USC sprinter Dajaz DeFrand, Director of Track & Field and Cross-Country Quincy Watts and Assistant Coach Jeff Petersmeyer were named 2025 West Region award winners by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) today (March 20).
The Trojan junior sprinter DeFrand was named the West Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year. DeFrand won the NCAA 60 hurdles title with a PR and facility-record time of 7.09. Her time moved her from fourth to tie for second on USC’s all-time list with Angela Williams and TeeTee Terry. Williams and Terry are USC’s only other NCAA women’s 60m dash champions, with Terry being the last in 2019. DeFrand also took fourth in the 200m at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors in both events. DeFrand also won the Big Ten 60m title with a meet-record time of 7.10 and the 200m dash title with a PR and meet-record time of 20.62, which ranks second on USC’s all-time list. She also ran a leg for USC’s meet record-setting 4x400m relay at the Big Ten Indoor Championships and was named the Women’s Athlete of the Meet. Her 60m time is second among Americans and tied for 10th in the world this indoor season and her 200m time ranks fifth in the world.
Watts was named West Region Men’s Coach of the Year as he led the USC men’s team to the NCAA Indoor title, its third in program history and first since 1972. The Trojan men earned 14 first-team All-America honors. He also guided the men’s team to a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships in the school’s first season in the conference, winning four individual event titles, more than any other school. USC’s Johnny Brackins Jr. set the school 60m hurdles record and JC Stevenson set the 60m dash record. His athletes posted 19 school all-time top 10 times or marks during the indoor season.
Petersmeyer was named West Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year for the 2025 indoor campaign. He guided JC Stevenson to NCAA-leading marks of 26-9.75 (8.17m) in the long jump and 6.46 in the 60-meter dash, the latter is the current world leader. Stevenson won the Big Ten title in the 60m and placed third in the long jump. Johnny Brackins Jr. claimed the Big Ten long jump title with a leap of 26-2.75 (7.99m), while Brady Palen and Elias Gerald finished second and fourth in the high jump, respectively. Collectively, his athletes scored 48.5 points at the Big Ten Championships. At the NCAA Championships, Petersmeyer coached five first-team All-American performances as Palen and Gerald tied for 5th in the high jump, while Stevenson and Brackins Jr. placed 6th and 8th in the long jump. Additionally, Stevenson finished 6th in the NCAA 60m final.