Two weeks ago, Trojan athletes recorded numerous NCAA-leading times at the Battle on the Bayou. As the team split up between three separate meets this weekend, the track and field squad added to its early-season success with more impressive individual performances.

The throwers competed at the Pacific Coast Invitational in Long Beach, the distance team ran at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, and the sprinting and field event squads traveled to the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut. Across three days of competition, the group recorded a combined total of eight event wins, breaking three school records in the process.

With one final meet remaining before the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, this weekend’s meets revealed that the sprinters’ success will play a large role in the team’s placement in the conference. Five of the weekend’s eight event wins came in sprint events.

Trojan women break two school records at Mt. SAC

The majority of the track team competed at the Mt. SAC Relays this weekend, where the Trojan women took home six wins total and ran some of the fastest times in the country this year.

The most impressive performance of the meet came in the women’s 4x100m relay with a time of 42.12 seconds, the fastest time in the NCAA this year and tied with Oregon for the third-fastest time ever by a school.

The squad of sophomore sprinters Brianna Selby, Mia Brahe-Pedersen, junior sprinter Madison Whyte and senior sprinter Dajaz DeFrand also broke the previous USC school record set in 2019.

Following that record-breaking performance, Whyte broke another school record in the 400-meter, running 49.64 seconds. Whyte posted the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season.

The women’s team continued its success in the sprinting events with strong performances in both the elite and collegiate divisions of the 100-meter. The elite division is the highest level of competition and includes both professional athletes and the top collegiate athletes.

In the elite 100-meter division, Selby and Brahe-Pedersen earned silver and bronze medals, respectively, finishing narrowly behind a professional sprinter. Selby ran 11.14 seconds, and Brahe-Pederson was close behind, finishing in 11.19 seconds.

Sophomore sprinter Rachael Uvieghara represented the Trojans in the collegiate division of the 100-meter, taking home gold with a time of 11.49 seconds.

In the collegiate division of the 100-meter hurdles, sophomore hurdler Lillian Harden added another title for USC, finishing in 13.48 seconds.

Senior sprinter Christine Mallard rounded out the women’s strong sprint performances at the Mt. SAC Relays with a bronze medal in the elite division of the 200-meter. Mallard recorded a time of 22.62 seconds.

Sophomore thrower Ashley Erasmus recorded two event wins on the weekend, placing first in the shot put at the Pacific Coast Invitational and the Mt. SAC Relays. Erasmus’s throw of 18.07 meters at the Pacific Coast Invitational broke her own school record that she set last year.

At the Bryan Clay Invitational, freshman distance runner Oluwatosin Awoleye was the only Trojan — man or woman — to place in the top 10 of an event. Awoleye ran 2:03.06 to earn ninth place in the 800-meter.

Kaalund returns to the track in good form

Senior sprinter Garrett Kaalund, who ran the second-fastest time ever in the indoor 200-meter earlier this season, won the 200-meter in his first race of the outdoor season at the Mt. SAC Relays. With a final time of 20.10 seconds, Kaalund’s performance ranked him as the NCAA leader in the event this season.

Kaalund doubled in the 100-meter, earning a bronze medal with a final time of 9.90 seconds. He finished narrowly behind junior sprinter Edward Nketia, who ran 9.84 seconds to take home silver in the event.

Those performances placed Nketia and Kaalund at second and third, respectively, on the NCAA leaderboard in the 100-meter this season.

In the 400-meter race, junior hurdler Yougendy Mauricette continued an exceptionally strong start to his season by finishing fourth place overall in a time of 50.34 seconds.

In the sole relay event that the men participated in, a 4×100-meter squad of junior sprinters Nickolas Miller and Jacob Andrews, freshman sprinter and jumper Cordial Vann, and Nketia managed to secure a bronze medal, running 39.09 seconds.

Vann added a second title for the Trojan men in the collegiate division of the long jump, recording a mark of 7.57 meters.

Trojan throwers also recorded strong results at both the Mt. SAC Relays and the Pacific Coast Invitational. At Mt. SAC, USC athletes secured two spots in the top three of the discus throw. Junior thrower Racquil Broderick finished second with a mark of 60.88 meters, followed by graduate thrower Vinent Ugwoke in third with a throw of 60.23 meters.

In the hammer throw at the Pacific Coast Invitational, freshman throwers Max and Mico Lampinen threw 68.96 meters and 68.01 meters, respectively, to earn silver and bronze medals.

The track team will face off against crosstown rival UCLA at home on May 2 — the squad’s final meet before the Big Ten Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska, from May 15 to 17.