Senior Craig Everhart has something to prove.
In front of a crowd of reporters, athletes and coaches, Everhart
spoke at a press conference at the J.D. Morgan Center on Wednesday
about his enthusiasm for this weekend’s matchup with a
certain athlete on the USC men’s track and field team.
Everhart will be looking to exact a bit of revenge on his
crosstown nemesis, Lionel Larry.
“I’ve been waiting for this meet all year,”
Everhart said. “Lionel, I’ve been praying for your
health. I want both teams to be at their best.”
The Bruin senior still has bitter memories of last year’s
dual meet when Everhart lost to Larry in a hotly contested 400
meters race. Though the Bruins ended up winning the meet by the
narrow margin of 83-80, Everhart has been itching for a
rematch.
“I’m going to do absolutely everything I can for us
to win. I’ll run the 200, the 400 and the relays,” said
Everhart, who even joked about running the 100m if the coaches
wanted him to.
While the matchup between Larry and Everhart will be critical to
the final outcome of the meet, it certainly will not be the only
important event as the Bruins will be looking to keep their
four-year winning streak over the Trojans alive.
In the hurdles, both teams have suffered major setbacks. While
UCLA has had to deal with an untimely injury to top 400m hurdler
Brandon Johnson, USC has also been dealt a major blow as its top
hurdler, Blake Frazier, will be unable to compete.
These injuries have opened the door for Bruin freshman Kevin
Craddock to become a key contributor in this weekend’s meet.
Although Craddock is in his first year, the magnitude of the
rivalry is not lost on him.
“Even though I’m a freshman, I know all about how
big this meet is,” Craddock said. “I grew up in the Bay
with the big rivalry with Stanford and Cal, so I know what
it’s like.”
Craddock will need to step up in the absence of Johnson in both
the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles as the Bruins will need strong
peformances in all of the shorter events to keep pace with the
Trojans’ impressive array of sprinters.
USC will be led by NCAA champion high jumper Jesse Williams, who
will be competing in the long jump as well.
UCLA will be looking to exploit a mismatch and create some
breathing room in the distance races. Outside of 1500m runner
Tomasz Babiskiewiecz, the Trojans lack depth in the distances.
UCLA’s redshirt senior 3000m steeplechaser Erik Emilsson
will hope to maximize the team’s scoring opportunities as he
will be running in the 800m, 1500m and 5000m races. The
Trojans’ thin talent pool for steeplechasers will allow
Emilsson to skip his signature event in order to score in more
competitive races.
As last year’s meet came down to just three points,
Saturday’s matchup promises to be just as thrilling, if not
more. This year, with the Trojans travelling to Westwood, USC
Director of Track and Field Ron Allice knows his team will be
hungry for a victory on enemy territory.
“I hope you are all loud on Saturday,” the outspoken
Allice said during Wednesday’s press conference. “We
will be loud, and you know I will be loud.”