There was a time when University of South Florida athletes would have been overwhelmed and awed by a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Eugene, Oregon.
That time has passed.
The Bulls have a pronounced mission in the Pacific Northwest. They intend to compete for national championships.
"At the beginning of the year, this is what you prepare for … and at the end of the year, this is where you want to be,'' head coach Erik Jenkins said. "We want to be successful in the American Conference. We want to do well in the (regionals) and advance people to the NCAA finals. And once we get to the final rounds, then we want to compete with the best athletes in the country — period.
"We don't really worry about anybody else. We take care of business within our own lane and stay focused on doing the things we can control. You see people with a certain name on their shirt, but that doesn't mean they can't get beat. So we go in with the idea of representing ourselves and USF at the highest level of this sport.''
The Bulls are equipped to do just that in Eugene, where USF finished tied for 14th in last season's national event.
USF has two returning athletes — Devontie Archer and Alexavier Monfries — from last season's 4x400-meter relay team that captured the national title with a school-record time of 3:00.42. At regionals, USF's 4x400 team qualified again at 3:02.71 (the fifth-fastest time in school history), good for 10th place, as Archer and Monfries were joined in the lineup by Markel Jones and Nathan Metelus.
For the fourth consecutive season, USF's 4x100-meter relay team has qualified for Eugene. At regionals, the team of Shomari Pettigrew, Jaleel Croal, Monfries and Metelus placed third overall with a 38.45 (the third-fastest time in school history). USF's 4x100 team placed fourth (38.73) last season at Eugene.
Meanwhile, Croal will compete in the 200 meters for the third time at Eugene after qualifying with a 20.41 (10th place) at regionals. It's the last USF go-round for Croal, who has gone 19.95 in the 200 and will exit as one of the athletic program's highest-achieving performers (program-record 10 American Conference titles and All-American status in the 200 and 4x100 relay).
Croal would have been a top contender in the 100 meters as well — he ran a wind-aided 9.75 at the American Conference meet, which was the third-fastest college 100 meters ever run (all conditions) — had it not been for a controversial false start at regionals.
"The Big Dog (Croal) is going to do what the Big Dog does,'' Jenkins said. "None of this shocks me. He's a guy who's going to compete. He's a professional at what he does already. He's in two of the truly premier events in track and field.
"After the (false-start call at regionals), he got himself ready for the 200. He made the final and he qualified. He took care of business and had a professional mindset. People look at you and try to figure out how you're going to react, but he kept his composure and moved to the next thing. You have to be a tough person to survive in the world (professional track) he's trying to go into because it's very unforgiving. But he's that guy. He's tough.''
Croal was 24th in the 200 during his first nationals trip in 2024. Last season, he improved to 15th (good for second-team All-American status).
"My first year, I don't want to say the lights were too bright, but it was just amazing being there in the stadium,'' Croal said. "It was like, 'Wow, I really made it this far.' Obviously, I tried to advance, but it didn't go well.
"Now being there is just kind of normal. I'm used to it and I know how to prepare. It comes down to hundredths of seconds, so that's why you have to prepare and then you have to execute. You can't be thinking how big the stage is. You have to treat it like a normal track meet, a normal race. But for all of us, we realize that we really do belong here. We put in the work. We've been here before. So we are confident that we can get it done.''
Jenkins said all of the USF athletes — Croal, along with both relay teams — are capable of winning their events. The relay participants (and the order) remain very much in flux and Jenkins will review his options as the Wednesday men's preliminaries approach (with finals set for Friday).
Archer and Monfries know what it takes.
They were part of USF's 4x400-meters national champions last season.
"It's really good carrying over into the next year, but you have to refocus and reset … basically telling yourself, 'OK, this is what it felt like to win last year' and you want to do that again,'' Monfries said. "When you're the national champion, people won't let you forget about it. We try not to think about it because currently we're on the verge of crowing a new national champion. That's what we want to be. Regardless of whether you're the defending champion, it's still the pinnacle you want to reach.''
"Honestly, when you have a moment like that, it's something you really can't even explain,'' Archer said. "You put in all the work and the success you reap is just so amazing. You don't have words for it, but it was an amazing feeling. And I just wish to repeat it someday.''
Someday is coming — Wednesday's preliminaries, then Friday's finals.
"It's a mental and physical (challenge),'' Archer said. "Physically, you've got to stay healthy. Mentally, you've got to know that the people are not unbeatable. It doesn't matter what region or conference they're from. They're beatable. We have done it before, so it's possible to do it again.''
"We're looking to do something real big for the program,'' Metelus said. "This is the time of the year when it gets serious, when you kick it into gear because you want to set the fastest time. I think we're going in with a lot of confidence. We know what we're capable of.''
