It’ll Be Sprint to Finish in Pac-10

He’s the two-time defending Pacific 10 champion at 200 meters and could complete a sprint double today in this year’s conference meet at UCLA.

But he’s best known as being the older brother of Allyson Felix.

For USC senior Wes Felix, that’s life when your younger sister is considered one of international track and field’s brightest stars at just 19.

“I don’t mind it at all because she’s one of my favorite people in the world; it’s really an honor,” said Felix, who ranks seventh on the Trojans’ all-time list in the 200. “When you look at it, a Pac-10 title isn’t that big when your sister is an Olympic 200-meter silver medalist.”

That hasn’t slowed Wes Felix, and Saturday, he was impressive in winning qualifying heats in the 100 and 200 at Drake Stadium.

“I’m feeling really good,” said Felix, who will attempt to become the first man or woman to win three consecutive 200 titles since the conference expanded to 10 schools in 1978.

Although the Trojans picked up 10 points with Adam Midles’ victory in the hammer throw, they’re a sprint-heavy team that will need a few breaks today to catch Oregon, which leads the men’s team race with 63.5 points, followed by Arizona State (49) and defending champion UCLA (45).

The Trojans will be well represented in the shorter races, with four runners qualifying for today’s final in the 100 and three in the 200. But that may not be enough against deep teams such as the Ducks, Sun Devils and Bruins.

Oregon did not have any winners Saturday, but the Ducks seemed to be making statements in every event. Paul Etter finished second in the hammer, Lars Larsen was runner-up to California’s Paul Teinert in the javelin, and freshman Galen Rupp ran second in the 10,000 behind Arizona’s defending champion Robert Cheseret.

Rupp, U.S. junior-record holder at 10,000, tried to run away from Cheseret with four laps remaining, but the veteran Wildcat didn’t waver, pulling in front of the freshman at 500 meters and running a 58-second final lap for the victory.

“I knew this was going to be a tactical race,” said Cheseret, a junior who will run only the 5,000 today, rather than try to duplicate his triple of a year ago by competing in the 1,500. “Once the pace was slow at the start, I knew that the race favored me.”

With Eric Mitchum favored to win the 110 hurdles, the Ducks are expected to pick up big points today, but they did have one major misstep Saturday when defending pole vault champion Tommy Skipper failed to score.

Arizona State had two winners as Trevell Quinley beat USC’s Allen Simms in the long jump and Aaron Aguayo defended his title in the 3,000 steeplechase.

The Bruins also had a strong opening day as Yoo Kim won the pole vault; and John Caulfield, Jeremy Silverman and Jake Knight combined for 14 points in the shotput.

UCLA had the leading qualifier in the 800 in Jon Rankin, who’s also a favorite in the 1,500. The Bruins’ Craig Everhart was the leading qualifier in the 400. UCLA also will have defending 400 hurdles champion Brandon Johnson in his specialty event.

In the women’s competition, UCLA’s eight-year hold on the Pac-10 team title may be in jeopardy. With victories from Erica McLain in the long jump and Alicia Craig in the 10,000, Stanford is in position to end the Bruins’ title streak. The Cardinal has 61 points after the first day, followed by Washington State’s 54.5 and UCLA’s 46.

The Bruins’ lone victory came in the shotput from Jessica Cosby, but they are expected to pick up a few more first places today.

Cosby is a favorite in the hammer, and senior Monique Henderson, who ran on the U.S. Olympic gold-medal-winning 1,600 relay team last summer in Athens, is expected to repeat as champion in the 200 and 400.