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On February 6, 2026, senior sprinter Garrett Kaalund delivered one of the defining performances of the 2026 indoor season, blasting a 20.12 in the men’s 200 meters at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic in Albuquerque. The run broke the University of Southern California’s indoor 200-meter school record, surpassed a mark previously held by Olympic champion Andre De Grasse, and instantly became both the NCAA-leading and world-leading time for 2026.
Racing on the 200-meter banked track inside the Albuquerque Convention Center, Kaalund turned a loaded invitational field into a showcase of his own speed and USC’s sprint power. His 20.12 not only took down a decade-old program standard but also placed him among the fastest collegiate indoor 200-meter runners in history and underlined USC’s status as a national sprint powerhouse.
Kaalund’s run in New Mexico was historic on multiple levels. The most immediate headline: he lowered USC’s indoor 200-meter record from 20.26 to 20.12, erasing a mark that Andre De Grasse set back in 2015. De Grasse went on to win Olympic gold and silver medals in the 200 meters, which gives a sense of the company Kaalund is now keeping in the Trojan record book.
Competing at roughly 5,000 feet of elevation in Albuquerque, Kaalund still had to execute on the track against some of the strongest sprint programs in Division I. According to the official meet results, he won the invitational 200 meters in 20.12, pulling away from LSU’s Jaiden Reid, who took second in 20.57, and Ole Miss sprinter Jordan Urrutia, who finished third in 20.60. The field also included athletes from Ohio State, Arizona, Alabama and several other major programs, turning the race into a midseason preview of NCAA championship-level competition.
The meet listed altitude-adjusted marks, as is standard when racing at elevation, but the official time for records and rankings remains Kaalund’s raw 20.12. That number now sits at the center of multiple storylines:
Those distinctions, confirmed in USC’s official recap and subsequent coverage, show that this was not simply a minor school record upgrade. It was a performance that resonated across collegiate track and field and the broader sprinting world.
Part of what makes this moment so significant is whose record Kaalund broke. Andre De Grasse, the previous USC indoor 200-meter record holder at 20.26, went on to capture multiple Olympic and World Championship medals in the 100 and 200 meters. His profile within the sport makes the USC standard he set in 2015 a meaningful benchmark for future Trojans.
By dipping under De Grasse’s 20.26, Kaalund effectively moved to the front of a line that includes one of the most accomplished sprinters in USC history. For athletes and families looking at major track and field destinations, this is a tangible example of how a powerhouse sprint program can continue to produce world-class times across eras.
To put Kaalund’s achievement in broader context, World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field, maintains official all-time and seasonal lists that track performances like his on the world stage. While elevation, facility and track configuration can affect how marks are interpreted, a 20.12 indoors in early February is the sort of performance that almost always ranks near the top of both collegiate and professional lists for that point in the season. World Athletics seasonal lists routinely show only a handful of athletes under 20.20 indoors in any given year.
Within the NCAA, historic indoor 200-meter performances are often concentrated in a small group of sprint hubs. The NCAA record book hosted by NCAA.com highlights just how rare it is for an athlete to crack the all-time top 10. Kaalund’s move to sixth on that list, as USC reported, places the Trojans alongside programs that have produced some of the fastest one-lap sprinters in collegiate history.
The New Mexico Collegiate Classic has become one of the key early- to mid-season stops on the NCAA indoor calendar, especially for sprints and middle distance. The banked 200-meter track and Denver–Albuquerque–Phoenix travel corridor make it a logical convergence point for powerhouse programs from across the country.
The 2026 men’s invitational 200-meter field reflected that reputation. Kaalund was not racing local competition or a watered-down heat; LSU, Ole Miss, Ohio State, Arizona, Alabama and other schools brought athletes capable of contending at conference and NCAA championships. Against that group, Kaalund did more than win. He separated himself by nearly half a second from the next finisher, a huge margin at this level over a single indoor lap.
In a sport where a few hundredths of a second can separate finalists at nationals, putting more than four-tenths on the field sends a clear message. It signaled that Kaalund was not simply in good form, but operating at a level that could define the entire NCAA season in the event.
USC’s trip to Albuquerque was not just about one race. The Trojans produced what their own staff described as their most complete meet of the indoor season so far, stacking victories across sprints, middle distance, jumps and throws over two days of competition.
On the first day alone, USC captured five event wins. Across the weekend, the Trojans totaled 10 victories against a field of 18 programs. That level of depth is one of the reasons why USC is considered a national power in track and field on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Key highlights from the New Mexico Collegiate Classic included:
In that context, Kaalund’s 20.12 became the headline performance of an already dominant meet. It stood out as the most eye-catching result on a weekend where USC showed why its sprint and middle-distance corps are viewed as some of the nation’s most complete groups.
Kaalund’s record-setting night in Albuquerque is the latest step in a career arc that has been building toward this level of performance. He arrived at USC as a highly regarded transfer, and quickly established himself as a core piece of the Trojans’ scoring engine at national meets.
During the 2025 season, Kaalund helped USC capture the NCAA Division I men’s indoor championship and later share the outdoor national title. Individually, he clocked a wind-legal 19.85 over 200 meters outdoors, a time that placed him among the top collegiate sprinters in the world and marked him as a likely contender in both NCAA and professional-level races.
He also contributed to one of the fastest 4x100-meter relay squads in the nation, showing that his value extends beyond individual medals to relay depth and team scoring. That blend of elite open sprint ability and relay reliability is precisely what top NCAA programs look for when building championship rosters.
Kaalund did not arrive at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic out of nowhere. Earlier in the 2026 indoor season, he opened with a 32.10 in the 300 meters at the Spokane Sports Showcase. That time was the second-fastest indoor 300 in NCAA history, an early indication that his offseason training had gone extremely well.
When viewed alongside that 32.10, his 20.12 in Albuquerque is less a surprise and more a confirmation that he has maintained an elite level of speed and strength across multiple distances. For opposing coaches and athletes, that combination makes him one of the most dangerous sprinters in the country as championship season approaches.
The New Mexico Collegiate Classic served as a key checkpoint on USC’s 2026 indoor calendar, positioned just before another Albuquerque meet and the start of the Big Ten Indoor Championships on February 26. With Kaalund leading the NCAA in the 200 meters and teammates owning either top collegiate marks or top-five world marks in events like the women’s 400 and men’s 600, USC heads into the conference and national championship stretch with powerful momentum.
Across men’s and women’s events, USC’s sprints and middle-distance groups showed in Albuquerque that they can score big points in multiple races and relays at major meets. That is often the difference between a good team and a championship team. In indoor track, where the event list is condensed and every point matters, having athletes who can contend for national-leading marks in individual races and anchor high-scoring relays is invaluable.
Whatever the final team standings during the championship portion of the season, Kaalund’s 20.12 has already secured a place in program history. It rewrote the indoor 200-meter section of the Trojan record book and added another signature moment to the modern era of USC track and field.
For high school sprinters and their families evaluating college options, performances like Kaalund’s offer a window into what day-to-day life and competitive ceilings look like at a top program. Being part of a roster that regularly sends athletes to NCAA podiums, sets world-leading times and breaks records once held by Olympians means training in an environment where world-class outcomes are normalized.
At the same time, not every recruit will land at one of the small handful of national-title-contending sprint programs. Many athletes find better academic, social and athletic fits at other strong schools in the same region. In the Los Angeles area, for example, California State University, Northridge is one of several institutions with access to quality facilities, coaching and competitive opportunities where developing sprinters and jumpers can thrive on their own path.
Nearby options like the University of California, Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University and Occidental College each offer distinct combinations of academics, campus culture and athletic profile. Smart recruits look beyond the biggest brand names to understand where they project to compete, improve and contribute meaningfully over four years.
If you are an athlete trying to sort through dozens of potential schools and find your own version of the right fit, tools that centralize information and provide structured comparisons can save enormous time and stress. The Pathley College Directory is designed to help athletes and families explore colleges across divisions, locations and athletic profiles, building a more realistic and targeted shortlist instead of chasing only the most visible names.
Elite breakthroughs like Kaalund’s 20.12 are inspiring, but they also highlight how competitive the path to the top of NCAA track and field can be. For most high school athletes, success means identifying programs where they can develop, contribute and earn a degree they are proud of, not just chasing the most famous logo on a uniform.
That is where using structured tools and data can make a difference:
All of this connects to Pathley’s broader mission: to use AI and organized college data to make recruiting more transparent, efficient and athlete-friendly. You can explore the platform in more depth in the overview article, "What is Pathley?", which explains how families, athletes and coaches can plug Pathley into their recruiting process.
Whether you see yourself one day chasing NCAA titles and records like Garrett Kaalund or building a strong career at a program that fits you academically and athletically, the next steps are similar:
If you are ready to get more intentional about that process, you can use Pathley Chat as an on-demand recruiting assistant to suggest schools, refine your list and help you think through tradeoffs. When you are ready to formalize your profile and save favorite colleges, you can create a free Pathley account and start building your personalized recruiting roadmap.
Performances like Kaalund’s 20.12 in Albuquerque are the visible tip of the iceberg in college track and field. Behind them are years of smart program choices, development and planning. With the right information and tools, you can make decisions that set you up for your own breakthrough moments, wherever you choose to compete.
If you are drawn to the Southern California track and field scene, there are multiple colleges worth exploring beyond a single flagship program. Local options like California State University, Northridge, the University of California, Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University and Occidental College provide a range of campus environments and competitive levels. Exploring several of these side by side can help you find the best match for your own goals, both on the track and in the classroom.
