USC Tries to End Losing Streaks to UCLA

One of the great rivalries in collegiate track and field will be renewed today when USC plays host to UCLA in a dual meet at Cromwell Field.

The USC men, ranked No. 2 in the national Team Power Ratings, will try to end its dual-meet losing streak at 20 to No. 6 UCLA.

USC has a 38-27 lead in the series that began in 1934, but the Trojans’ last official victory over UCLA was in 1977.

USC defeated UCLA, 84-70, in 1978, but the score was later adjusted to an 83-71 Bruin victory because an ineligible athlete--quarter-miler Billy Mullins--competed for USC.

Senior Jerome Davis of USC, the defending NCAA and three-time defending Pacific 10 Conference champion in the 400 meters, is expected to play a big role for the Trojans today.

Davis will run in the 200 and 400 and on the Trojans’ 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

Senior Luke Sullivan of UCLA is the probable winner in the discus and second-place finisher in the hammer throw, and senior teammate Travis Haynes could lead the Bruins to a 1-2-3 sweep of the shotput.

UCLA is going for its seventh consecutive victory over USC in the women’s meet. The Bruins, who lead the series, 12-3, are top-ranked in the Team Power Ratings; USC is 14th.

The women’s sprints are among the most highly anticipated events of the meet as sophomore Shakedia Jones of UCLA will battle freshman Angela Williams and senior Torri Edwards of USC in the 100 and 200, and senior Andrea Anderson of UCLA will race sophomore Malika Edmonson and freshman Kinshasa Davis of USC in the 400.

Jones defeated Williams for the 100 title in the world junior championships in Annecy, France, last summer and finished second in the 100 and third in the 200 in the NCAA championships last June.

Williams won the 100, 200 and long jump for Chino High in the state championships last year and set a national high school record of 11.11 seconds in the 100 to edge Jones for the USA Track & Field junior title.

The meet will start at 11:15 a.m. at Cromwell Field. The men’s and women’s hammer throws will be held at West Los Angeles College, starting at 9 a.m.