Polychroniou And Broderick Post Wins At Annual USC-UCLA Dual Meet

Track & Field | April 27, 2024

Nikolaos Polychroniou won the men’s hammer throw and Racquil Broderick the men’s discus throw competitions to highlight the Trojans’ action during the first day of the annual USC-UCLA Dual Meet held at the Colich Throws Center in Wilmington, Calif. today (April 27).  After two events, the USC men’s team leads 11-7 and the women’s team trails 2-16 with 17 events scheduled for tomorrow at Allyson Felix Field at Loker Stadium on the USC campus.

Virtually all of the athletes on both sides set personal bests during the day, which included Reese Garland posting the fifth-farthest women’s discus throw in USC history.  Three of USC’s five competitors today were freshman, one a sophomore and one a junior. 

• Junior Nikolaos Polychroniou won the men’s hammer throw competition with a PR of 246-10 (75.24m).  That throw came in the final round and was the third mark of the competition which surpassed his previous career-best throw.  His mark moved him from fifth to third on USC’s all-time hammer throw list and to third on the NCAA descending order list.  Sophomore Matteo Mitchell took third place with a PR of 203-8 (62.08m).  Five of his six throws on the day surpassed his previous personal best.  Polychroniou (5) and Mitchell (1) earned the Trojans six points.
• Freshman Racquil Broderick won the men’s discus throw with a best throw of 198-1 (60.39m).  He had five of the six farthest throws in the competition.  Mitchell competed in the discus throw for the first time as a collegian and had a best throw of 127-3 (38.80m) to place sixth.  Broderick earned the USC men’s team five more points.
• The day started with freshman Jenna Gallaway placing third in the women’s hammer throw with a PR of 196-10 (59.99m) to earn USC its first point of the Dual Meet.  Gallaway’s first three throws of the competition were her best three career throws, and she stood in second place until UCLA’s Jillian Stafford had a PR of 201-8 in the fifth round to take over second place. UCLA’s Mayyi Mahama won the event with a season-best mark of 222-2.  Freshman Reese Garland made her first two career hammer throw attempts and had a best mark of 114-4 (34.85m) to place fifth.  The Trojans were able to pick up an unexpected point due to the strong throwing of Gallaway.
• Garland came back to place…