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USC women’s track and field inks impressive 2021 recruiting class
Makhaila Mills is just one of USC’s impressive track and field recruits for the talented 2021 class. (Courtesy: @makhaila_m/Twitter)

USC women’s track and field inks impressive 2021 recruiting class

LOS ANGELES (BVM) – The University of Southern California’s women’s track and field team continues to strengthen with the addition of superstars Jalaysi’ya Smith, Makhaila Mills and Kenondra Davis.

With a historic track and field team, the Trojan women managed to win back-to-back Pac-12 titles in 2018 and 2019. The 2020 Pac-12 Championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the 2021 season is uncertain, the Trojans can now look forward to having Smith, Mills and Davis onboard for the 2022 season. 

Smith, a DeSoto, Texas native, started track no sooner than the seventh-grade. She is a natural-born hurdler, discovering her talent when her middle school coach noted her perfect form the first time she ever tried hurdling. Her events include the 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash with personal records of 13.42, 42.14, and 11.77, respectively. She won the national title in the 100-meter hurdles in 2018 and 2019 as well as at the Brooks PR in 2019. 

Mills joins the Trojans all the way from Fruit Cove, Florida. Her journey with track began when she was just 12 years old, after she had already given flag football, soccer, basketball, rowing, swimming and diving a try. She runs the 100-meter dash with a personal best of 11.56 and the 200-meter dash with a personal record of 23.91. She won the 2019 Florida state championship in the 100-meter dash. 

Davis realized her speed after she noticed she was always the first person to run down the court on her middle school basketball team. Starting in the seventh-grade, she began running for her team in Fort Worth, Texas. She also runs the 100-meter and 200-meter dash with personal records of 11.36 and 23.38, respectively. She is a state champion for both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash. 

The three young women all have similar reasons for choosing to attend USC despite having offers from many other schools with similar ranking track programs. It appears the Trojans’ coaches stood out and were ultimately able to seal the deal. 

“The reason I chose USC was because of all the coaches and team and all the alumni.” Mills said of her decision. 

She mentioned USC alum and six-time Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix played a part in her commitment to the school. Mills was inspired by Felix’s return to the sport after giving birth in 2018. Seeing the successes of Felix, along with many others from the Trojans’ track team, convinced Mills that she will thrive in the program. 

Smith also had a similar sentiment. In fact, when she heard that the Director of Track and Field, Caryl Smith Gilbert, has an ongoing streak of students and alumni attending the Olympics, she was sold. 

But it is more than just Smith Gilbert’s success that makes these women want to join the team. 

Smith, who is originally from Louisiana, does not have much family with her in Texas. She learned to find a second family in her coaches and teammates, all of whom she forged a strong relationship with. Unfortunately, she has had to endure a lot of loss within this second family. 

Her freshman year of high school, her coach, Fahim Minkah, passed away at their first meet. At that point, she almost quit the sport due to grief, but her team and parents helped her continue pushing forward. It was then that she found the North Texas Cheetahs where she continued to run in the following years. This past March, the Cheetahs lost head coach Orlando McDaniel due to COVID-19. 

When looking at different colleges, Smith was searching for a coach that would look out for her the way that Minkah and McDaniel did. She felt blessed to meet Smith Gilbert, who she says treats her like a niece. Additionally, Smith said that the team was very welcoming and made her feel like their little sister. 

Davis has also formed a strong bond with Smith Gilbert, stating “USC was my dream school and coach Caryl knew that… but that didn’t faze her.” 

Despite knowing Davis already liked USC, Smith Gilbert continued to prioritize her and make that connection from the start. She frequently calls Davis to check in on her, and their conversation goes way beyond just track. Davis has grown close to the assistant coaches as well. During the recruiting process, it was evident to Davis that the USC coaches cared for her and were not only after her record times.  

It comes as no surprise that Smith Gilbert was honored as the 2019 Pac-12 Women’s Coach of the Year. In her seven seasons coaching at USC, her athletes have combined for 60 Pac-12 individual titles, 20 individual NCAA event titles, and 184 All-American honors. 

Smith, Mills and Davis have some high expectations to fulfill at USC, but they also have big goals they hope to achieve beyond the collegiate level. All three of them hope to compete at the Olympics in the near future and maybe even bring some medals home. 

As for college, they plan to continue perfecting their individual crafts and do what they can to improve the team. 

“Once I get to USC,” Smith confidently stated, “in my four or five years, I plan on setting the school record for the 100-meter hurdles and bring back another NCAA title.”