Track and field to host meet


The Trojan track and field team is set to compete in the Power Conference Cardinal and Gold Challenge on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s events will be held at California State University Los Angeles, and Saturday’s events will take place at USC’s Loker Stadium. Though the contest has never been held before, it has attracted some great teams. The Trojans will play host to No. 1 Florida, No. 12 Texas and No. 16 Ohio State.  They may be few in number, but they are great in talent, and that should provide some very exciting competition.

However, senior distance runner Katerina Berdousi remained unfazed at the upcoming strong opposition.

“I think that stiff competition is better than no competition,” Berdousi said.

She said she didn’t want to get caught up in this particular event, focusing instead on the competitions still to come.

“My goal is not to get first; it’s to get good times in order to attend the Pac-12s and regionals,” Berdousi said.

Teammate and All-American sophomore high jumper Randall Cunningham echoed her focus.

“In all of my competitions, I like to focus on myself,” Cunningham said. “I work on my goals and compete against myself.”

The Power Conference Cardinal and Gold Challenge will be the second straight competition at home for the Trojans, following the Trojan Invitational that took place during spring break. Berdousi regretted that the invitational occurred when most students were out of town, so she’s expecting even stronger support from her fellow Trojans this weekend.

“It will be an advantage that we have more people here from USC to support us. It will be much more intense,” Berdousi said.

Adding to the intensity will be the Pac-12 Network’s cameras filming Saturday afternoon’s events for a live broadcast.

“I don’t feel any extra pressure; I just feel like it motivates us more knowing that more people will be watching us compete,” Cunningham said.

Offering a different point of view, jumps coach Sheldon Blockburger was concerned with favoritism.

“It’d be nice if everybody got fair camera time rather than focusing on the 100m and 1000m,” Blockburger said. “It’s always good to have your sport put on television, especially on a March Madness week. I’m sure everybody’s going to do their best and put on a good show.”

The California Collegiate Invitational awaits the Trojan track and field teams, following the Power Conference Cardinal and Gold Challenge. The contest will take place April 2, in San Diego.

1 reply
  1. Steve B.
    Steve B. says:

    Scheduling and start time of the meet stinks. Only two home meets, and they are a week apart. How about having one of them in April when athletes have time to space out their workouts.

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