May 4, 2009

Joey Hughes and Dalilah Muhammad of the track and field team, Murphy Troy of the men's volleyball team and the Varsity 8 of the women's rowing team were named USC's Wells Fargo Student-Athletes of the Week today (May 4) for the week of April 27-May 3.

The freshman Hughes was a three-time winner in the annual Dual Meet vs. UCLA on May 2, winning the 400 meter race with a time of 46.90, placing second in the 200m dash with a season-best time of 21.13 and running on both winning relays, including the 4x100m relay which had a season-best time of 39.59.

Muhammad, also a freshman, was all over the track in the Dual Meet win vs. UCLA. Her most impressive race was the 400m IH in which she was edged out by the 2007 NCAA Champion and 2008 NCAA runner-up Nicole Leach, despite a time of 56.58 which is the third-fastest ever by a Trojan female and the fourth-fastest time by a collegiate runner this season. Muhammad also took 4th in the 100m HH with a PR of 13.84, third in the high jump with a clearance of 5-7 and ran anchor for the winning 4x400m relay team.

Sophomore outside hitter Troy helped lead USC to the MPSF title with wins over No. 1 UC Irvine and No. 2 Pepperdine. Troy had 19 kills, hit .600 and had 3 aces in the sweep of UCI and 23 kills and 5 digs in the 5-set win over Pepperdine. By winning the MPSF title, USC earned its first trip to the NCAA Championships since 1991.

The Trojan rowing Varsity 8 clinched the 6-1 win vs. No. 19 UCLA on May 2 and earned USC 5 points in the Lexus Gauntlet competition. With USC leading the regatta 3-1, the Varsity 8 boat raced to a time of 7:02.2 to defeat the Bruins by 18.59 seconds.