UCLA track and field to go lane-to-lane with USC at dual meet

There’s something about dual meets that brings out the best in UCLA’s track and field teams.

The men are ranked 16th in the nation overall, but are seventh in dual meet matchups. The women are ranked third in head-to-head matchups despite being 28th overall.

When UCLA went up against the No. 1 Texas A&M men and the then-No. 5 Texas A&M women two weeks ago, several athletes set new personal bests, and relay runners came from behind to claim victories – the competitive spirit came alive.

Yet, that will likely be nothing compared to what’s coming Sunday when USC arrives in Westwood.

In the words of senior sprinter and hurdler Andre’ Chapman, there’s something “ridiculously special” about the annual USC-UCLA track meet – something that, even with all of the hype, he admittedly never understood until the moment he first arrived at the meet three years ago.

“When I was a freshman, I just remember everybody was talking about how they didn’t like USC,” Chapman said. “I just really didn’t understand. And it wasn’t until the actual meet day – just being there. … That’s when I was really able to understand the mentality and see firsthand and experience firsthand how real it is.”

He didn’t want the Trojans to win then, and he doesn’t want them to win now, especially not like last year when one point was all that decided USC’s 82-81 victory.

“The last couple of years, it’s been pretty close, but this year, again, it’s going to be really close,” said senior distance runner Lane Werley. “The fact that it could come down to really just a few events at the end of the meet I think is what brings everybody out because it’s just such an exciting time.”

It came down to the very last event when Werley and Chapman were juniors. USC won the men’s 4×400 m relay, and those five points erased UCLA’s four-point lead.

The Bruins have won in the past by building a point buffer in their strongest events which the Trojans cannot overcome even when the events shift in their favor.

Werley and the rest of the men’s distance team have the most favorable matchup against the crosstown rivals than any other section.

The distance team took all 27 points in the 1500-meter, 3000-meter steeple chase and 5000-meter runs last year.

USC doesn’t have a single men’s distance runner in the top 200 for any of those events again this year but not every matchup is in UCLA’s favor.

Across the 100-, 200- and 400-meter sprint events, USC won 25 of the men’s points and all of the women’s points.

The USC women have 10 top-100s for those events this year while the men have four. That’s down from 10 last year, but whether the point spread will reflect that depends on the performance of sprinters returning fresh off of injuries.

“A lot of us who were dealing with injuries are back on track,” Chapman said. “I was actually out for two months because I pulled my hamstring, so this is only going to be my second meet outdoors. … There are couple of the freshman that are injured here and there, but overall we have most of our sprint team back.”

Chapman also said freshman Rai Benjamin – a top-50, indoor 200-meter sprinter who has been out the majority of the outdoor season – will likely still be inactive for this weekend.

Yet, with so many points historically going to one side or another, there are some matchups with a margin of separation as small as gets. That’s where the pep talks Chapman received when he was a freshman can pay the most dividends.

In the women’s high jump, one centimeter is all that USC’s best jumper has over true freshman Lillianna Hebert.

“It makes me feel pumped,” Hebert said. “I don’t care how high she jumps. I’ll double it if I have to. I’m devoted to scoring points for my team.”