Kaalund Ties NCAA No. 2 All-Time 300m Performance In 32.10; Reigning NCAA 60m Champion Defrand Runs 7.16

By Hoby Miller for DyeStat

Luca Gillis photos

INTERVIEWS/VIDEOS | PHOTOS | RESULTS

SPOKANE - The Spokane Sports Showcase may have been the first meet of 2026 for the reigning NCAA indoor and outdoor men’s team champions USC Trojans, but that doesn’t make any record safe from senior Garett Kaalund.

Kaalund blitzed a 32.10 in the 300 meters at The Podium — the second-fastest performance in NCAA indoor history — but a mark that actually came short of Kaalund’s high expectations.

“The main goal was to get the 300 meter record at 31.99,” Kaalund said post-race. “I know I can get a time that passes it up, but coming out of the blocks, it wasn’t the best execution. Coming around that first bank, it also wasn’t good execution...I kind of felt the seconds leaving me. That could’ve been way better. That could have been more efficient.”

Kaalund was one of three returning members from USC’s national championship team to top their event in Spokane on Friday, with Elias Gerald winning the high jump with a leap of 7-00.25 (1.75m) and reigning Big Ten indoors 400 champ William Jones dominating the 600 in 1:15.19.

“It was a nice run. I wish I had someone else running with me, though,” Jones said of his nation-leading 600 time. “If I came in with the second-fastest time (on the start list), then I might have gone even faster, because I probably would have been trying to push myself.”

Two USC underclassmen also picked up individual victories. Sophomore Chase McCallum took the 800 in 1:53.82 after battling injuries for much of last season, while freshman Cordial Vann jumped 24-8.50 (7.53m) in the long jump and earned the USC men their fifth win of the day.

Indoor All-Americans Dajaz Defrand and Madison Whyte led the Trojans’ charge on the women’s side alongside Tokyo Olympian for South Africa Ashley Erasmus and freshman Oluwatosin Awoleye.

Defrand, the reigning NCAA indoor champion in the women’s 60m, set the fifth-fastest time in the country in the prelims (7.22), before running a 7.16 in the finals, bumping her time up to No. 2 in the nation. 

The All-American led a five-woman USC sweep of the finals with senior Christine Mallard earning second in 7.27, setting a top 10 nationally ranked time, and Mia Brahe-Pedersen’s 7.29 rounded out the podium. Sophomore Brianna Selby also ran a top 10 time in the prelims with a 7.25 but came up short with a fourth place 7:30 in the finals.

For Brahe-Pedersen the performance was signficant because it marked a return to form following two years of injury. 

Whyte cruised to victory in the 300 with a personal-best 36.33 that puts her fourth in the country, Erasmus threw seventh-nationally 55-07.00 (16.96m) to win the shot put, and Awoleye crushed the 800 competition by nearly 10 seconds in 2:08.71.

However, UCLA gave their conference rivals a run for their money, taking victory in 11 events compared to USC’s nine.

The Bruins beat the Trojans directly in the women’s 4x400 relay, as freshman Kaitlyn Arciaga closed up a sizable deficit on her USC counterpart in the third leg of the relay before anchor leg Keilee Hall clinched a five-second UCLA win and the No. 4 time in the nation for the young relay team.

Arciaga and Hall also went 1-2 in 600, finishing in 1:30.66 and 1:31.15, respectively.

UCLA also picked up wins in four field events and set two top 10 marks in the country with Sydney Johnson’s 20-09.75 (6.34m) in the women’s long jump and Michael Pinckney’s 70-10.75 (21.61m) domination of the men’s weight throw.

Valentina Fakrogha added the women’s high jump, clearing 5-08.75 (1.75m) as a part of an all-UCLA podium while Sophia Hartwell crushed the competition in the women’s triple jump with a mark of 40-07.50 (12.38m).

The Bruins’ remaining wins came from Otto Liang’s personal-best 7.81 in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, Chris Paige’s photo finish win in 48.43 over teammate Zaire Waring in the men’s 400 and a sweep of both men’s and women’s 1000m events. Freshman Shaun McCoullum also won the 200 at his first collegiate meet in 21.46 after getting third in both the 60m prelims and finals in 6.83 and 6.86 respectively. 

Idaho’s Keenan Kuntz won the men's 60 in 6.66 and finished two one-hundredths of a second behind McCoullum in the 200 (21.48), completing an impressive double against top opposition. The Vandals also won the women’s 200 with Blossom Omogor in 24.22.

UCLA freshman, Paris Olympian and Mozambique record holder in the 100 and long jump Steven Sabino, bagged a second place in between Kuntz and McCoullum in the 60 in a time of 6.80, but only managed seventh in a competitive long jump event despite a personal-best of 23-10.75 (7.28m).

Both the Los Angeles teams were bested in the women’s 60 hurdles as former Washington State sprinter Michaela De Mello took the finals by just a hundredth of a second over UCLA’s Celeste Polzonetti. Competing unattached, De Mello finished in 8:13 with Polzonetti right behind her at 8.14. 

All-American Nonah Waldron ran significantly below her 60 hurdles seed time of 8.10 with an 8.34 in the finals while UCLA’s best hope for the event, Madison Fleming, failed to make finals after an 8.83 prelim.

Gonzaga dominated the distance events in their home venue, going 1-2 in both the women’s and men’s miles as well as the women’s 3k. Anna Grabowski cruised to a 4:56.30 mile, freshman Logan Schwartz won the men’s side in a personal-best 4:05.53 and Nina Yeats took the 3k in 9:59.48.

As expected, California went 1-2 in the women’s weight throw with Adrianna Coleman’s 63-09.75 (19.45m) and Angela Schkerynec’s 59-10.25 (18.24). The Golden Bears also swept both pole vaults thanks to Ali Sahaida clearing 13-08.25 (4.17m) in the women’s side of the event while Sam Novak’s surpassed 17-02.75 (5.25m) in the men’s.

Nikolas Iwankiw picked up Cal’s fourth win of the meet in the shot put with a heave of 56-04.50 (17.18m).

Sacramento State’s Jamar Andrew upset UCLA’s Gavin Champ with a jump of 50-06.78 (15.41m) in the triple jump — the second win of the day as the Hornets also took the women’s 400 with Brei’ja Stedric’s 57.63.