Track and field teams garner wins at weekend meets


By
 in ,

It was a busy weekend for the USC track and field team as they competed in two meets.

On Friday, the women’s team travelled to Fayetteville, Arkansas to compete in the NCAA Last Chance Qualifier, the last opportunity for these athletes to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track Championships

The Women of Troy walked away with a team win in addition to an individual placement. The Women’s 4×400 meter relay team, consisting of freshmen Vanessa Jones and Akawkaw Ndipagbor, sophomore Jenna Puterbaugh and senior Dalilah Muhammad, placed first in their event with a time of 3:37.57. Senior Dalilah Muhammad, co-captain of the women’s track and field squad would also place third in the women’s 60m Hurdle preliminaries; going on to finish third in the 60m Hurdle finals with a time of 8.31 seconds.

On Saturday, both the men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the Beach Classic. The event, hosted by Long Beach State at Cerritos College in Norwalk, was an outdoor meet between USC and several Division II schools. The Trojans teams left the meet with several wins to add to their record; three wins for the men’s team and five for the women’s team.

The men’s team won two track events as well as finishing first in triple jump. Senior Joey Hughes, co-captain of the men’s team, captured first place in the 200m race, posting a time of 21.43. Sophomore Josh Mance finished in a close second in the same event, clocking in at 21.49.

Bryshon Nellum finished first in the men’s 400m race, posting a final time of 46.87. Senior Tony Burnett earned the team’s final win, jumping a season-best mark of 49-6.25 to finish first in the men’s triple jump.

The women’s team walked away from the Beach Classic with five wins. Sophomore Loudia Laarman won the women’s 200m dash, posting a time of 24.58, while freshman Erica Capellino won the 1500m with a time of 4:40.72.

Redshirt senior and co-captain Marissa Minderler finished first in two separate individual events: hammer throw (202-5) and shot put (47-0.25). In addition, the women’s hammer team took the first five places — a feat the team also achieved during last week’s meet.

To add a final win for the Trojans, the women’s 4x400m relay team (consisting of freshman Melia Cox, sophomores Jessica Davis, Loudia Laarman, and senior Anniya Louis) posted a time of 3:52.68 to win their event.