Track and field impresses at Razorback Invitational


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USC track and field travelled to Fayetteville, Ark. over the weekend for the Razorback Invitational. The Trojans brought a partial team to the Randal Tyson Track Center, choosing to give some of their athletes a rest, but they still placed well out of 14 programs in the overall team standings, with the women’s team finishing in second and the men in seventh.

The meet started strongly for USC on Friday, and multiple Trojans set personal best marks. Junior Deanna Hill was the highlight of the day, taking home first place in the women’s 200-meter dash with a personal best and national leading time of 22.94 seconds. Hill was the only 200-meter runner at the meet to record a time under 23 seconds, and that mark improved her second-place standing on USC’s all-time list for the indoor 200-meter. Meanwhile, junior Kendall Ellis ran a personal best 23.15 in the event, which was good for third overall and third on the all-time list.

Sophomore Margaux Jones finished third in the women’s long jump on Friday, turning in a season-best 20-9.25 (6.33 meters) mark. Freshman Courtney Corrin, who is ninth all-time in program history in the indoor long jump, improved on her record with a jump of 19-11.00 (6.07 meters), finishing seventh overall. On the men’s side, junior Randall Cunningham finished second in the high jump, with a clearance of 7-2.25 (2.19 meters).

The Trojans enjoyed another impressive series of performances on Saturday, the final day of the invitational. Redshirt sophomore Marquís Morris won the 60-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 7.73 seconds, which also tied him with senior Brendan Ames for third-best in USC history. Freshman Anna Cockrell and sophomore Jasmyne Graham then took home a 1-2 finish in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, both setting personal records of 8.15 and 8.22 seconds, respectively. Cockrell improved on her fifth-best time in program history, while Graham moved up on the list from ninth to seventh.

Senior Cameron Pettigrew finished first overall in the women’s 400-meter race, sprinting to a personal best time of 53.05 seconds. The new high mark bumped her from 10th to sixth on the Trojan indoor records list. Freshman Kyra Constantine finished just behind Pettigrew in second overall, setting her own personal best of 54.00 seconds — which was good for eighth-best all-time.

USC wrapped up the weekend with a team effort, as the Trojans set a collegiate-leading time in the women’s 4×400-meter relay. Ellis, Cockrell, Pettigrew and Hill combined to finish in 3:30.66 minutes, which won the event in style and also moved the quartet into third place in USC’s record books.

Next up, the track team prepares for a trip to Albuquerque, N.M. for the New Mexico Classic. The Trojans will compete over the weekend at the indoor meet before attending their first outdoor competition in Seattle in two weeks’ time.