USC's women's track and field team won the program's second NCAA team title by winning the meet's final event the 4x400m relay by .07 seconds in come-from-behind fashion at the 2018 NCAA Division I outdoor championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon before 12,998 fans.
USC scored 53 points to edge out Georgia (52) and Stanford (51), who were both not in the final relay. It was the first time in NCAA history that the top three teams finished within two points of each other. USC's title was its first since 2001 and its 53 points were the most by the Trojans since scoring 57 points in placing third in 2002. The national title is the 106th for the USC athletics program. USC earned 22 first-team All-America honors at the meet.
WATCH: USC wins women's NCAA track and field championship on photo finish
USC scored 52 of its 53 points on the final day, with Angie Annelus in the 200m dash joining the 4x400m relay as a national champion. USC's women's team has scored 173 points at the NCAA championships in the five seasons with Caryl Smith Gilbert as the Director of Track & Field for the Trojans. That is the most in a five-year stretch since USC scored 212 points at the national meet from 2000-04.
"I don't know yet. I'm still trying to recover. It feels amazing. I'm so proud," Smith Gilbert said. "We've been training so hard ever since I got to USC. We had this goal. I knew that we had trained for this very moment. I didn't know what time they were going to put on the board at first, but man was it good to see it. We talk about mental toughness all the time. We talk about how to finish. One major theme that I have been focusing on this year is that it doesn't have to be perfect to still get it done. I did that because sometimes in this generation if it's not going exactly the way they think it should be, we don't give 100 percent. I've been telling them that life doesn't have to be perfect. Things can go adversely, but you can still be successful. You can still get to your outcome if everything along the way isn't perfect."
The Women of Troy had to win the 4x400m to win the national championship.
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics)
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The Trojans clinched the meet with a dramatic 4x400m relay victory, as Kendall Ellis stormed from behind with a closing leg of 50.05 to edge out Purdue by .07 seconds at the line with a winning time of 3:27.06. Kyra Constantine led off for USC, followed by Anna Cockrell and they combined for a split of 1:44.29 and in fourth place when handing off to Deanna Hill. Hill closed the gap and handed off to Ellis in third, but there was a bobble on the exchange and the Trojans found themselves nearly two seconds behind Purdue. Ellis made an early pass on the inside and didn't really close the gap until the stretch run, finally edging the Purdue runner in the final meter for a 3:27.06 to 3:27.13 victory and the team title. USC's time was the fourth fastest in school history.
The women's 4x100m relay team of Annelus, Ellis, Hill and TeeTee Terry got the running portion of the meet started by placing third with a time of 43.11. USC scored six points in the event for the team competition and has scored in the event 19 times, 11 times in the top three.
Terry then came back to take third in the 100m dash final run in a heavy rain, which included hail and a headwind with a time of 11.39 (-0.7). She was the only freshman in the final and earned All-America status. Hill placed seventh with a time of 11.45 (-0.7) to become a two-time All-American in the event. The last time USC had two Trojans in the finals was 2016 when Tynia Gaither took fourth and Hill sixth. Together the pair of Terry and Hill earned the Trojans eight more points in the team competition.
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Kendall Ellis took second in the women's 400m dash with a time of 50.19, after placing third a year ago. The winner Lynna Irby had a time of 49.80 to move into second on the all-time collegiate list in the event, dropping Ellis' 49.99 run at the Pac-12 Championships to third on the all-time collegiate list. Ellis became a two-time first-team outdoor All-American in the event and earned the Trojans eight more points. Ellis' second-place finish and time are both the best ever by a Trojan in the outdoor 400m race at the NCAA Championships.
Cockrell then posted a season-best time of 55.71 to place second in the women's 400m hurdles final, pulling away from the pack over the final two hurdles. She finished second and earned All-America honors in the event for the second consecutive season.
Annelus then won the women's 200m dash with a strong finish, posting a time of 22.76 (-2.3) and Hill placed seventh with a time of 23.53 (-2.3). Together they earned USC 12 points in the team competition and the Trojans moved into first place temporarily. Annelus became the second USC woman to win the 200m dash, the other being Natasha Mayers in 2002.
Besides competing in the heptathlon, Lyndsey Lopes was the first Trojan to see action on the day in an individual event, as she qualified for the women's high jump at the NCAA Championships. She was in the first group of jumpers and missed all three times at the first height of 5-8.00 (1.73m), just glancing the bar on her final attempt. She ends up as an honorable mention All-America in the high jump.
"All we can ask of each other is to fight.", .
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics)
Lopes began the final day of the heptathlon in 10th place with 3,437 points. She would score a total of 2,067 points in the last three events and finish with a two-day total of 5,504 points, 16th overall. The first event today was the long jump and Lopes had a best leap of 18-4.25/5.59m (+0.1) to earn 726 points in the event. She had 4,163 points after five events and stood in 13th place overall. She then had a best javelin throw of 121-11 (37.16m) to place 13th in the event and earn 613 points. After six events, Lopes was in 13th place with 4,776 points, 130 points out of a scoring position. The final event was the 800m race and she had a time of 2:27.24 to finish 19th and score 728 points. Lopes earned second-team All-America honors in the event.
Besides competing in the heptathlon, Lyndsey Lopes was the first Trojan to see action on the day in an individual event, as she qualified for the women's high jump at the NCAA Championships. She was in the first group of jumpers and missed all three times at the first height of 5-8.00 (1.73m), just glancing the bar on her final attempt. She ends up as an honorable mention All-America in the high jump.
USC's first point in the meet came on Thursday when Madisen Richards took eighth place in the long jump with a PR in her final attempt.
