May 16, 2003

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Southern California's history of success in track and field is unmatched by any other school. Yet when more than 200 runners, jumpers and throwers gather this weekend for the Pacific-10 Conference championships, the Trojans will be hosting the event on campus for the first time.

The Los Angeles Coliseum served as the Trojans' home for years, most recently hosting the Pac-10 meet in 1986. But the Coliseum track, site of many spectacular performances during the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games, was removed in 1993.

That left on-campus Cromwell Field, the longtime practice facility of USC's track and field athletes, as the only remaining link to the Trojans' distinguished past in the sport.

``And because it didn't have seating for fans, the conference didn't let us host the Pac-10 meet in 1995, when it would have been our turn,'' said Ron Allice, who assumed the role of director of both the men's and women's programs in the fall of 1995.

Cromwell Field can now accommodate more than 3,000 fans and is part of a complex called the Katherine B. Loker Stadium, named for the woman who donated $3.6 million to USC track and field two years ago.

``She ran the 400 meters in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1936 and has been in love with the sport her entire life,'' said Allice, who is serving as meet director of the conference championships. ``Without her, we wouldn't be able to do this.''

The Trojans have won 28 NCAA team titles in track, produced 33 Olympic champions and are represented in the Track and Field Hall of Fame by 14 former athletes.

The meet is the 73rd for men and 17th for women. Six field event winners and one running champion from the 2002 men's meet at Washington State are back to defend their titles, led by Washington senior pole vaulter Brad Walker.

The other returning champions from last year's Pac-10 men's meet are: David Jaworski, USC, high jump; Milton Little, Stanford, long jump; Julien Kapek, USC, triple jump; Scott Wiegand, UCLA, shot put, and Adam Kriz, Oregon, hammer throw.

USC's Ryan Wilson won the 110-meter hurdles title in 2002 and will attempt to win it again, as well as capture the 400-meter hurdles.

Lauren Fleshman, a Stanford senior who ranks first among U.S. college women in the 5,000 meters, is seeking a second consecutive Pac-10 title in that event.

Arizona State's Lisa Aguilera, the defending 3,000-meter steeplechase champion, has run the nation's fastest time for the event in college this year.

Stanford is seeking its third consecutive Pac-10 men's title and UCLA is trying for its seventh women's straight title.