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The University of Southern California’s first full chapter in Big Ten indoor track and field looked less like an adjustment period and more like a statement. At the 2026 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis, USC athletes captured six individual event titles, broke multiple conference and facility records, and reinforced the Trojans’ national reputation as a sprint and relay force.
Competing at the Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion, USC’s men and women combined for 12 podium finishes. The Women of Troy placed third in the team standings with 81 points, while the men finished sixth with 44 points in a deep, nationally respected conference field. Oregon swept both the men’s and women’s team titles, but USC’s event victories and record-breaking performances turned heads across the NCAA and within its new Big Ten neighborhood.
In just its second Big Ten indoor championship, USC showed that its transition from the West Coast to the Midwest has not slowed its trajectory. The Trojans’ medals clustered in the sprints, hurdles, relays, and select field events, reflecting a roster built around explosive speed and technical excellence.
On the women’s side, USC earned event titles in the 200 meters, 400 meters, 60 meters, and the 4x400-meter relay. The men supplied one of the meet’s defining highlights in the 200 meters and added a 400-meter conference title and relay podium to close the weekend. Big Ten and facility records fell throughout the final day, illustrating just how sharp USC’s stars were when it mattered most.
For athletes and families tracking the evolution of Big Ten track and field, the performance showed that Southern California talent can travel, and thrive, in a conference historically defined by its Midwestern footprint and increasingly national recruiting reach.
The single most eye-catching result of the championships came from junior sprinter Garrett Kaalund in the men’s 200 meters. Kaalund clocked 20.06 seconds indoors, lowering his own USC school record and instantly rewriting both conference and global lists.
That 20.06 did several things at once:
It was not a one-off breakthrough, but the latest step in what has become a dominant indoor season. USC’s staff has watched Kaalund evolve into one of college track’s premier all-around sprinters, and this performance confirmed his status as a national title contender heading into the NCAA Indoor Championships.
For recruits studying event development, Kaalund’s trajectory is a clear case study: a sprinter who sharpened his raw speed into elite, record-challenging execution in one of the NCAA’s most competitive events.
USC translated sprint depth directly into points in the 400 meters, sweeping the men’s and women’s conference titles in one of the Big Ten’s marquee races.
In the women’s 400 meters, junior Madison Whyte delivered a championship-caliber performance, winning in 51.31 seconds. That time was significant on multiple levels:
Whyte’s performance placed her firmly among the top collegiate quarter-milers in the country, making her one of USC’s central figures heading toward nationals. Her ability to carry speed through the final straight was a difference-maker, both in the race and in the Trojans’ team trajectory.
On the men’s side, freshman Jack Stadlman announced himself on the Big Ten stage. In his first collegiate postseason final, Stadlman surged to victory in the men’s 400 meters with a 45.62 clocking.
That win checked multiple boxes for a first-year athlete:
For prospective student-athletes looking at sprint development, having both a veteran like Whyte and an emerging talent like Stadlman winning conference titles in the same event illustrates the depth of sprint coaching and support within USC’s program.
USC’s women’s sprint corps did not stop at the 400. The Trojans converted their short sprints and 200-meter depth into a steady flow of medals and points that kept them firmly in the top three on the team scoreboard.
In the women’s 200 meters, senior sprinter Christine Mallard produced a personal-best 22.77 seconds to claim the Big Ten title. Behind her, teammates Mia Brahe-Pedersen and Rachael Uvieghara finished third and fourth, respectively, giving USC three of the top four places in the event.
That kind of event-level dominance is exactly how teams climb the standings at conference meets. One title becomes a high-value scoring wave when a program has multiple athletes competing at a championship level in the same event group.
USC nearly replicated that dominance in the 60 meters. Brianna Selby sprinted to the Big Ten title in 7.24 seconds, backed by a 7.30 silver-medal performance from teammate Olivia Pace. Brahe-Pedersen added a fourth-place finish in 7.43, again placing three Trojans in the top four.
The result emphasized a key theme of USC’s Big Ten identity: the Trojans are not just producing one star sprinter, but an entire lineup of national-caliber short sprinters capable of scoring in bunches. For recruits in the 60, 100, and 200, that depth matters, because it suggests strong practice groups, internal competition, and relay options.
On the men’s side, junior Edward Nketia added to USC’s sprint point total in the 60 meters. He clocked a 6.55-second personal best at sea level to finish second and secure eight more points for the Trojans.
For a program already anchored by Kaalund in the 200, Nketia’s improvement underscores the broader strength of USC’s sprint environment and its ability to develop multiple event specialists simultaneously.
While sprints captured much of the spotlight, USC’s hurdles, field events, and relays played essential roles in the overall medal count and team finishes.
Graduate transfer Asjah Atkinson continued her consistent season in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, placing third in 8.16 seconds. It was her fifth straight meet under 8.20 seconds, reflecting both consistency and high-level competitiveness.
Behind her, Lillian Harden grabbed the final scoring spot in eighth, ensuring USC earned multiple points in the hurdles as well. That depth matters in a conference setting where every place can shift team standings.
In the field events, sophomore thrower Ashley Erasmus came up big with a school-record performance in the women’s shot put. Her 17.94-meter throw earned bronze and surpassed a USC shot put record that had stood since 2017.
For a program known primarily for sprints and relays, a school record and conference medal in the throws adds balance to the Trojans’ identity and provides another avenue for NCAA Indoor qualification.
Senior high jumper Elias Gerald also climbed the podium. He cleared 2.18 meters to take second place, improving on his fourth-place tie from last year’s indoor conference meet.
Incremental year-over-year progress like Gerald’s is often what keeps veteran athletes in the national conversation, and it offers a model for recruits interested in technical events who want to see sustained improvement over a four- or five-year collegiate career.
The championships concluded with a fitting showcase of USC’s depth: the 4x400-meter relays.
On the women’s side, the quartet of Mallard, Madison Mosby, Dajaz DeFrand, and Whyte combined for a 3:28.89 victory. That time broke both the Big Ten championship record and the facility record that the Women of Troy had set the previous year, illustrating a continued upward trajectory for one of the nation’s best collegiate relay squads.
For the men, the group of Stadlman, Nickolas Miller, Jacob Andrews, and Wiaan Martin captured bronze in 3:05.73. The result added one more podium to a meet already filled with standout performances and provided valuable relay reps ahead of the NCAA Indoor Championships.
USC officially joined the Big Ten in 2024, marking one of the most significant conference realignment moves in recent NCAA history. Even before this 2026 breakthrough, the Trojans hinted that they would be immediate contenders in their new league.
At the 2025 Big Ten Indoor Championships, USC’s men finished second and the women took third in the team standings, with multiple individual champions and a record-setting women’s 4x400 relay in their conference debut. That performance laid the groundwork for what unfolded in Indianapolis this year.
The 2026 edition showed that USC’s emphasis on sprint, hurdle, and relay depth is not a one-year spike, but a repeatable model. The Trojans earned six individual titles and multiple records against a conference that now features traditional powers like Oregon, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, along with long-standing Midwestern rivals.
For a university long associated with Pac-12 dominance, the ability to contend for titles so quickly in the Big Ten underlines both the national reach of USC’s recruiting and the adaptability of its training environment to new travel patterns, facilities, and competition styles.
For a broader perspective on Big Ten track and field and national qualifying standards, the NCAA’s official site and indoor championship resources are useful references for families and athletes:
https://www.ncaa.org
https://stats.ncaa.org
With the Big Ten medals awarded, USC’s focus now shifts to national qualifying. For the NCAA Indoor Championships, athletes typically need to rank inside the national top 16 in individual events and top 12 for relays to receive invitations. This year’s national meet is set for March 13–14 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, one of the most storied indoor venues in collegiate track and field.
USC is well positioned to send a large group to Fayetteville:
For recruits, the key takeaway is that USC is not merely competitive in its new conference; it is building teams that can translate Big Ten success into NCAA podium opportunities.
From a recruiting standpoint, USC’s performance in Indianapolis sends several clear signals:
If you are an athlete considering a Big Ten track and field path, looking at similar programs in Southern California can help you understand academic, athletic, and campus fit. For example, you might explore:
Comparing different Los Angeles options can give you a clearer sense of how campus size, conference affiliation, and academic focus might shape your college experience, even if your target list extends across regions like the Big Ten, Pac-12 remnants, or other conferences.
If following USC’s rise in the Big Ten has you thinking more seriously about college track and field, tools like Pathley can make the research and recruiting process more efficient.
Start with Pathley’s dedicated track and field hub, where you can explore programs, see how different conferences compare, and get ideas for your target list:
https://app.pathley.ai/sport/track-and-field
If you want to zoom out and browse different types of colleges, the Pathley College Directory gives you a single place to explore schools and save potential fits:
https://app.pathley.ai/college_directory
Once you have a sense of what you might be looking for, you can create a free Pathley profile to organize your recruiting process and get AI-powered insights:
As USC’s Big Ten success shows, college track and field is changing quickly, with new conferences, new rivalries, and new opportunities emerging every year. Having clear, organized information and smart tools behind your search can help you keep pace with that change and find a program where you can grow, compete, and earn your own championship moments.
