Friday, May 12
Walnut, Calif.
All Day
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Pac-12 Championships
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Photo by: Hali Helfgott
USC Track & Field Ready For Pac-12 Championships This Weekend
May 10, 2023 | Track & Field
Weekly Release (PDF)Schedule (PDF)Heat Sheets (PDF)Live StatsHow To Watch The Men's Championship (PDF)How To Watch The Women's Championship (PDF)
Women's team ranked No. 5, men's team No. 19
The Trojan track and field team will be competing at the 2023 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships being hosted by MT. SAC in Walnut, Calif. from May 12-14.
TROJANS AT THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS -- The USC men's team placed third and the women's team fourth at the 2022 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships held in Eugene, Ore. The USC women's team had its 3-year reign as champions snapped, but has now finished in the top four in 30 of the 35 seasons of the women's meet and has won the title four times. The USC men have now posted a top three finish in 10 of the last 13 Pac-12 Championship meets. USC's men have won the conference title 16 times, the last time during the 2006 season. USC's men have scored at least 99 points in 22 of the last 26 meets. Both the USC men's (272) and the USC women's teams (160) lead the conference in all-time event titles at the Pac-12 Championships.
BLOCKBURGER SEEKS THIRD CONSECUTIVE 400M TITLE -- USC junior Johnnie Blockburger won the 2021 Men's Pac-12 400m title with a time of 45.57 as a freshman at Arizona and then won in 2022 as a sophomore at USC with a time of 45.19. Blockburger is attempting to become the first Pac-12 male athlete to win three 400m titles since USC's Jerome Davis won four consecutive crowns from 1996-1999.
I'LL TAKE THAT... -- A USC athlete has won the last five Pac-12 women's 400m races, with Jan'Taijah Jones being the 2022 champion. Also winning the 400m race for USC during that stretch are Kendall Ellis (2017 & 2018), Kaelin Roberts (2019) and Kyra Constantine (2021). A USC woman has won the last four 100m hurdles finals at the Pac-12 Championships, Chanel Brissett (2018 & 2019), Anna Cockrell (2021) and Jasmine Jones (2022).
RETURNING PAC-12 CHAMPIONS -- USC has five athletes on its current roster which are defending individual event or relay champions from the 2022 Pac-12 Championships held at Oregon: Johnnie Blockburger (M-400m, M-4x100m, M-4x400m), Allie Jones (W-Heptathlon while at Stanford), Jan'Taijah Jones (W-400m), Jasmine Jones (W-100m H) and Brendon Stewart (M-4x100m).
CHANDLER & MOODY BREAK LOKER STADIUM RECORD -- Graduate transfer Caisja Chandler set the Allyson Felix Field and Loker Stadium women's 100m dash record with a time of 10.99 (+1.1) at the Trojan Invitational on April 8. Also, breaking the previous record in that race was sophomore Samirah Moody who had a time of 11.02 (+1.1). The pair's times rank third and fourth on USC's all-time 100m dash list. The previous Loker Stadium record of 11.10 was set by TeeTee Terry when USC hosted the Pac-12 Championships in 2021. Chandler and Moody still have the top two wind-legal times this season entering this week's action.
THE GREEK HAMMER - Sophomore hammer thrower Nikolaos Polychroniou from Athens, Greece, had a PR of 238-1 (72.56m) to win the USC-UCLA Dual Meet hammer throw competition on April 30. His throw moved him from ninth to sixth on USC's all-time list and currently ranks seventh in the country. His previous best throw of 234-2 (71.37m) was set when he won the hammer throw competition at the Trojan Invitational on April 7. He followed that effort up with a best throw of 229-9 (70.03m) to take second in the hammer throw at the Mt. Sac Relays on April 15.
WOMEN RUN 5TH-FASTEST 4X400M RELAY IN USC HISTORY -- USC's 4x400 relay team of Christine M. Mallard, Caisja Chandler, Bailey Lear and Jan'Taijah Jones posted a time of 3.26.96 at the Trojan Invitational on April 8 to move into fifth on USC's all-time list. USC's 4x400m relay team enters the week ranked fifth in the country.
OJORA CLEARING ALL HURDLES - Two-time All-American senior Tade Ojora ran a then fastest collegiate time of 13.35 (+3.0) in the 110m hurdles at the Florida Relays on March 31, which now ranks third. He ranks fifth on USC's all-time 110m hurdles list with a time of 13.38 set in 2021. During the 2023 indoor season he set the USC record with a time of 7.53, which was the NCAA leader heading into the NCAA Championships.
LET'S KEEP IT GOING - At least one USC man, woman or relay team has won an NCAA outdoor title in each of the last seven championships.
TOP 30 TROJANS -- The following athletes currently are ranked in the top 30 among NCAA events entering this week's action:
Men: 400m - Blockburger (20), 800m - Poynter (27); 110m H - Ojora (3), Brackins Jr. (10); 4x100m - (14); LJ - Brackins Jr. (9), Stevenson (T-11); HT - Polychroniou (7), Johnson (18)
Women: 100m - Chandler (T-7), Moody (T-9); 200m - Chandler (12), Mallard (T-27), Moody (T-27); 400m - Jones (7), Lear (18), John (20), Mallard (T-29); 100m H - Smith (14), A.Jones (17); 400m H - J.Jones (6); 4x100m (5); 4x400m - (5); LJ - Ojora (21); TJ - Ojora (8), Ruotolo (20); Heptathlon - A.Jones (1).
YOU MIGHT NEED A PROGRAM -- USC has added 31 new athletes to its track and field program since the end of the 2022 season. In fact, 41.3 percent of the roster is new from last season with 15 of the 40 women and 16 of the 35 men on the rosters competing in their first season as a Trojan.
NEXT MEET -- USC's next meet will be the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds to be held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif. from May 24-27.
TROJANS AT THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS -- The USC men's team placed third and the women's team fourth at the 2022 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships held in Eugene, Ore. The USC women's team had its 3-year reign as champions snapped, but has now finished in the top four in 30 of the 35 seasons of the women's meet and has won the title four times. The USC men have now posted a top three finish in 10 of the last 13 Pac-12 Championship meets. USC's men have won the conference title 16 times, the last time during the 2006 season. USC's men have scored at least 99 points in 22 of the last 26 meets. Both the USC men's (272) and the USC women's teams (160) lead the conference in all-time event titles at the Pac-12 Championships.
BLOCKBURGER SEEKS THIRD CONSECUTIVE 400M TITLE -- USC junior Johnnie Blockburger won the 2021 Men's Pac-12 400m title with a time of 45.57 as a freshman at Arizona and then won in 2022 as a sophomore at USC with a time of 45.19. Blockburger is attempting to become the first Pac-12 male athlete to win three 400m titles since USC's Jerome Davis won four consecutive crowns from 1996-1999.
I'LL TAKE THAT... -- A USC athlete has won the last five Pac-12 women's 400m races, with Jan'Taijah Jones being the 2022 champion. Also winning the 400m race for USC during that stretch are Kendall Ellis (2017 & 2018), Kaelin Roberts (2019) and Kyra Constantine (2021). A USC woman has won the last four 100m hurdles finals at the Pac-12 Championships, Chanel Brissett (2018 & 2019), Anna Cockrell (2021) and Jasmine Jones (2022).
RETURNING PAC-12 CHAMPIONS -- USC has five athletes on its current roster which are defending individual event or relay champions from the 2022 Pac-12 Championships held at Oregon: Johnnie Blockburger (M-400m, M-4x100m, M-4x400m), Allie Jones (W-Heptathlon while at Stanford), Jan'Taijah Jones (W-400m), Jasmine Jones (W-100m H) and Brendon Stewart (M-4x100m).
CHANDLER & MOODY BREAK LOKER STADIUM RECORD -- Graduate transfer Caisja Chandler set the Allyson Felix Field and Loker Stadium women's 100m dash record with a time of 10.99 (+1.1) at the Trojan Invitational on April 8. Also, breaking the previous record in that race was sophomore Samirah Moody who had a time of 11.02 (+1.1). The pair's times rank third and fourth on USC's all-time 100m dash list. The previous Loker Stadium record of 11.10 was set by TeeTee Terry when USC hosted the Pac-12 Championships in 2021. Chandler and Moody still have the top two wind-legal times this season entering this week's action.
THE GREEK HAMMER - Sophomore hammer thrower Nikolaos Polychroniou from Athens, Greece, had a PR of 238-1 (72.56m) to win the USC-UCLA Dual Meet hammer throw competition on April 30. His throw moved him from ninth to sixth on USC's all-time list and currently ranks seventh in the country. His previous best throw of 234-2 (71.37m) was set when he won the hammer throw competition at the Trojan Invitational on April 7. He followed that effort up with a best throw of 229-9 (70.03m) to take second in the hammer throw at the Mt. Sac Relays on April 15.
WOMEN RUN 5TH-FASTEST 4X400M RELAY IN USC HISTORY -- USC's 4x400 relay team of Christine M. Mallard, Caisja Chandler, Bailey Lear and Jan'Taijah Jones posted a time of 3.26.96 at the Trojan Invitational on April 8 to move into fifth on USC's all-time list. USC's 4x400m relay team enters the week ranked fifth in the country.
OJORA CLEARING ALL HURDLES - Two-time All-American senior Tade Ojora ran a then fastest collegiate time of 13.35 (+3.0) in the 110m hurdles at the Florida Relays on March 31, which now ranks third. He ranks fifth on USC's all-time 110m hurdles list with a time of 13.38 set in 2021. During the 2023 indoor season he set the USC record with a time of 7.53, which was the NCAA leader heading into the NCAA Championships.
LET'S KEEP IT GOING - At least one USC man, woman or relay team has won an NCAA outdoor title in each of the last seven championships.
TOP 30 TROJANS -- The following athletes currently are ranked in the top 30 among NCAA events entering this week's action:
Men: 400m - Blockburger (20), 800m - Poynter (27); 110m H - Ojora (3), Brackins Jr. (10); 4x100m - (14); LJ - Brackins Jr. (9), Stevenson (T-11); HT - Polychroniou (7), Johnson (18)
Women: 100m - Chandler (T-7), Moody (T-9); 200m - Chandler (12), Mallard (T-27), Moody (T-27); 400m - Jones (7), Lear (18), John (20), Mallard (T-29); 100m H - Smith (14), A.Jones (17); 400m H - J.Jones (6); 4x100m (5); 4x400m - (5); LJ - Ojora (21); TJ - Ojora (8), Ruotolo (20); Heptathlon - A.Jones (1).
YOU MIGHT NEED A PROGRAM -- USC has added 31 new athletes to its track and field program since the end of the 2022 season. In fact, 41.3 percent of the roster is new from last season with 15 of the 40 women and 16 of the 35 men on the rosters competing in their first season as a Trojan.
NEXT MEET -- USC's next meet will be the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds to be held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif. from May 24-27.
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