For USC, a first-time double

The USC track team held meetings to talkabout the possibility. The Gatorade bath on track and field director Ron Allice after countless team pictures confirmed the reality.

Both the Trojans men’s and women’s teams defeated UCLA, 92-71 and 93-70, respectively, at Loker Stadium on Saturday -- the first time both squads vanquished the Bruins in the same dual meet. The rivalry has reached 76 meets on the men’s side, but the women’s series dates to 1984.

“I don’t think we ever had a team all the way across the board compete like this,” Alice said. “We had some great ones in my 15 years, but never in a dual meet.”

The Trojans swept all of the relay events, as both the men and the women mostly eased through the competition. The women jumped to their first double-digit lead at 41-27 after taking first (junior Shalina Clarke) and second (junior Nia Ali) in the 100-meter hurdles. The women secured the victory in the 17th event, the 1,500 meters, which sophomore Zsofia Erdelyi won with a time of 4 minutes 32.18 seconds. Erdelyi, who also won the 5,000 meters, didn’t feel any pressure: “I would always tell myself, ‘I’m the best.’ ”

Despite the frustration, UCLA women’s Coach Jeanette Bolden felt satisfied with the Bruins taking first in nine events. She didn’t show much concern about the USC women beating UCLA for the second straight year after a 15-year winless drought.

“They have a while before they catch our record,” Bolden said of her team’s 21-5 all-time mark. “We know they won the last two years. But I also know we won the last 15 years before that.”

The USC men looked equally composed, jumping out to a 37-22 lead when freshman Joey Hughes won the 400 meters in 46.90 seconds.

Junior Ahmad Rashad’s false start disqualified him in the next event, the 100 meters, but teammate Matthew Palmer won in a personal-best 10.50 seconds.

“I thought that was the turning point,” said Rashad, who later won the 200 meters in a Pacific 10 Conference season-leading 20.74 seconds. “[Palmer] wasn’t expected to come in at first place.”

“Where this team was going to go would depend upon how our youths responded,” Allice said. “Believe me, I was really worried because they were slow in coming. . . . But boy, did they come together today.”

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mark.medina@latimes.com