USC men's track and field team completes season sweep at NCAA Championships

It may seem counterintuitive, but track and field is the ultimate collegiate team sport. USC secured its 33rd title in program history. The win in Eugene also provided the first Trojan sweep since 2015, having won the indoor championship earlier.

For Director Quincy Watts, he wanted to see his USC squads earn and experience a team win together. Track and field is a points-based system. Even if an individual does not come in first, finishing strong and still competing to the best of one's ability can benefit the team as a whole by securing precious points.

USC needed each one, as the conclusion of Friday's events had the Trojans crowned as champions, with Texas A&M and both schools sitting on 41 points each.

It has been an impressive season, and the Trojans, in earnest, may just be getting started when looking at the underclassmen talent in particular that is on this roster. From top to bottom, this team did well to have so many qualify for the NCAA Championships, and the Cardinal and Gold earned the right to celebrate yet another title.

Max Thomas earned a second-place finish in the men's 100m sprint. He was then a part of the 4x100m relay team, along with  Travis Williams, Taylor Banks, and Garrett Kaalund, that came in second in that event.

Kaalund and Thomas finished third and sixth, respectively, in the 200m race. Williams Jones earned a second-place finish in the 400m event. Johnny Brackins Jr. provided some points for the Trojans through his 400m hurdles performance by coming in seventh place.

Racquil Broderick finished his excellent sophomore year with a fourth-place finish in the discus throw and reset a school record that was also previously held by him.

Needed USC finish sets up potential all-around victory

Finally, Jacob Andrews, Jaelen Knox, Thomas, and Jones provided USC with a critical point through their eighth-place finish during the 4x400m race.

With that team win, USC is in a prime position to earn a Learfield Directors' Cup victory as well. It will come down to the women's track and field members, as they are set to compete with the bulk of events starting at 5:30 PT. The event will be aired on ESPNU.