USC track and field had an eventful weekend at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas – and they’re just getting started.
Nicknamed “The Fastest Indoor Track in the World,” Randal Tyson Track Center welcomed some of the collegiate stage’s fastest athletes over the weekend, 32 of which were Trojans.
The two-day meet, hosted by defending NCAA indoor track champion Arkansas, also featured Florida, Oregon, Texas A&M, Georgia, and Kentucky. Fifteen of the 16 participating teams were Power 5 schools.
Graduate student Allie Jones kicked off the weekend by winning the pentathlon with 4528 points, a school record and No. 10 on the all-time collegiate pentathlon list. For the uninitiated, the pentathlon is a five-event competition where each athlete performs a high jump, shot put and long jump in addition to racing in sprint hurdles and the 800m. Jones won three events in the competition: the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.20, the shot put with a personal best of 43-3/13.18m and the 800m with a career best of 2:11.74.
Jones set four goals going into the meet: (1) qualify for nationals, (2) achieve a personal record, (3) break the school record and (4) break the meet record. She met three of those goals, missing the pentathlon meet record by 62 points.
For Jones, this season is personal.
Last year, she fell sick soon before the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In a meet where she was ranked No. 1, she finished fourth.
“This [season] is a bit of a revenge tour,” she said. “It’s my last one. Go big or go home.”
Jones’ electric performance was reminiscent of this same meet last year, where the men’s 4x400 relay team delivered a standout performance for the Trojans. The squad, which featured Justin Braun, Ashton Allen, William Jones, and Johnnie Blockburger, ran the then-second-fastest time in the world at 3:04.12. The quartet went on to shave nearly a second off this time to place third at the NCAA Indoor Championships, moving up to second place on USC’s all-time indoor list with a season-best of 3:03.16.
On Saturday, sophomore William Jones picked up where his record-setting teammate left off, winning the 400m dash with a world-leading time of 45.24.
“I finished the race and I was just happy. I wasn’t even worried about the time at first,” Jones said. His performance places him at No. 2 in USC history, second to only Olympic champion Michael Norman’s 44.52 from the 2018 season.
Fellow sophomore JC Stevenson won the 60m dash with a personal record of 6.61 seconds, tying him at 8th overall in USC history.
For the Trojan women, senior Temi Ojora now leads the NCAA with her personal record and winning mark of 45-2.25/13.77m in the triple jump contest. Ojora also shot up in USC’s record books, moving to No. 2 all-time.
To round out the Trojans’ action-packed weekend, freshman Nathan Cumberbatch set the USC freshman record for the 800m, reminiscent of Christine Mallard who set the equivalent record for the women’s 400m dash at last year’s meet. Cumberbatch finished fifth overall and he wasn’t just fast for a freshman — he clocked a time of 1:47:78, which was the second-best time ever by a Trojan in the 800m.
Going into Week 2 of the indoor season, the USC men fell one place to No. 5 in the country while the women’s team remained No. 4 according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Despite last weekend’s achievements, the Trojans have got their eyes set on the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 8 and 9.
“This is just the beginning. Last year around this time, I wasn’t as fast as I am right now. I just know there’s a lot to come,” William Jones said.
“I think all the pieces are coming together well to have a really great showing at nationals,” Allie Jones added.
But first, USC will head to Boston, Massachusetts, to compete at the Eagle Elite Invitational on Friday, February 9.