The high-flying USC track and field teams will be in action this weekend at the annual USC-UCLA Dual Meet, to be held at Drake Stadium in Westwood on Sunday, May 4. The meet will begin at 11:00 AM. The USC men recently won an NCAA national championship in men’s indoor track & field, while the women finished third in the nation in indoor track & field meet.
At the recent 65th annual Mt. Sac Relays held at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, California, USC won eight events during the two days of competition highlighted by winning five events on Saturday, April 19.
Ashley Eramus won the women’s shotput elite section with a toss of 57 feet, 11 inches. Jazonte Levan won the elite men’s 200 meters in 20.56 seconds. Dajaz Defrand won the elite women’s 100-meter dash in 11.35 seconds. Sophomore Racquil Broderick won the men’s Elite discus throw competition with a best mark of 202-6 (61.74m).
USC women’s relay team of Samirah Moody, junior transfer, Dajaz DeFrand, sophomore Madison Whyte and junior Jassani Carter got the running portion of the meet started with a bang by winning the Elite 4×100 meter competition with an NCAA-leading time of 42.36.
On Friday, April 18, the USC women’s “B” relay team won the 4 x 100-meter relay, Shaiquan Dunn won the men’s collegiate/open shot put, and Jazonte Levan won the men’s collegiate/open 200-meter dash.
Naomi Johnson of UCLA won the first event on April 18 with a 23.34 in the collegiate section of the women’s 200. That was her second-best time of the year. Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck of UCLA finished second in the 100m hurdles elite invitational, posting a time of 12.87. That time was a personal record and beat out all the collegians in the field, as she was runner-up only to Olympic Silver Medalist Kendra Harrison. Ndjip-Nyemeck moved up to No. 5 in UCLA’s all-time outdoor top 10 list with that performance.
During the high school section of the Mt. Sac Relays Brandon Arrington Jr. of Mount Miguel high school in Spring Valley set a meet record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.21 seconds and added another meet record with a time of 20.44 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Arrington is also the No. 2 rated football player in the state of California in the class of 2026. He is considering USC for football and track & field.
Keeping with the tradition of being one of the best dual track and field meets over the years the meet between the Bruins and Trojans on Sunday figures to be another great meet. The USC men’s teams have a 47-43 all-time edge in dual against UCLA, but the USC women are 18-22 versus UCLA, although the Trojans have won the last 10 meets.
UCLA recently picked a good transfer for their football team with the addition of cornerback Rodrick Pleasant, who is transferring from Oregon. In track & field, Pleasant was a four-time CIF state champion, sweeping the 100- and 200-meter titles in 2022 and 2023. He holds the California state record for 100 meters with a wind-legal time of 10.14. Pleasant will be a huge addition to the UCLA track & field program under new Director of Track & Field, Joanna Hayes.