USC Announces Signings Of Blackburn And Davis To NLIs

USC Announces Signings Of Blackburn And Davis To NLIs


Trojans get commitments from a top sprinter and top hurdler

Sprinter Jessica Davis has joined hurdler Lauren Blackburn in signing National Letters of Intent to compete collegiately at USC.

Feb. 23, 2010


LOS ANGELES - The USC track and field team has signed hurdler Lauren Blackburn and sprinter Jessica Davis to National Letters of Intent (NLIs) it was announced today (Feb. 23) by Trojan Director of Track and Field Ron Allice.

"We are very pleased with the signing of these two great student-athletes which have the potential to add to the history of our women's program at USC and are two components to possibly bring another women's national title to USC," said Allice.

Blackburn, from Dallas, Texas, won the state Class 5-A 100m hurdles competition as a junior at Sunset High with a PR of 13.70 which was the second-best high school time nationally. She also placed second the 300m intermediate hurdles with a time of 42.90. As a sophomore while running for Kimball HS, she placed third in the 100m HH with a time of 13.71.

Blackburn was named to USA Today's 2009 USA girls high school track and field team, named to the 2009 Texas All-State track and field team and was a nominee for the Gatorade player of the year. She also excels in the classroom where she is an honor roll student with a 3.2 GPA.

Davis, from Highland High in Palmdale, Calif., took second in the 100m dash with a time of 11.61 at the 2009 CIF State Championships, while also placing third in the 200m race with a time of 23.68. She captured the 2008 200m state title with a time of 23.46 and placed second in the 100m dash with a time of 11.97. Davis had a wind-aided PR of 11.45 in winnning the 2009 CIF Southern Section 100m dash, a wind-aided PR of 23.40 in the 200m dash in winning the 2008 CIF Section title and has a PR of 55.69 in the 400m race.

Davis was also named to the USA Today's 2009 USA girls high school track and field team and is the top returning high school 200m runner in the state of California.

Davis' father, Jesse Davis, played football at USC from 1993-96 and she ran with current Trojans Alitta Boyd, Reggie Wyatt, Joey Hughes and Dalilah Muhammad at the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships a year ago.

"Jessica has a great demeanor, is an intense athlete and has great preparation for a meet," said USC Women's Sprints/Assistant Coach Tina Fernandes. "She has been coached all her years under the tutelage of Thomas Counts who has done a great job with her. On her visit to USC, Jessica was a perfect fit with all of our current team members. We believe both girls are one of the top recruits in the country in their events."

Courtesy USC