There are few things bigger than a UCLA-USC showdown. No matter what happens in a season, a victory over the crosstown rival sticks with a team.
This weekend at USC, the two foes’ men’s track teams will face off for the 75th time. While No. 18 USC has a 40-34 all-time edge over the Bruins, UCLA won in 2008 and has only allowed two Trojan victories in the past 30 years.
“The meet is definitely more special,” senior pole vaulter Bobby Talley said. “The rivalry is more heated than anything else in the season. With the rivalry and the battle for Los Angeles, you bring a lot of people out, and it’s definitely more exciting.”
Although track is often considered an individual sport, when it comes to the USC dual meet, it is all about the team.
“It’s always about winning the meet,” UCLA coach Art Venegas said. “The reality is that this meet has a life of its own, so it’s a big deal to win it, and we are going to make every effort.”
In dual meets, scoring is awarded to the top three finishers, with first place taking five points, second place taking three and third place taking one. The relays give five points to the winner. With a limited number of points available, every individual performance is crucial. The past four meets against USC have proven this even more, as all were decided by five or fewer points.
“At this meet, a third place could make the difference,” Venegas said. “We don’t take any single event for granted in a meet like this. Everything is up for grabs. Everything is competitive.”
USC has traditionally had a foundation of strong sprinters, and UCLA will be looking to its distance runners and field events to overpower USC.
As always, the pole vaulters will lead the team and are looking for a shutout.
“We just want to go one-two-three,” Talley said. “If I’m involved in that, then perfect, but if I’m not, whatever, I just don’t want the Trojans to score.”
The Bruins currently have six athletes ranked in the top 20 nationally, while USC is one behind, with five.
One of the six Bruins is redshirt senior Boldizsar Kocsor, who had recently been out because of injury.
He will return to competition this weekend and will be looking to defend his hammer throw win from last year.
The hammer will be contested at Mt. San Antonio College, as USC’s facility is unavailable, and, as with all rivalries, no concessions are made for home-field advantage.
“That’s what makes this meet so special: It’s a rivalry,” Venegas said. “You do what you have to do, and they wouldn’t dare want to have it on our field, so we’re traveling a long way to have (the hammer.)”
Someone who will try to make things difficult for the Bruins will be top USC sprinter Ahmad Rashad.
The junior currently sits near the top of the Pac-10 in the 100 meters.
USC redshirt junior high jumper Manjula Wijesekara is also at the top of the Pac-10 list.
“There’s always a group of what we call “˜frontline,’ key people ““ we have those, they have those,” Venegas said. “So those are the kind of key people we emphasize when we look at the meet. We have those same type of people that are ready to go.”
With this being the last meet of the regular season, the Bruins will be looking for big performances to springboard into the postseason and are hoping the rivalry will bring out the best in people.
“It’s definitely a great transition into the postseason,” Talley said. “The intensity is so high and there are very few events that are going to be swept; it’s going to be close in every event.”