USC Women Finally Track Down a Crown

Who needs a relay anyway?

USC solved its dilemma of losing twice to cross-town rival UCLA this season, wrapping up its first women’s NCAA track and field title before the 1,600-meter event Saturday at Hayward Field.

Highlighted by sprinter Angela Williams’ record performance in the 100 meters, the Trojans scored 64 points to beat out second-place UCLA, which had 55. Arizona, led by sprinter Brianna Glenn, finished a surprising third with 44.

Tennessee won by one point over Texas Christian to claim its third men’s championship.

The Trojan women added a new chapter in USC’s rich track legacy. They did it by having their big performers come through along with some surprises over the four days.

The Trojans have won 26 men’s outdoor championships but none since 1976.

“We’ve fought for this and fought for this for two years,” USC Coach Ron Allice said. “We’ve lost the championship by four points, third one year and second another. This was our year.

“The thing I like about us, as I’ve been saying, is balance. We’re not a one-dimensional team.”

Even as the weather changed from hot and sunny to cold and damp, USC found ways to score each day. The last day was no different with Julianna Tudja taking third in the hammer throw and Kinshasa Davis placing third in the 200 meters for the clinching points.

It was sweet revenge for the Trojans, who stewed over close losses to the Bruins at the May 5 dual meet and at the Pacific 10 championships. UCLA won the 1,600 relay to steal both.

“I think I jumped about three feet out of the stands,” Allice said in watching Davis. “I didn’t want it to come down to the relay.”

Williams, however, entered the history books. In a thrilling wind-aided race, she edged UCLA’s Shakedia Jones, 11.05 to 11.10, to become the first woman to win the race three consecutive times in the NCAA meet.

As expected, Williams burst out of the blocks first, but Jones surged to catch her at about 70 meters. The junior then summoned something extra to pull away at the end.

“I was [thinking], ‘I can catch her, I can catch her,’ ” Jones said. “Then when she hit another gear, I was like, ‘whoa.’ She threw it into turbo.

“It’s nothing to be disappointed about. She’s won three years in a row. She has all the high school records. She’s going to do great things in the future.”

Williams said she needed to keep her focus as Glenn got out quickly and Jones pulled up to challenge. The victory avenged a loss to Jones at the dual meet and made up for a false start that helped give the Bruins the Pacific-10 title two weeks ago.

“I knew that I was going to have to get out fast because Shakedia always gets out really fast,” she said. “I thought I would pull away, but she was still there. . . . I could see Shakedia and I knew that she was working really hard. I thought, ‘Oh, no, am I gonna lose this?’ For a minute it seemed like she was drifting past me, but I didn’t panic.”

Three others had won the women’s 100 twice--Nebraska’s Merlene Ottey in 1982-83, Indiana State’s Holli Hyche in 1993-94 and Louisiana State’s D’Andre Hill in 1995-96.

UCLA couldn’t make up any ground after the Trojans’ big day Friday. But the Bruins got other strong individual performances as Michelle Perry finished second in the heptathlon and Christina Tolson added a second-place finish in the hammer in addition to her shotput title.

For the senior Perry, it was only the second heptathlon of her career. In all, she competed in 11 events.

“She’s been working so hard,” UCLA Coach Jeanette Bolden said. “She’s had so many disappointments. It’s a great way to finish her career at UCLA.”

Arizona’s Glenn, who was spurned by USC and UCLA coming out of La Mirada High, became the only woman in the competition to win two events. She captured the 200 with a time of 22.92 after winning the long jump Thursday.

“Winning the Pac-10 gave me a lot of confidence going into here,” she said.

Stanford’s Lauren Fleshman, who starred at Canyon Country Canyon, won the 5,000 in 15:52.21. Tennessee’s Justin Gatlin won the 100 and 200 meters, becoming the first freshman to win both since 1976. South Africa’s Janus Robberts of Southern Methodist threw a season world-best 72 feet 1 inch to win his third shotput title.

At the end, the entire USC team got to celebrate.

“Nobody can take this away from us,” senior sprinter and co-captain Candace Young said. “A lot of people went the extra mile, threw the extra foot and jumped an extra inch. We got a lot of points that we shouldn’t have.

“I’m so happy this team is the one that did it.”