Stanford, California, May 12-13—Amassing large point hauls in the sprints and hurdles—including a world-leading 49.99 win in the 400 from Kendall Ellis—coach Caryl Smith Gilbert’s USC squad won the Pac-12 women’s title with 170 points to runner-up Oregon’s 154.
The Trojan’s second-ever conference victory (having won previously in ’96) snapped the record string of loop team titles for Robert Johnson’s Duck squad at 9. The pre-Regionals formchart foresees the two teams tilting fiercely for the NCAA title although Georgia, Kentucky and LSU may have something to say about that.
The sprints and hurdles finals here had almost a dual meet flavor. In fact, both the 100 and 200 finals were all-Trojan-and-Duck affairs.
USC frosh Twanisha “Tee Tee” Terry took the short dash in 10.96w (2.6) from senior squadmate Deanna Hill (11.06w) and Oregon’s Ariana Washington (11.14w) before Duck Makenzie Dunmore struck back to take the 200 crown in 22.37w (wind 2.9). The day before, soph Dunmore had dropped her wind-legal half-lap best to 22.53 in the heats.
The 100 hurdles played out as a 7-Trojans-and-Ducks final won by USC yearling Chanel Brissett, who charged over the sticks in 12.75—the No. 2 all-time Junior (U20) performance. Her teammates Dior Hall (12.83) and Anna Cockrell (12.88) also hurdled sub-13 ahead of Oregon’s Alaysha Johnson.
The two schools’ baton squads left the rest of the conference well behind, USC winning in 42.85 from Oregon’s 43.13.
And then there was that Ellis 400, a 0.01 improvement on the PR she set at the ’17 USATF Championships, delivered against Dunmore (50.63) and a field stocked with 6 others in Duck or Trojan uniforms.
Onlookers were well aware of the wind blowing against the lap field down the final straight, but Ellis was not. “While I was actually running I didn’t notice a headwind on the homestretch,” she said. “The day before, during prelims, it kind of caught me off guard, so for the next day during finals I automatically went into the race with the assumption that there would be wind again on the homestretch, just so I could be better prepared and more aware than the day before. But surprisingly, during the race itself I didn’t notice the wind whatsoever.
“I’m definitely very excited to have joined the 49 club,” said Ellis—whose mark trails only Courtney Okolo’s 49.71 from ’16 on the collegiate ATL—“and I never thought I’d be so happy with a hundredth-of-a-second PR, but it wasn’t something I consistently thought about while at Pac-12s, I just wanted to score the highest I could to contribute to the team title.”
At the NCAA, per the formchart Oregon will be rely on big points from Sabrina Southerland and Jessica Hull, favorites in the 800 and 1500. Here the duo won handily, Southerland in 2:02.18 (remember, it was windy) and Hull in 4:21.65.
“We’ve been working on a lot of things,” said transfer-from-Georgetown Southerland, already this year’s NCAA indoor champion. “The intensity has been heightened so we’re getting ready for the outdoor championships, and leading up to Regionals I feel like we’re pretty strong.”
Double Collegiate Record holder Maggie Ewen of Arizona State repeated as conference champion in the shot, hammer and discus (see sidebar). An NCAA triple is a tall order but not out of the question for the Sun Devil senior whose 244-0 (74.38) heave in the hammer here was the collegiate event’s second-longest all-time behind Ewen’s own CR from early April.
PAC-12 WOMEN’S RESULTS
Stanford, California, May 12-13—
(5/12—St, 10K, HJ, PV, LJ, SP, HT, JT, heats)
Teams: 1. USC 170; 2. Oregon 154; 3. Stanford 119; 4. Colorado 76; 5. Arizona State 68; 6. UCLA 57; 7. Arizona 44; 8. Cal 40; 9. Washington 32; 10. Washington State 26; 11. Oregon State 17; 12. Utah 15.
100(2.6): 1. ***Twanisha Terry (USC) 10.96w (a-c WJL) (a-c: =3, =3 WJ; =1, =1 AJ);
2. Deanna Hill (USC) 11.06w; 3. *Ariana Washington (Or) 11.14w; 4. ***Jasmin Reed (Or) 11.28w; 5. **Angie Annelus (USC) 11.30w; 6. ***Lauren Rain Williams (Or) 11.37w; 7. *Venessa D’Arpino (Or) 11.52w; 8. ***Chanel Brissett (USC) 11.62w.
200(2.9): 1. **Makenzie Dunmore (Or) 22.37w; 2. Hill 22.49w; 3. Annelus 22.70w; 4. Kendall Ellis (USC) 22.74w; 5. Terry 22.81w; 6. Reed 22.99w; 7. Washington 23.08w; 8. D’Arpino 23.21w.
400: 1. Ellis 49.99 (WL, AL, CL) (=20, x A; 2, 2 C);
2. Dunmore 50.63; 3. ***Kaelin Roberts (USC) 51.33; 4. *Tatum Waggoner (Az) 51.89; 5. *Briyahna DesRosiers (Or) 51.90; 6. ***Shae Anderson (Or) 52.55; 7. **Kyra Constantine’ (USC) 52.59; 8. **Hannah Waller (Or) 53.15.
800: 1. Sabrina Southerland (Or) 2:02.18; 2. Alethia Marrero’ (AzSt) 2:03.08; 3. Olivia Baker (Stan) 2:03.37; 4. *Susan Ejore’ (Or) 2:05.00; 5. **Elissa Mann (Co) 2:05.23; 6. *Caitie Faust (Ut) 2:06.70; 7. **Sarah Newton (Ut) 2:07.27; 8. *Nicole Goecke (OrSt) 2:08.44.
1500: 1. **Jessica Hull’ (Or) 4:21.65; 2. **Christina Aragon (Stan) 4:23.41; 3. Amy-Eloise Neale’ (Wa) 4:24.44; 4. *Lilli Burdon’ (Or) 4:25.19; 5. **Katie Rainsberger (Or) 4:26.98; 6. ***Jessica Lawson (Stan) 4:28.50; 7. **Amanda Gehrich (Or) 4:29.12; 8. Maddy Berkson (Stan) 4:30.23.
St: 1. **Sage Hurta (Co) 9:57.28; 2. Grayson Murphy (Ut) 10:00.20; 3. *Val Constien (Co) 10:02.78; 4. ***Jordan Oakes (Stan) 10:17.14; 5. *Emily Hamlin (Wa) 10:20.49; 6. Kristiane Width (OrSt) 10:26.32; 7. ***Annie Boos (Cal) 10:29.19; 8. Kayla Ferron (Az) 10:29.69.
5000: 1. Elise Cranny (Stan) 16:28.54; 2. Claire Green (Az) 16:29.53; 3. Erin Clark (Co) 16:30.70; 4. Hurta 16:31.88; 5. Burdon’ 16:32.15; 6. Hull’ 16:34.96; 7. **Makena Morley (Co) 16:36.26; 8. Samantha Nadel (Or) 16:38.15.
10,000: 1. Vanessa Fraser (Stan) 33:10.84; 2. *Kaitlyn Benner (Co) 33:11.50; 3. Clark 33:14.58; 4. **Carmela Cardama’ (Or) 33:24.39; 5. Alli Cash (Or) 33:30.50; 6. *Abbie McNulty (Stan) 33:31.67; 7. **Fiona O’Keeffe (Stan) 33:36.25; 8. Morley 33:42.64; 9. Melanie Nun (Co) 33:52.44.
100H(1.7): 1. ***Chanel Brissett (USC) 12.75 (AmCL, WJL, AJL) (2, 2 WJ; 2, 2 AJ);
2. *Dior Hall (USC) 12.83; 3. **Anna Cockrell (USC) 12.88; 4. *Alaysha Johnson (Or) 13.02; 5. **Mecca McGlaston (USC) 13.06; 6. ***Kaylah Robinson (Or) 13.24; 7. *Lyndsey Lopes (USC) 13.49; 8. Alissa Brooks-Johnson (WaSt) 13.65.
400H: 1. Cockrell 56.47; 2. *Gabby Scott (Co) 58.27; 3. Kylee O’Connor (Or) 58.37; 4. *Hanna Tarleton (Wa) 58.62; 5. *Stephanie Cho (WaSt) 58.98; 6. **Eriana Henderson (Co) 59.32; 7. ***Shante Robinson (USC) 59.36; 8. Brooks-Johnson 59.80.
4 x 100: 1. USC 42.85 (Angie Annelus, Kendall Ellis, Deanna Hill, Twanisha Terry); 2. Oregon 43.13 (Alaysha Johnson, Lauren Rain Williams, Jasmin Reed, Ariana Washington); 3. Colorado 45.49; 4. Arizona 45.80; 5. Arizona State 45.91; 6. Washington 46.71; 7. Washington State 46.97.
4 x 400: I–1. Washington 3:38.03. II–1. USC 3:30.45 (Kaelin Roberts, Anna Cockrell, Deanna Hill, Kendall Ellis); 2. Oregon 3:33.30 (Briyahna DesRosiers, Shae Anderson, Venessa D’Arpino, Hannah Waller); 3. Stanford 3:33.64; 4. Arizona 3:39.05; 5. Colorado 3:39.07.
Jumping Events
HJ: 1. Lopes 5-10½ (1.79); 2. Kendall Gustafson (UCLA) 5-9¼ (1.76); 3. **Karla Teran’ (Az) 5-9¼; 4. ***Cassidy Palka (USC) 5-8 (1.73).
PV: 1. *Lauren Martinez (Cal) 14-0 (4.27); 2. **Kaitlyn Merritt (Stan) 13-10 (4.22); 3. **Erika Malaspina (Stan) 13-10; 4. **Molly Scharmann (WaSt) 13-8¼ (4.17); 5. **Annika Dayton (Wa) 13-8¼.
LJ: 1. **Courtney Corrin (USC) 21-4w (6.50) (20-11¾/6.39); 2. Madisen Richards (USC) 21-2¾w (6.47) (20-9¾/6.34); 3. Alyssa Thompson (Az) 20-9¼ (6.33); 4. **Rhesa Foster (Or) 20-9¼w (6.33); 5. ***Noelle Schiller (Cal) 20-1¾w (6.14); 6. *Jessica Barreira’ (AzSt) 20-¼w (6.10).
TJ: 1. Jessie Maduka’ (UCLA) 44-7 (13.59); 2. *Chaquinn Cook (Or) 43-8½ (13.32); 3. Ashley Anderson (Cal) 42-9¾ (13.05); 4. ***Aria Small (Stan) 41-1 (12.52).
Throwing Events
SP: 1. Maggie Ewen (AzSt) 63-¾ (19.22) (x, =5 C) (59-3½, 59-5½, 63-¾, 59-4, 59-9¾, 61-4¾) (18.07, 18.12, 19.22, 18.08, 18.23, 18.71);
2. ***Samantha Noennig (AzSt) 56-2¾ (17.14); 3. Lena Giger (Stan) 55-4¾ (16.88); 4. *Ashlie Blake (UCLA) 54-10 (16.71); 5. ***Alyssa Wilson (UCLA) 53-¾ (16.17); 6. Breana Jemison (USC) 52-2½ (15.91).
DT: 1. Ewen 196-2 (59.81) (196-2, 159-2, 174-6, 191-5, 192-7, 180-9) (59.81, 48.52, 53.20, 58.35, 58.70, 55.11); 2. Valarie Allman (Stan) 195-3 (59.51); 3. Amarie Bremel (Cal) 174-6 (53.18); 4. *Kendall Mader (Cal) 174-4 (53.15); 5. Wilson 170-4 (51.93); 6. Noennig 167-1 (50.92); 7. **Kiana Phelps (Or) 166-6 (50.75); 8. **Kaylee Antill (AzSt) 163-2 (49.74).
HT: 1. Ewen 244-0 (74.38) (x, 2 C) (209-4, 228-0, f, 244-0, f, f) (63.82, 69.49, f, 74.38, f, f); 2. Wilson 218-3 (66.53) (AJL) (2, 2 AJ) (218-3, 215-4 [x, 4 AJ], 212-10 [x, 7 AJ], f, f, 213-7 [x, 6 AJ]) (66.53, 65.63, 64.88, f, f, 65.10);
3. ***Camryn Rogers’ (Cal) 210-9 (64.25); 4. Allman 208-10 (63.65); 5. Antill 204-7 (62.37); 6. **Maddie Rabing (Or) 200-8 (61.17); 7. ***Joy McArthur (USC) 192-3 (58.61).
JT: 1. *Mackenzie Little’ (Stan) 180-1 (54.88); 2. **Jenna Gray (Stan) 176-2 (53.71); 3. *Destiny Dawson (OrSt) 168-11 (51.49); 4. ***Virginia Miller (Stan) 162-3 (49.47); 5. *Delaney Hall (OrSt) 152-11 (46.62); 6. **Atina Kamasi’ (WaSt) 151-11 (46.30).
Hept(5/05-06): 1. Brooks-Johnson 5977 (13.68, 5-8½/1.74, 41-2 ¼/12.55, 24.40, 19-4/5.89, 136-6/41.60, 2:14.81); 2. Kendall Gustafson (UCLA) 5886; 3. Alyssa Thompson (Az) 5761; 4. Lopes 5719; 5. *Maja Wichhart-Donzo (Co) 5306; 6. Kylee O’Connor (Or) 5271; 7. *Saskia McNairy (OrSt) 5150.