Maybe he relishes the role of an underdog, but USC coach Ron
Allice isn’t giving his women’s track and field team
much credit.
“I’ve been at USC for nine years, and this is the
best UCLA team I’ve ever faced,” he said. “This
is a rebuilding year for us ““ my team will look like it got
run over by a train on Saturday. If anyone thinks it’s going
to be close, they’re smoking something.”
The No. 5 Trojans feature five All-Americans, including last
year’s NCAA 200-meter champion Natasha Mayers, but Allice
believes his squad is not deep enough to challenge its No. 4
cross-town rivals.
So while Allice has seemingly all but conceded that the Bruins
will secure their 10th straight dual meet victory by a wide margin,
UCLA coach Jeannette Bolden is skeptical of her opponent’s
doomsday prophecy.
“If he thinks for a moment that just because he thinks
he’s the underdog, that I am going to think that, he’s
wrong,” Bolden said. “I never look at USC like that.
When you are ranked No. 5 in the nation, you’re never going
to be an underdog.”
Bolden did concede that her team ought to be favored on paper
over the host Trojans, and that is largely because of the
Bruins’ wealth of talent in the jumps and middle distance
corps.
Junior Lena Nilsson (800m, 1500m) and senior Tiffany Burgess
(800m) are the heavy favorites in their respective races while
sophomore Candace Baucham could pick up a pair of victories in the
long jump and the triple jump.
The busiest Bruin of the day might be sophomore Monique
Henderson, who is slated to compete in four races ““ the 200m,
400m and both relays. Henderson has not competed in all four events
at one meet since high school, but Bolden believes she will be
ready Saturday.
“That’s what sprinters do,” Bolden said.
“Monique and the rest of my sprinters have been off a little
while, and they’re a little rusty. They are ready to
compete.”
They’ll need to be ready to contend with the Trojans in
the 100m, where USC’s Mayers, Miya Edmonson and Tiffany
Bennett could conceivably capture the race’s top three
spots.
UCLA will likely counter with juniors Adia McKinnon and Sani
Roseby, but that might not be enough to catch the speedy
Trojans.
“We have to do what we can in the 100,” Bolden said.
“There are areas that they are very strong, and there are
areas that we are very strong. “If they do sweep us, then we
have to get those points back somewhere else.”
That chance could come in the throwing events, but UCLA’s
talented stable of throwers will certainly be challenged. The
Trojans feature All-American L’Orangerie Crawford (shot put,
hammer) and the Pac-10 record holder in the hammer, Julianna
Tudja.
“Normally throwing isn’t as competitive, but the
women’s throwers might be the top five at the NCAA Regionals
(next month),” said UCLA’s Cari Soong, who will face
off against both Crawford and Tudja in the hammer. “This is
the time of year to look for a personal record because we’re
all feeling good.”
While her fellow Bruin throwers, sophomores Jessica Cosby and
Briona Reynolds, have not hit their stride so far this season,
Soong has been a model of consistency, invariably throwing over 200
feet.
If Soong and the rest of her teammates perform up to their
capabilities against the Trojans, UCLA could very well prove that
Allice’s pessimism is justified.
But Bolden has cautioned her team not to fall victim to the
gamesmanship.
“Two years ago, the meet came down to the last leg of the
mile relay, and I am expecting that to happen again this
year,” she said. “Their team is going to have to
perform at its best to win, and my team will as well.”