University Southern California Trojans
Keeping Track Of The Cross-Town Megameet
April 05, 2001 | Track & Field
April 5, 2001
1939: USC won the first 33 meets, starting in 1934. Most of them, including this edition at the Coliseum, were one-sided. UCLA's Paul Van Alstine was a top two-miler, having run 9:20. USC had the reigning NCAA champion in Louie Zamperini. UCLA hoped Van Alstine could be spotlighted, but Zamperini toyed with the Bruin. He ran the first two laps in his sweatshirt alongside Van Alstine, then removed his sweatshirt and blew his opponent away, winning in 9:12.8. USC won 115-16.
1950: USC won 120-11 and shut out the Bruins on the track. UCLA's only points came in the discus, javelin and shot put.
1954: Sometimes, events would be added to the meet. In this case, Trojan Parry O'Brien, who won two Olympic shot put titles, became the first person to reach 60 feet when he put it 60-5 ?. USC won 95 ?-35 ? at the Coliseum. O'Brien won 116 consecutive shot puts and the way he threw it, now called the "Parry Thrust," remains the preferred method.
1956: UCLA won the national championship but couldn't beat USC despite 18 points from Rafer Johnson. The same thing happened to USC nine years later. Also in 1956, in front of 38,543 at the Coliseum, there was an additional mile event featuring Australian John Landy, the second person after Roger Bannister to break the four-minute mile. He raced against fellow Aussie Jim Bailey (competing for Oregon). Bailey surprised by winning in 3:58.6, his first sub-four-minute mile. Landy ran one-tenth slower.
1957: Until 1999's squeaker, this was the closest meet, with USC winning 68-63. Some believe UCLA would have won this event had coach Ducky Drake not made a mistake in the mile relay. He inserted Willard Penn to run the first leg because Bob Thomson suffered a muscle cramp warming up for the 880. Penn got beaten by 15 yards by Murray Cockburn, and USC won the event and the meet.
1966: This was UCLA's answer to the Brooklyn Dodgers' cry of "Wait 'til next year!!" Next year finally came as the Bruins won for the first time. Rick Romero scored the winning points in the two mile. UCLA won 86-59 and later won the national championship. A side note: USC freshman pole vaulter Paul Wilson became just the fifth athlete ever to vault over 17 feet when he went 17-1.
1972: Coliseum officials didn't expect a big crowd, so only one box office was open. The line of fans stretched all the way to Santa Barbara Blvd. (now Martin Luther King). Coliseum Commission officials received permission from USC coach Vern Wolfe and UCLA's Jim Bush to delay the start of the meet and let everyone in. UCLA won 79-69.
1975: Some believe this was the greatest meet of all. It came down to the triple jump. USC's Tom Cochee set a school record with a 54-3 leap. With a Drake Stadium record crowd of 15,069 cheering him on, UCLA freshman Willie Banks responded with the leap of his life, going 55-1-about two inches farther than he ever had-to win the event, set a meet record and give the Bruins a 75-70 victory.
1978: Sprint sensation Billy Mullins had won the 440, helping USC win 84-70 at Drake Stadium. The Trojans later won the NCAA title, but it was stripped as Mullins was found to be ineligible. The meet was rescored and UCLA won 83-71. USC hasn't won since.
1980: UCLA needed to go 1-2 in the 5,000 meters. Ron Cornell and Steve Ortiz ran together and finished together in 14:43.1. The Bruins won 83-71 at Drake.
1986: The women's meet began in 1984. USC has won just three times, but this was the first victory, 69-67, at the Coliseum. In it, Leslie Maxie, a 400 hurdles Olympian at Seoul, beat Gail Devers, the gold medalist in the 100 meters in Barcelona, in the anchor leg of the 1,600 relay, helping USC set a school and meet record in 3:32.58.
1999: The closest dual meet ever was an 82-81 Bruin victory at Cromwell Field. The heavily favored Trojans fell when UCLA's Travis Haynes' last discus throw assured him of second place, leading the Bruins to a sweep of the event and the one-point meet win.
By Lee Barnathan of the Los Angeles Daily News
(originally published on May 4, 2000, reprinted by permission of the Daily News)
