After a highly successful outdoor season for USC track and field in 2025, the Trojans followed it up with another dominant showing during the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Championships from June 10 to 13, setting several new records and defending others.

Across four days at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, the women defended their title in the 4×100-meter relay and broke multiple school records on Thursday and Saturday, while the men fought back after being down early on Wednesday.

Overall, the women took fifth on Saturday, scoring 32 points — less than the 47 points they totaled last year when they placed second. Georgia won for the women, scoring 50 points, edging out Florida for the top spot.

Meanwhile, the men took 10th place on Friday, scoring 27 points, well shy of the 41 points they won with in 2025. Arkansas took the competition this year, scoring 56 points.

Women’s runners secure top-five finish

Sophomore thrower Ashley Erasmus and a large group of sprinters headlined a second straight year with a top-five finish in the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the women.

On Thursday, Erasmus secured the runner-up spot in shot put after throwing 18.14 meters, putting the first points on the board for USC. Erasmus finished the day earning First Team All-American honors in an impressive end to her sophomore season that saw her break her own shot put record and set a new one for the Trojans.

Other than Erasmus, it was the sprinters who excelled, both individually and in the relays, helping USC score double digits while breaking school records and defending a title in the 4×100-meter relay.

After setting a program record for the 4×100-meter dash on Thursday, the Trojans followed it up by defending their national title and breaking that record again on Saturday. 

This race marks the second straight national title for the women’s relay team and sets a program record of 41.58 seconds. The sprinters were sophomores Mia Brahe-Pedersen and Brianna Selby, junior Madison Whyte, and senior Dajaz DeFrand, all of whom earned First-Team All-American honors.

Whyte also ran the 400-meter dash, where she was the runner-up and set a school record of 48.97 seconds. Additionally, Whyte was part of the 4×400-meter relay along with seniors Takiya Cenci and Christine Mallard as well as freshman Joelle Trepagnier; they placed seventh as a unit and all secured First-Team All-American honors.

DeFrand and Mallard also ran in the 200-meter race, where they placed sixth and ninth, respectively. The two seniors finished their collegiate careers strong, with each contributing to records set by the Trojans.

In total, women’s track and field set five new program records during the Championships, won one race and were runners-up in three others in a very successful two days.

Lampinen brothers, Nketia lead men

The men started their NCAA Outdoor Championships run on Wednesday in hopes of scoring higher than the 30th place they placed during the Indoor Championships in March. Despite a slow start, USC had multiple athletes score points and advance to the final day of competition on Friday.

The Lampinen brothers finished a magical first season together at USC, each earning First Team All-American honors. On Wednesday, thrower Max Lampinen threw a personal best in the hammer throw at 71.64 meters, earning seventh. His brother, thrower Mico Lampinen, also threw a personal best in discus throw, throwing 61.89 meters and earning eighth place.

The track portion was headed by junior sprinter Eddie Nketia, who represented USC in the 100 and 200-meter dashes on Friday after qualifying during the preliminary round on the first day. The sprinter finished fifth in the 100-meter and sixth in the 200-meter, recording a personal best of 20.19 seconds in the latter, and earned First Team All-American honors in the process.

As for program records, graduate thrower Vincent Ugwoke shattered USC’s shot put record, originally set by junior thrower Racquil Broderick in June 2025. On the final day, Ugwoke broke the record again before Broderick threw once more and reclaimed the title. Broderick and Ugwoke placed second and third, respectively, as USC’s shot put record now stands at 64.15 meters by Broderick’s final throw. The pair also earned First Team All-American honors.

Senior jumper Elias Gerald was the last Trojan man to earn First Team All-American honors after a strong performance in the high jump. Gerald jumped over 2.22 meters to place sixth in the final meet of his college career, helping close out a solid season for him and USC men’s track and field.

Coming off an immensely successful season last year and during the indoor season in March, the Trojans still found a way to finish the outdoor season on a high note and will look to return to the podium once again next year.