Freshman Racqul Broderick set the USC freshman discus throw record in his very first meet with a throw of 204-6 (62.34m) to win the Beach Opener on March 2. Â His throw also moved him to second on USC's all-time list, a foot and a half behind the school record of 206-0 (62.78m) set by Gary Carlsen in 1967. Â Broderick has won five of the six discus throw competitions he has entered this season
YOU MIGHT NEED A PROGRAM -- USC added 30 new athletes to its track and field program since the end of the 2023 season. In fact, 39.0 percent of the roster is new from last season with 19 of the 43 women and 11 of the 34 men on the rosters competing in their first seasons as a Trojan.
NEXT MEET -- USC's next meet will be the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships to be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Jun 5-8.
USC AT THE 2024 WEST PRELIMINARY ROUNDS --Â USC has 40 athletes which have qualified individually for the 2024 NCAA West Preliminary rounds, 25 women and 15 men.Â
WOMEN: Simone Ballard (100m H), Jassani Carter (100m, 200m),Takiya Cenci (400m), Leah Disher (800m), Kamryn Elgersma (JT), Jada Foreman (TJ), Alyssa Hope (LJ), Yemi John (400m), Jan'Taijah Jones (400m), Jasmine Jones (100m H, 400m H), Jenna Gallaway (HT), Reese Garland (DT), Gigi Maccagnini (800m), Christine M. Mallard (100m, 200m), Samirah Moody (100m), Temi Ojora (TJ), Lauren Reed (TJ), Rae-Anne Serville (400m H), Jalaysiya Smith (100m H), Marne Sullivan (800m), Tracy Towns (800m), Nonah Waldron (100m H), Madison Whyte (200m), Sara Zabarino (JT).Â
MEN: Jacob Andrews (400m), Di'Niko Bates (110m H), Johnnie Blockburger (400m), Johnny Brackins Jr. (110m H, LJ), Racquil Broderick (DT), Gavin Champ (TJ), Elias Gerald (HJ), William Jones (400m), , Matteo Mitchell (HT), Tamaal Myers (400m H), Leif Nelson (JT), Nikolaos Polychroniou (HT), JC Stevenson (LJ), Max Thomas (100m, 200m), Travis Williams (100m),Â
USC MEN & WOMEN PLACE 2ND AT THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS -- The USC men's and women's teams both placed second at the 2024 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships hosted by Colorado on May 10-12. Jasmine Jones won the 100m and 400m hurdles titles, including setting the meet record in the 400m hurdles. Johnnie Blockburger won the men's 200m and 400m and ran on the winning USC 4x100m relay, making it nine career Pac-12 titles for Blockburger. Blockburger was named the 2024 Pac-12 Men's Athlete of the Meet. The USC men's team (141 points) and women's team (136 points) combined for 277 points, 44 points more than the next closest program (Oregon).
400 METERS TO PAC-12 GLORY -- USC's Johnnie Blockburger won the 2024 Pac-12 men's 400m title and Jan'Taijah Jones won the 2024 Pac-12 women's 400m title. Blockburger won the title for the third time in four seasons, only placing second to teammate William Jones last season. Jones is the third conference woman to win three consecutive Pac-12 400m titles (Keshia Baker and Phyllis Francis). USC's Kendall Ellis holds the women's 400m meet record with a time of 49.99 set in 2018. Â
THE GREEK HAMMER - Junior hammer thrower Nikolaos Polychroniou from Athens, Greece, had a PR of 246-10 (75.24m) to win the USC-UCLA Dual Meet hammer throw competition on April 27. His throw moved him from sixth to third on USC's all-time list and he currently ranks fourth in the country. Polychroniou placed second in the hammer throw at the 2024 Pac-12 Championships, his second consecutive runner-up finish. Last year he went on to finish fifth at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors.
JONES CLEARING ALL HURDLES - 2022 Pac-12 100m hurdles champion and 2022 NCAA 100m hurdles runner-up Jasmine Jones is back in action after battling injuries since then. First she won the 2024 NCAA indoor 60m hurdles title with a school-record time of 7.77. Then, she won the Pac-12 100m and 400m hurdles titles, the latter with a meet-record time of 53.87. Jones has the top NCAA 400m hurdles time and the 10th-fastest 100m hurdles time, the only NCAA woman to rank in the top 10 in both events this season. Â
OJORA SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS - USC senior jumper Temi Ojora currently ranks third among NCAA athletes with a wind-aided triple jump best of 45-4.25/13.82m (+3.2w). She also has a wind-legal best this season of 44-11.50/13.70. She has won all five of her triple jump competitions this season, including winning the Pac-12 title with a jump of 44-5.25/13.54m (-1.2) on May 12. Ojora also has cleared a career-best 5-10.75 (1.80m) in the high jump and has a long jump best this season of 20-7.75/6.29m (+1.4). She won all three events at the annual USC-UCLA Dual Meet on April 28 to lead USC to victory, its 10th consecutive over the Bruins.
FOUR TROJANS EARN PAC-12 YEARLY HONORS --Â USC's Johnnie Blockburger and Jasmine Jones were named 2024 Pac-12 Track Athletes of the Year and Racquil Broderick and Madison Whyte were named 2024 Pac-12 Track and Field Freshmen of the Year it was announced by the Conference on May 17.
BRODERICK MAKING AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT -- Freshman Racqul Broderick set the USC freshman discus throw record in his very first meet with a throw of 204-6 (62.34m) to win the Beach Opener on March 2. Â His throw also moved him to second on USC's all-time list, a foot and a half behind the school record of 206-0 (62.78m) set by Gary Carlsen in 1967. Â Broderick has won five of the six discus throw competitions he has entered this season
YOU MIGHT NEED A PROGRAM -- USC added 30 new athletes to its track and field program since the end of the 2023 season. In fact, 39.0 percent of the roster is new from last season with 19 of the 43 women and 11 of the 34 men on the rosters competing in their first seasons as a Trojan.
NEXT MEET -- USC's next meet will be the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships to be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Jun 5-8.
USC Track & Field - 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships: Day 4 Highlights (6/14/25)
Saturday, June 14
USC Track & Field - 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships: Day 3 Highlights (6/13/25)
Friday, June 13
USC Track & Field - 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships: Day 2 Highlights (6/12/25)
Thursday, June 12
USC Track & Field - 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships: Day 1 Highlights (6/11/25)
Wednesday, June 11
