Trojans bring hardware back to LA

The Trojan track and field program went to the Razorback Invitational in Arkansas last weekend with high hopes, with the women’s team ranked No. 4 and the women’s team ranked No. 14 in the country. The team did not disappoint, impressing against elite competition from schools like LSU, Arkansas and Florida State.

Redshirt junior Dior Hall flashed her blazing speed for the second week in a row in the 60m hurdles, winning first place in a follow up to her second place finish at last week’s meet in Albuquerque with a time of 7.98 seconds. She was followed by teammate sophomore Anna Cockrell, who finished second after posting a time of 8.06 seconds.

For the second week in a row, the USC women’s 4×400 women’s relay team secured first place, as Kendall Ellis (senior), Cockrell, Deanna Hill (senior) and Kyra Constantine (sophomore) put up a time of 3:31.25. Randall Cunningham picked up his first 1st place finish of the season in the men’s high jump with an impressive height of 2.25m, improving on his 3rd place finish at last week’s meet.

Anna Cockrell also finished in 3rd place in the women’s 200m dash with a time of 23.16. Freshman teammate Twanisha Terry made USC history with an 8th place finish, as her 23.43 second time set a USC freshman women’s indoor record for the event. Junior Lyndsey Lopes also scored well in the penathalon, finishing 4th with a score of 3,921.

Sophomore TJ Brock finished 2nd in the men’s 60m dash once again, setting a new personal record with a time of 6.64 seconds. In the women’s shot put, redshirt senior Breanna Jemison finished in 3rd with a best throw of 15.73 meters. Senior Eric Sloan placed second in the men’s triple jump, posting a distance of 16.33m.

The strong performances didn’t end there for the Trojans. Senior Nicholas Ponzio threw for a distance of 18.68m in the men’s shot put, placing 4th in the event. A time of 7.94 seconds in the men’s 60m hurdles secured redshirt junior Marquis Morris a solid 5th place finish in the event final. Senior Ricky Morgan Jr. placed first in the men’s 400m dash, running the lap in 46.80 seconds. In the women’s 60m dash, three Trojans claimed back-to-back-to-back spots from 3rd to 5th place. Respectively, the finishes were posted by freshman Twanisha Terry, sophomore Anglerne Annelus and Hill. Terry led the three with a time of 7.27, followed by Annelus’s 7.30 and Hill’s 7.32. Constantine ran well with a time of 52.77 seconds in the women’s 400m dash.

The Trojans will have little time to reflect on their successes at the Razorback invitational as they focus their attention on the upcoming Tiger Paw invitational hosted by Clemson. The team will look to build off their performances from the last two weeks as they approach their third meet of the indoor season.