USC track and field posted its most impressive performance of the season at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic over the weekend, winning 10 events in a meet against 18 formidable opponents.

Following an impressive performance by the jump squad in last week’s DeLoss Dodds Invite, the full Trojan roster was back in action and impressing on all fronts. Across two days of competition, Trojan athletes set a school record, a facility record and recorded two top-five times in the world for the indoor season.

“We had a lot of great performances,” said Quincy Watts, the director of the track and field program, in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “A lot of coaches are very excited in their particular event areas.”

Kaalund breaks school record in the 200-meter

Senior sprinter Garrett Kaalund recorded the best performance of any athlete in the meet, running 20.12 in the 200-meter final to break a school record previously set by Olympic gold medalist Andre De Grasse in 2015.

Kaalund’s performance marked the fastest 200-meter time in the world this year and the sixth-fastest indoor time in NCAA history. It was Kaalund’s first time running the event this season.

“What Gary did, in the fashion he did it, was very impressive,” Watts said. “His first 200 of the year just caught everybody off guard. It’s just simply amazing.”

In the men’s 600-meter final, Trojan athletes claimed three of the top four spots. Junior hurdler Yougendy Mauricette led the way with a winning time of 1:17.81, closely followed by sophomore distance runner Chase McCallum in second with a time of 1:18.91 and senior hurdler Lincoln Marschall in fourth with a time of 1:19.59.

In the short sprinting events, junior Edward Nketia and graduate Ethan Exilhomme both impressed. Nketia continued his season’s upward trajectory, recording a personal best of 6.54 in the 60-meter semifinals. Despite not starting in the finals, Nketia’s time stands as the sixth-fastest collegiate time in the country this season.

Like Nketia, Exilhomme’s best performance came in the 60-meter hurdle semifinals, where he recorded a time of 7.68 seconds. Despite being the top seed based on his semifinal performance, Exilhomme finished fifth with a time of 7.80 in the finals.

After freshman sprinter Jack Stadlman placed eighth in the 400-meter, Watts praised his performance and compared Stadlman to Michael Norman, a former Trojan who went on to win an Olympic gold medal in 2020 in the 4×400-meter and took home a world championship title in 2022 in the 400-meter.

“Jack opened up at [46.14], and that’s a really, really excellent opener for a freshman,” Watts said. “There’s not too many freshmen in USC history who have opened up faster than Jack.”

Complementing the exceptional performances in the running events, senior jumpers JC Stevenson and Elias Gerald each finished in the top two of their respective jumping events. Stevenson, in his first meet of the season, won the long jump with a jump of 7.77 meters. Gerald finished second in the high jump, recording a height of 2.16 meters.

Whyte records top-five time in the world

The women’s squad impressed all around in running, jumping and throwing events, but no athlete more so than junior sprinter Madison Whyte. Whyte won the 400-meter final in a time of 50.82, breaking the previous facility record by nearly 1.5 seconds. Whyte’s performance earned her the fourth-best time in the world this season and the top spot for a collegiate athlete.

Freshman distance runner Oluwatosin Awoleye continued her dominant start to the season in the 600-meter final, winning the event in a time of 1:30.17 to keep up her impressive win streak. Awoleye has finished first in every individual race she has run this season.

In the 200-meter final, USC sprinters earned the top two spots. Senior sprinter Dajaz DeFrand finished in first place with a time of 22.79; just behind her was sophomore sprinter Mia Brahe-Pedersen, who ran a massive personal best at 22.85 and took advantage of a breakout race to finish in second place.

The women’s squad added strong performances in the 60-meter and the 60-meter hurdles. In the 60-meter final, sophomore sprinter Brianna Selby continued a strong start to her season, taking home the win in a time of 7.15 seconds. Sophomore sprinter Olivia Pace, finishing in 7.25 seconds, earned bronze in the same event. Both athletes set personal bests in the final.

In the 60-meter hurdles, graduate sprinter Asjah Atkinson finished in fifth place with a time of 8.23 seconds.

The women’s squad continued its outstanding performance through the final event of the meet, when a 4×400-meter team made up of freshman sprinters Joelle Trepagnier and Madison Mosby, as well as DeFrand and Whyte, finished first overall. The group recorded the sixth-best time of any women’s team in the country this season, running 3:28.65.

“I challenged [the 4×400 team] to be in a conversation in the nation in regards to USC,” Watts said. “I thought they did a tremendous job stepping up.”

In the field events, sophomore thrower Ashley Erasmus maintained her early-season dominance, winning the shot put title for the third meet in a row. Senior jumper Lauren Reed also took home a title for the women in the triple jump, improving by nearly half a meter from last weekend for a jump of 13.02 meters.

The Trojans will be back in action this Friday at the Don Kirby Elite Invite in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in their final test before the Big Ten Indoor Championships begin on Feb. 26.