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Denye' Versher and the rest of the UCLA sprint squad hope to bounce back from its bad showing las

A year ago, USC’s sprinters dominated the annual cross-town dual meet sprint events, preventing the Bruin men from placing first in any of the short races.

Although the UCLA men’s team was able to prevail with a final score of 82-81 thanks to strong distance performances, the sprints squad failed to make a large contribution to the team score.

“Their sprinters are very talented,” said Mario Bassani, a veteran member of the UCLA sprint squad. “Last year, we weren’t supposed to win, but we pulled it off.”

This year, the sprint squad hopes to make a dent in the points usually gathered by USC’s strong sprint core and contribute to a comfortable margin of victory for the favored Bruins.

The final tallies of both the 2003 and the 2001 meets found the triumphant team winning by the smallest margin possible – one point.

In 2003, the Bruins walked away with the bragging rights, but in 2001, the Trojans snapped UCLA’s 22-year winning streak.

If all goes to plan at this year’s meet, the sprinters will prevent one point from determining the victorious team.

One of the most anticipated matchups will be the competition between nationally-ranked Bruin sophomore Craig Everhart and juniors Wes Felix and Marvin Anderson of USC in the 200 meters.

Felix, the 2003 Pac-10 200m champion, took first in both the 100m and 200m last year, while Anderson has given his teammate competition this year.

“Craig is definitely one of the fastest 200-meter runners in the country this year,” Felix said. “We have a lot of respect for Craig, but we aren’t afraid of him.”

“Of course I have a lot of respect for Trojan runners,” Everhart said, “but when you are running for Bruin pride, respect doesn’t mean a thing.”

The 200m is not the only race in which Everhart is projected to score points for UCLA.

The expected match-up between Everhart and Trojan senior Brandon Matlock in the 400m also favors Everhart on paper.

While Everhart’s time of 45.52 seconds is the fourth fastest in the nation this year, sprints coach Tony Veney understands that previous times don’t mean much in the rivalry meet.

“I can’t imagine a better guy who can handle this pressure; he loves to compete,” Veney said. “He also understands he hasn’t won anything yet, which keeps him grounded.”

Everhart is the featured sprinter in the 400m, but Bassani and senior Denye Versher will also be looking to contribute points.

USC, however, has a very strong group of competitors in the 100m field led by Felix and Anderson. That will probably be the hardest event for the UCLA sprinters to win as only sophomore Matt Bruno has had any success this year at that distance.

“We have the potential to sweep the 100 and of course that is our goal,” Felix said. “But (Bruno) is a good runner, and you never know what’s going to happen.”

Bruno’s fastest 100m mark of the season, 10.43 seconds last week in San Diego, ranks him behind USC’s Anderson and junior Phillip Francis and only .02 seconds ahead of Felix’s fastest season time.

“I have more potential this week than what I have run,” said Bruno, who has been plagued with minor injuries this season.

Even though the Trojans have the runners potentially to sweep the 100m this year, a repeat of USC’s sweep in the relays is highly unlikely.

While the Trojans will be heavy favorites in the 4x100m relay, UCLA seems to be in good position in the 4x400m.

The Bruin performance at the Texas Relays in early April gave the 4x400m team the No. 7 time in the nation, ahead of USC.

But in the 4x100m, Everhart warns against discounting the Bruins against the favored Trojans.

“As a team, we are bound and determined to do our best against USC,” Everhart said.