Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information Throw down · The Lexus Gauntlet spices up the USC-UCLA rivalry and is not just a marketing strategy, staff writer Brian Wagner writes. | Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information

The USC-UCLA rivalry is getting even more intense.

Another competitive season of college athletics has come and gone and the Lexus Gauntlet has been awarded to the USC for the second consecutive year.

The Lexus Gauntlet is an annual ongoing competition between USC and UCLA that tracks all head-to-head wins the schools rack up against one another.  Since its establishment in 2001, there had been no repeat winner before this year. USC ensured its hoisting of the cup through the men’s and women’s track and field squads. The annual dual meet against the Bruins took place on May 2, and USC’s performance allowed it to retain the Gauntlet for a second year.

In the eight years of the Gauntlet’s existence, USC has now won five to UCLA’s three.

For fans, the Lexus Gauntlet, no doubt, brings more excitement. It allows fans to be more  attentive to all collegiate sports and truly exemplifies the utter importance and variance of the rivalry. Senior USC student Adam Kossoff explained the greatness from a fan’s perspective: “I really enjoy following the Lexus Gauntlet. [It’s] more than just football and basketball. The Gauntlet brings out all parts of the rivalry.”

Football may still be the sport that earns the most bragging rights for each school because of its overwhelming popularity, but it is golf, tennis and rowing, for example, that have an extensive impact on the Gauntlet, along with every Division-I sport.

It really brings the whole rivalry into perspective.

“We always want to beat UCLA, but when [the Gauntlet] is involved, it’s very motivating,” said Tom Glissmeyer of the USC men’s golf team. Glissmeyer affirms that he and his teammates, along with the rest of the student athletes, hold a large interest in the Lexus Gauntlet.

As Tom Walsh, the USC women’s cross country head coach, said, “The Gauntlet puts the USC-UCLA rivalry more into focus.  This rivalry has always been great, but now it adds more attention to the minor sports.”

Walsh stresses the true meaning of college athletics. It doesn’t revolve around one sport or two, he said, but rather the sum of the program, analogous to the 19 respected sports in USC’s athletic department.

But when it is all said and done, the Gauntlet means most to the athletes themselves. And two questions are left unanswered when the Cup is awarded to the winning program: Do the athletes appreciate the competition of the Lexus Gauntlet? Or is it merely a marketing strategy?

After speaking with many collegiate athletes and coaches, ranging from all sports, there cannot be more of a clear-cut answer.

There is a certain entity in the cross-town rivalry that isn’t found everywhere you turn. These athletes from USC and UCLA compete to be the best, and within this rivalry, pride is at the core of it all.

“It becomes much more than a game. It no longer becomes a match of wins and losses, but also of pride,” said Alison Ramos of the USC women’s tennis team. “When we defeat UCLA and take the cup, we keep our pride over a prestigious rival.”

The athletes certainly recognize the prestige of the Lexus Gauntlet and the rivalry as a whole. Along with the goals of Pac-10 titles and national championships beginning with each new season, beating UCLA remains to be of utmost importance to USC athletics. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know it is one of the most touted accomplishments for the program, and the athletes convey that message very clearly through their fierce competition.

“There is most definitely a large sense of pride involved when beating UCLA,” states USC’s men’s track and field star Aven Wright. “On top of competing against UCLA, there is that extra pressure because of our school pride.”

The Lexus Gauntlet is a tangible element that demonstrates the intense rivalry that is USC-UCLA. The school pride for both programs has been there since its origin, but the Gauntlet has indubitably spiced things up. And has done so for the better.

There is no doubt the USC-UCLA rivalry is one of the greatest in all of sports. And there is no doubt the initiation of the Lexus Gauntlet has added a little extra motivation for the athletes, and added excitement and awareness for the fans.

USC’s athletes identify that the Lexus Gauntlet simply reinforces the rivalry as one of the best. As far as being victorious, it is certainly an honor to be awarded the Lexus Gauntlet Cup, and the athletes are very aware of it what it entails — to themselves, their teams, their program and their fans.

Although it’s at a relatively young age, it is easy to see the Lexus Gauntlet is energizing a rivalry that is already one of the best.

And the athletes are happy to be a part of it.