When looking across the broad spectrum of rivalries in the collegiate sporting world, Oregon and Washington rank high on the list.
Oregon and Oregon State rank just a little bit higher. Neither rivalry, though, can even come close to USC and UCLA.
The Trojans and Bruins, separated by the amount of smog in the heavy Los Angeles air, are enemies. From sport to sport, the two schools duke it out.
And that’s no different with track and field.
USC has had former Olympian Sherry Calvert, a four-time All-American javelin thrower. Ashley Selman continued the school’s success in the event with a 1990 NCAA title. Current Trojan Inga Stasiulionyte is currently No. 1 in the country in the javelin this season.
Then there is UCLA. The Bruins have seen athletes like Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Florence Griffith-Joyner – two of the best in the history in the sport – roam the campus. And now, the tradition continues with Tracy O’Hara, the No. 1 collegiate pole vaulter in the country this year.
The USC-UCLA dual meet is an honored tradition for the two schools, and came to the forefront Saturday when they met at the Bruins’ Drake Stadium.
“When you come to this meet, the dope sheet, the trash-talking and the back-and-forth doesn’t matter,” UCLA head coach Jeanette Bolden told the Daily Bruin. “What matters is, when you walk in that stadium, who’s going to get to the line first, who’s going to throw the furthest, and who’s going to jump the highest?”
For the record, UCLA won the meet, 111-92, with 8,094 in attendance.
Dope sheets and trash talking at a track and field meet? That’s why the Pacific-10 Conference is one of the most intense and competitive conferences in all the land.

Pac-10 reign
The Conference of Champions is lighting up the national track and field lists.
O’Hara is tops in the pole vault at 14-feet-3 1/4-inches, while Oregon’s Becky Holliday is No. 2 at 14-1 1/4. Arizona’s Amy Linnen is tied for third at 14-0.
The three stars are all heading to Pullman, Wash., for the conference championship with a full head of steam. O’Hara reached her top mark at the UC San Diego Invitational on April 27, while Holliday’s was at the Mt. Sac Relays a week earlier.
Switching to throwing events, the conference is not as strong, but can still hold its own.
Stasiulionyte is No. 1 in the javelin with a throw of 183-7, while current Duck Sarah Malone is third at 179-2. Malone’s teammate Elisa Crumley is sixth, while USC thrower Leslie Erickson is a spot below.

No other Pac-10 athletes are found until No. 11 when Oregon’s Roslyn Lundeen’s mark is visible at 166-11, and No. 16, where Arizona’s Julie DeMarni is found.
Overall, the conference boasts eight athletes with the best mark in the nation in a single event, followed by six more with second-best marks.
Not surprisingly, UCLA is tops in the conference with four athletes atop the lists. The Bruins, ranked No. 4 in the country, are heading into both the Pac-10 Championships as well as the NCAA version as one of the favorites to take first.
Duck soup
The Oregon Twilight, scheduled for Saturday, will feature some of the nation’s best in the women’s steeplechase.
Lisa Nye, the 2001 U.S. Champion, is the odds-on favorite to win the event, which will also feature Kelly MacDonald, a 2001 All-American.
MacDonald, a 2001 graduate of Arizona State, was a standout at Tualatin, Ore., High in the mid-1990s. She is ranked fourth in the nation in the event this season.
The list doesn’t stop there. Tonya Dodge, the 11th ranked athlete in the country, and Jennifer Michel, one spot below, will also converge at Hayward Field on Saturday.

A look back
Current Oregon athletes cleaned up at last year’s Oregon Twilight, garnering seven first-place finishes and seven more second-place spots.
Junior Mary Etter placed second in the shot put, third in the hammer, and finished off her day with a first-place mark in the discus. Current teammates Dani Keyser (shot put), Jamie Burk (discus) and Jill Hoxmeier (hammer) all finished in the top five.
The Oregon javelin squad ran the gamut in the event, and came up smelling like roses. Malone placed first, Charyl Weingarten second and former Duck Sara Dinsmore was third.
Janette Davis (400), Lucretia Larkin (100 hurdles), Rachel Kriz (high jump) and Amanda Brown (long jump) are all current Oregon stars who took first in their respective events last season.

E-mail sports reporter Hank Hager at
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