(Little late on this one, but life is like that sometimes.)
USC's women's track and field team beat ucla 86 - 77 in a dual meet at ucla this past weekend. This was the first time that the USC women's team had beated the bruins since 1992.
A large part of the reason that the Trojans won was the efforts of Carol Rodriguez, who ran despite a hamstring injury. She won the 400m race, and also ran a strong third leg of the 4 x 400 relay, taking the baton a step or three behind and building a big lead for Myra Hasson to bring home.
The men's team was not able to get over the hump, losing to ucla 74 - 89. They had beaten the Bruins last year at USC, but have not beaten the bruins at ucla since 1977. Said the Director of Track and Field :
"This means a lot to us [...] As the trainers and staff can tell you we didn't have everyone available or at full health. The Dual Meet is so very significant from the standpoint of the exposure and the visibility for the fans. The difference was that we had some distance runners this year, which is not normally our flagship. This is good for morale. The men won last year and we would have liked to have seen it happen again this year, so next year the goal is to win them both in the same season"
Congratulations to the Women of Troy, and respect to the bruins for - if you'll pardon the phrase - gutting it out to win on the strength of a strong showing at the end of the meet. I'm sure they'll understand if I don't wish them good luck for next year though.