Former USC Star Kendall Ellis Signs With New Balance

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Kendall Ellis, who delivered one of the most electrifying moments of the 2018 track and field season when she won the 4x400-meter relay for USC in come-from-behind fashion at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships, announced on social media Wednesday that she has signed with New Balance.

Ellis' dramatic anchor leg lifted USC to its first NCAA women's team title since 2001. 

Ellis, the American and collegiate indoor record holder in the 400 meters, will continue to train in Los Angeles with her college coaches, Caryl Smith Gilbert and Quincy Watts. 

She is scheduled to make her professional debut Saturday in the 300 meters at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix at the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center at Roxbury Community College in Boston. Also making her pro debut in the 300 is former Harvard standout and fellow New Balance athlete Gabby Thomas, the collegiate indoor record holder in the 200.

Ellis' last race was June 23, when she placed third in the 400 at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.